proudpapa97

Hello All,

I am wondering if Rotella oil is what is best to run in my truck? Is all of the Shell Rotella oil synthetic, or is there a regular Shell Rotella? Where is the best place to by the Rotella Oil, and what is the best quality oil filter to use?

I am asking because the person I bought my truck from indicated to me that they always used Rotella oil, and they changed the oil every 6500 miles, I would feel more comfortable at the 5000 mile range.

I just want to make certain that I am using the best products within reason to ensure the maximum life out of the engine. The truck has 184K at this time.

Thanks,
Steve

JSPulliam21

Rotella is a great oil, and will keep your Cummins happy for many miles. 5,000 miles is safe, but you may want to have an oil analysis done to see how much life is left in the oil. 6,500 may not be as bad as you think. Shell makes a ROTELLA T and a ROTELLA SYNTHETIC, which is highly refined petroleum and not full synthetic. I like the synthetic because it is a 5W-40, but as I said before, there is nothing wrong with plain old Rotella. Most parts stores carry it, and even the evil Wally World.

racknrider

I use Delo 400, smells better, and was on sale. Fleetguard filters.

kd460

OH boy, another oil thread. Everything you wanted to know about oil and more:

www.bobistheoilguy.com

The best oil is the one that gets changed before the additive package is used up. In cold climates 5w-40 is great. Otherwise 15w-40 the rest of the time. Your truck will thank for the 5w-40 when temps are down. It will also thank you for using 15w-40 when warmer. KD

NMCTD

take this for what its worth, I'm no expert by any means, and many will probably tell you different but here goes.

A very good buddy of mine is the shop foreman at a very reputable big truck shop (Stewart&Stevenson) and I hang out there from time to time and get to see some cool and big engines being worked on, anyway when the tear into an engine they can tell the trucks that have rotella in them by the thick goey sludge, I didn't quite believe him when he told me about it so I asked around some of the mechanics in the shop and they all verified it, so then I started paying attension to some of the truck that I saw with this condition and if I got the chance I would ask the driver what oil they used (wich was only a few) and they all said rotella. At the same time I payed attension to the ones that were clean inside, for a diesel anyway (meaning no thick goey sludge) and asked a few of those driver what oil they ran, most said mobil delvac, and a few said valvoline.

I use Mobil Delvac 1300super (wich is what that shop uses and is what Detroit Diesel uses) or if that not available I use Valvoline Premium Blue (wich is what cummins reccomends and was developed by cummins and valvoline).

Like I said take this for what it is, just some guy off an internet board that isin't and oil expert by anymeans, but I will never put rotella in my truck.

Later....Josh

DieselDaze

There has been many, many oil discussed threads in the past.
Many of those turned ugly and ended up bad for many of the members involved.
Lets not go down those old roads again. We have no problem with everyone discussing the facts about oil as long as everyone can do so in a civil manner.

Thanks guys.
Rich.

MikeyB

Rotella is a very good oil as with the rest of the diesel grade motor oils on the market. It's a fiercely competitive market and nobody wants a bad rep.
So run it and be happy.

MikeyB

mcoleman

According to the article in the latest TDR magazine by the guy from Lubrizol who does the additives for the majority of the oil companies they are all really close with their additive packages and base stocks are pretty much equal now days unlike years ago. He even said that wal-mart super tech diesel oil tested right up there with the others. And it is also CI-4 rated. If that guy is finding sludge in his engines he probably has or has had a headgasket or liner leaking. My brother-in-laws tractor has 970,000 miles on it and is clean as a pin inside.

rockdonon

What He said! Everyone should read the oil article in the last TDR Magazine. It was a real eye/opener for me.

59FORD

I been in and and around the Large Car business for 30+ years.
I have NOT seen sludge caused by brand X diesel oil. Gray sludge
is caused by coolant not by the burning of diesel, fact not fiction.
I have scattered more engines on the floor then most guys have seen.
My own as well as being slave labor for friends. I have had the Grand
Tour of Lubrizol many years ago. They have an 8V71 Detroit that has been
running for 25+ years and I'll bet it's still running. I saw some very
strange things at Lubrizol like a Pinto engine pulling a 7% grade for like
300 hours. Transmissions being dyno'd for weeks without failure, bearings
welded together with oil, and lots of exploded, blown apart, broken, welded
shafts to bearings, you name it. I even got a Muncie trans from R&D that
had some nasty, stinking, looked like puke, oil in it that I used in dragracing
in the 70's. The guy told me to never get rid of that oil for any reason.
I ran in at least 8 different 4 bangers dropping the clutch at 8 grand.

My point is Lubrizol does research for just about all oil companies and
not 1 of them would sell an oil that was garbage (except QuakerState)
to the public, not the first one, plain and simlpe it's your choice. What
works for may not work for someone else too many varying factors.


The above post was made from experience gathered over my last 50 years.

IMHO

59

t-boe

I started an oil thread awhile ago. Everyone has their favorite oil. Basically the consenus was, regardless of oil choice, change it often and use good filters.

Box5

Delo 400 15w40 seems pretty good, they stock it in the big local Kenworth truck depot, $9.99 a gallon. I have nothing against Rotella, i was gonna use it, but the nickname Smella Rotella popped up for the first 500 miles, lol. And from what I read, Delo has a higher flash point which helps to.

Hayseed

Oil thread, your kidding right???????
Amsoil all the way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

cincydiesel

Rottela fan here.

dssimecek

Since I travel around, and have the oil changed at a dealer, what ever they put in is fine by me. All work well. Have had Dello 400. Right now it has the Mopar oil. The service mgr tells me that that is Exxon oil.