My 2005 Cummins Dodge requires 12 quarts of oil at change time, and I was doing some shopping at my San Jose, Ca. Costco and noticed that they carry Chevron Delo 400 15-40 wt. diesel rated oil. They sell it in a case with 6 - one gallon plastic jugs of the oil, at $39.00 and some change. Is this a good price?

Do any of you use this oil in your diesels? I'm trying to save some money on oil changes, but want to use good oil for my new truck.

Oil filters:

Do you generally buy your filters from the dealer, or do you get them elsewhere? I've heard some bad stories about Fram and diesels. I've been hearing some positive stuff about a Fleet Guard brand filter, or just getting the Mopar one from the dealer.

Doing the Oil change:

Is it the same as doing a gasser engine oil change? I've done plenty of those in my lifetime. Is the Cummins filter a spin-on just like most gasser engines? Also is the 12 quart requirement with a new filter change included, or is a 13th quart added with the filter?

I have some pretty husky drive-up ramps that I've used for my oil changes in the past. Is that what you folks use to elevate your trucks for an oil change, or do you just scrunch under the truck without raising it?

I've got about 2,000 miles on my new truck/Cummins, and I noticed that the break-in oil is pretty black on the dip-stick. Is that normal?

 

Delo 400 15W-40 is an excellent oil for the Cummins - IMHO, probably the best non-synthetic diesel engine oil you can buy. I'd suggest Fleetguard filters as well.

Rusty

 

Delo 400 in all my rigs gas or diesel for over 30 years.
I see no reason to try anything else.
$39 is a good price.

 

$39 is a good price. Delo 400 15W40 is what I use and I pay over $45 (tax & all) per case from the distributor. I use Fleetguard filters from Cummins. Mopar is just a repainted Fleetguard anyway.

 

Ditto what everyone else has said about the Delo and Fleetguard. Also, you shouldn't need to elevate the front end. At least, I didn't on my '02 1500 2WD. And yes, these engines turn the oil black within a few miles after changing it.

 

Nope it's a Wix or Baldwin. Both good quality filters, just not Stratapores.

 

Yes on Delo - already covered.

Geno's has a nice deal on a "combo" pack of:
4 Fleetguard StrataPore (oil) filters, 2 fuel/water separator filters,
and 1 air filter. [$75.50 + about $10. shipping]
Call it a "Maintenence Kit".

Of course you can buy individually if you wish.
[Don't think Geno's has filters "other than" Fleetguard.]
John C.

 

Ditto what everybody else said. The thing to look for when oil shopping is on the back of the bottle, looks like a donut. It will contain the API rating in there. You're looking for one that is "CI-4+" rated. Delo meets that, as do several others. That is a very good price on it, I usually pay $7+ a gallon for it, buying it 3 gal at a time.
http://www.genosgarage.com/

Link to Geno's that's been mentioned. I used to know a place that was cheaper, out if Cali somewhere, but when my other computer crashed I lost the URL.


Edit: It's 12 qts with filter. Many prefill their filter before they put it on, some don't. That's another discussion that the "search" button will give you days of reading on.

 

Geno's is a good buy on the Fleetguard filters, but if you have a Cummins authorized facility close to you, you can usually save even more on the Fleetguard filters (oil,fuel,air) with no shipping charges. Otherwise I would still be ordering from Geno's myself if I did not have such a place a mile away from my work.

Also I agree with the others on the Delo,been using it since my truck was new.

Tony

 

Highly doubt that....Mopars are rebadged Fleetguards

 

I just purchased Rotella 15w-40 because my local supplier didn't have enough dello in stock. They said most people use rotella. Everyone seems to be using dello. Any reason why? What, if anything, is wrong with rotella?

 

Rotella is just as good as Delo, problem some folks have with it is that it stinks for about 500 miles after an oil change. Delo does this also but to a much lesser extent.

 

Rotella is a excellent oil. We have been running it for years. But this time around I'm switching to Delo since Chevron has added Moly to the oil.

MikeyB

 

I'm using the same combo, and it seems to be working great.