oil brand and grade question
 

Hello all, newbie here.
Recently bought a 97 2500 5.9L with 160K miles on it. Very good condition one owner vehicle. Don't know which oil was used before but I just changed it myself and put in Castrol Tection Extra 15W40.
Now I am reading various threads and find that this may be the wrong oil!
Naturally I am concerned.:confused:
Your advice and input will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Georges

It's not the wrong oil, just maybe not the best oil. It will work fine. It has a C rating for compression engines, and if you purchased it just recently it will be an up to date rating.

Nick

I am not familiar with that oil but most use shell rotela T 15-40 and in the winter if you are in a cold climate you will need a lower viscosity oil. Check on the bottle of castral and see if it is rated for use in diesel engines, if it is I would leave it in till your next change, if it isn't then I change it soon.

I also use the rotella 15 40. walmart has the best price. cummins recomends a few different oils and rotella is one of em. I would be more concerned with using a high quality filter.

It does say" heavy duty diesel oil", exceeds the following specs: API CJ-4, CF-4/SM, Cummins CES2008, and a bunch of others.
I always thought Castrol was a top quality oil brand.
As long as it doesn't hurt the engine, I will change over to one you guys recommend (after I do this 1500 mile trip I have to take it on). Thanks.

It probablly is. Just never gained favor with the highway rollers.

CJ-4 is the spec you need to be concerned with. C means Compression (diesel), J-4 is the lube spec. You need CI-4 or better (actually, CI-4 spec is better for 12V trucks with flat tappets instead of hydraulic lifters)
And yeah, it's just a brand thing- Castrol is late to the party of heavy duty diesel oil. Shell Rotella and Mobil Delvac were the early ones and have more loyalists.
Personally, I don't like Castrol, or Quaker State for anything- but that's me. I have run Mobil 1 from the first oil change in mine (DPO I think ran Delvac).

You'll get as many different brand favorites as you get members answering! :)
Your oil is fine....as long as CI-4 or CJ-4 API Classification. As mentioned CI-4 is prefered but hard to fine with new classification being out since Oct, 2007. Just change it (CJ-4) every 5000 miles as it has less ZDDP additives !

RJ

The Castrol is fine. Like mentioned, it may not be the top choice for most. Run it for 5000 miles then switch over to another brand if you'd like.