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Your thoughts on oil - Shell Rotella

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Old Jan 6, 2023 | 11:03 AM
  #1  
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Your thoughts on oil - Shell Rotella

What do you use in your 6.7? Rotella T4 or T5? When do you change oil?
I drive local in town, seldom loaded except when we go camping and I pull a 5th wheel rv. I have about 145K on the truck (2012 F-350)
New claims by Shell say 75,000 mile oil change on T5...I'm skeptical, maybe on a dyno stand engine, but in practical use??

I've always been a fan of Rotella. In the gas field has we had good luck using Rotella with field compressors running Cats and Whites.

Thanks for your thoughts!
Ed
Residing in North Louisiana
 
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Old Jan 6, 2023 | 11:09 AM
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If I had to run Rotella, it would be T6 only. 5,000 mile intervals.
 
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Old Jan 6, 2023 | 11:16 AM
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I use T6 and change it when it tells me to. Blackstone Labs says I could go longer but I am satisfied using the monitor and see no reason to not use what is there. Life is rather simple if you read the manual.
 
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Old Jan 6, 2023 | 04:20 PM
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T6 in almost everything I own including my current 6.7. Great oil. Decent price.
 
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Old Jan 6, 2023 | 05:01 PM
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T4 meets the spec and is an acceptable oil. Millions of miles have been run on T4.
T5 ingredient list actually looks better then either T4 or T6, with both moly and boron, and is the clear "on paper" winner among the 3.
The synthetic portion is PurePlus, Shell's natural gas to liquid (GTL) base oil same as Pennzoil passenger car oils. Fine stuff.
T6 being synthetic will stand up to high heat and load, and have easier cranking in cold if the 5w40 flavor is chosen.
It's been said the base oil is Shell's XHVI base made from slack wax. It's clean, has a high natural VI so it stays in grade without much viscosity improver additive.
You won't be "wrong" with any of them, but you could be slightly more "right" with T6 under extreme conditions that would include cold, heat, or extended drains.
T5 would be my choice of the three just because of the add pack.
T5 15w40 is hard to beat if you dig deep into the specs and what is in it.
75,000 miles in OTR trucks is certainly possible with analysis, but the Shell site does say "up to 50,000" miles for T5.
 
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Old Jan 6, 2023 | 05:59 PM
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I started using Rotella T6 5W40 at 5k miles and change it at every 5k miles. Almost all of my fill ups are with B20 (it's the only option at the station in town that I trust most). I mostly city drive with lots of stop and go, and tow my 6000 lb camper often (except during the winter). I monitor my DPF% and allow regens to fully complete once they hit about 95%. I also send in a sample to Blackstone Labs at each oil change. It all looks great. The last sample I sent in I even added a TBN, which showed that the oil was good and they estimated that I probably could have went out to 7000 or a little longer and still been fine... I will still continue to do 5k mile oil changes though!
 
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Old Jan 6, 2023 | 06:06 PM
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T6 5-40WT with 5K oil change intervals.

Hard use.
 
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Old Jan 6, 2023 | 06:36 PM
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I run only T6 5W-40
Interval 5000-7500 depending on towing mileage

Ive got 235K and 287K on my 6.7's, no blowby and they still run as strong as the day I got em
 
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Old Jan 6, 2023 | 06:56 PM
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The thing about T6 that really wins me over is all the units I can run it in. 8 small engines and two vehicles = no more orphan half quarts on the shelf...
 
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Old Jan 6, 2023 | 09:09 PM
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T6, every 5000 miles.........
 
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Old Jan 6, 2023 | 09:20 PM
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T6 every 5k
 
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Old Jan 6, 2023 | 10:42 PM
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Originally Posted by System
The thing about T6 that really wins me over is all the units I can run it in. 8 small engines and two vehicles = no more orphan half quarts on the shelf...
So true; I even used it in my Goldwing.

Al
 
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Old Jan 7, 2023 | 06:08 AM
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Yes, JASO MA2 compatible so good in wet clutches too. We ran it in two CanAm Spyders for years until we sold them and bought a GTO. Now I run T6 in that...
 
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Old Jan 7, 2023 | 09:12 AM
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Not that I was unhappy or concerned, but this thread only makes me feel better about using T6! When I was trying to decide what flavor oil I was going to use when I got my truck, many of the threads seemed to praise T6 and is what led me chose to use it. I plan to continue using it, unless of course it becomes unavailable.
 
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Old Jan 7, 2023 | 12:53 PM
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Originally Posted by carbonation
T4 meets the spec and is an acceptable oil. Millions of miles have been run on T4.
T5 ingredient list actually looks better then either T4 or T6, with both moly and boron, and is the clear "on paper" winner among the 3.
The synthetic portion is PurePlus, Shell's natural gas to liquid (GTL) base oil same as Pennzoil passenger car oils. Fine stuff.
T6 being synthetic will stand up to high heat and load, and have easier cranking in cold if the 5w40 flavor is chosen.
It's been said the base oil is Shell's XHVI base made from slack wax. It's clean, has a high natural VI so it stays in grade without much viscosity improver additive.
You won't be "wrong" with any of them, but you could be slightly more "right" with T6 under extreme conditions that would include cold, heat, or extended drains.
T5 would be my choice of the three just because of the add pack.
T5 15w40 is hard to beat if you dig deep into the specs and what is in it.
75,000 miles in OTR trucks is certainly possible with analysis, but the Shell site does say "up to 50,000" miles for T5.
Appreciate the information. Where do you find that info, about the additive packages? Interesting that the add pack for the T5 appears to be stronger than the T6.

 
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