My Dog Rotella 15w40 for $12.99/gallon?

[Greenie]

It used to be that a quart of motor oil was approximately linked in price to one gallon of gas - Maybe it's lagging behind and the price of motor oil is still based on $4 a gallon gas. I've always liked Rotella and have had great engine longevity from using it - maybe the price will come down as crude has dropped significantly.

 

[RLDSL]

Other school of thought , I'm running the medium high dollar Amsoil 15w-40 synthetic diesel and marine with a bypass filter and I'm extending the daylights out of the drain intervals. That stuf is not getting dropped till the lab says it's time, and with that fresh engine, that could be quite a while. Costs a bit more up front but cheaper in the long run ( that is if you don't have an oil thirsty engine, in which case it's a loosing proposition )

Whatever the oil, bypass filters are definitely worth having . Even with dino oil, you can expect to go 8-15k + on changes with a bypass filter depending on driving conditions and type of oil

 

[mankypro]

Isn't oil analysis $20 a pop? that's 2/5ths the cost of an oil change. How often do you do them to determine when to change oil? Figure you can do it twice before it's cheaper to just change the oil?!

 

[MJ Synthetics]

Isn't oil analysis $20 a pop? that's 2/5ths the cost of an oil change. How often do you do them to determine when to change oil? Figure you can do it twice before it's cheaper to just change the oil?!

Determining when to change the oil is not the only function of Used Oil Analysis (UOA). UOA can tell you before you know there is an issue in your engine such as coolant in the oil or fuel in the oil. It will detect trace amounts thus if you have a head gasket going out before it blows completely and costs you big time to rebuild the engine UOA can alert you to the problem allowing you to investigate and save money on repairs.

If using UOA to determine when to change the oil that means you are doing extended Oil Change Intervals (OCI). If you pay 50.00 total for an oil change and you did that every 3k miles and drove 12k miles per year you paid 200.00 to change your oil for that year. If you used UOA to help you extend your OCI and you found that you could go 12k miles on an oil change and did UOA every 3k miles instead of an oil change you now spend 50.00 for an oil change 50 dollars in UOA instead of 100.00 in oil changes and the last time you will be changing your oil. Your annual costs were cut in half and your ability to keep tabs on your engines dynamics and health went from zero if you never do UOA to 2 times a year all the while saving you 100.00 a year in oil changes and 3 times the used oil to dispose of and 3 times the amount of your time spent under your truck changing oil. What is your time worth?

I also increased the cost of the UOA to compensate for shipping charges. As always your situation will vary as will the costs of an oil change and all other factors in the equation but you get the point I am trying to make.

 

[Agnem]

Although there has been much contoversy around the cj-4 oils in reality with a modest oil change interval there realy HASNT been any real reason for concern. Bob the oil guy has TONS AND TONS of reports that support this. The only probs seem to occur after 15k miles or so where TBN dropout becomes an issue and I would bet that 99 percent of us dont run our oil that long anyway.

One exception that I would make to this is that if your truck sits for extended periods like some of mine do, the CI oils will greatly reduce your cold start wear. I bet this isn't factored in to any of the reports you see, which are geared towards regular hard use.

 

[jhnlennon]

One exception that I would make to this is that if your truck sits for extended periods like some of mine do, the CI oils will greatly reduce your cold start wear. I bet this isn't factored in to any of the reports you see, which are geared towards regular hard use.

Actually isnt that the point of zinc and moly, to reduce wear under extreme loads and cold start up? All the oils there in the list and all that i have seen have more than enough in them. The only reason to have any extra is to get a longer drain interval which like I said isnt even an issue with 99% of us. All the reports I have seen have never really shown any reason to be concerned. The only problems seem to be with tbn dropout in older heavy duty diesel apps. Tbn content is an oils ability to stay akaline(absorb acids produced during combustion process that would cause premature wear). But there are alot of people out there getting 20 k or more on some of the new cj-4 oils without tbn dropout probs but these seem to come from newer clean burn engines. So they probly have less of these acids being formed. IDK. With a modest drain interval of 5-7k I dont think there is any reason to worry at all though.

 

[MJ Synthetics]

Actually isnt that the point of zinc and moly, to reduce wear under extreme loads and cold start up? All the oils there in the list and all that i have seen have more than enough in them. The only reason to have any extra is to get a longer drain interval which like I said isnt even an issue with 99% of us. All the reports I have seen have never really shown any reason to be concerned. The only problems seem to be with tbn dropout in older heavy duty diesel apps. Tbn content is an oils ability to stay akaline(absorb acids produced during combustion process that would cause premature wear). But there are alot of people out there getting 20 k or more on some of the new cj-4 oils without tbn dropout probs but these seem to come from newer clean burn engines. So they probly have less of these acids being formed. IDK. With a modest drain interval of 5-7k I dont think there is any reason to worry at all though.

That is absolutely correct. The newer ULSD engines and the ULSD fuel create less detrimental acids, acids that cause wear and break down the additive pack in the oil. That is why the starting TBN is lower on most CJ-4. It wasn't needed to be as high from the start. That is also why Amsoil came out with the new 15W-40 CJ-4 API rated oil and reformulated the exsiting 5W-40 API rated CJ-4 oil. The higher TBN and lower acids created allow for longer life of the additive package and longer OCI. This is why they added the 3x OEM recommended OCI interval guarantee to the new CJ-4 oils offered by Amsoil.

 

[jimraelee]

good info guys... thanks I've been wondering about the addition of my turbo. Preturbo I changed my oil at 5k. and thought nothing about it. Now with the turbo, Ive wondered if 5k is too long. Im thinking I will get a sample at next oil change and send it in to get anaylized. Anybody know of a company I can do this with??? address or phone please? What does it cost???

 

[CDX825]

good info guys... thanks I've been wondering about the addition of my turbo. Preturbo I changed my oil at 5k. and thought nothing about it. Now with the turbo, Ive wondered if 5k is too long. Im thinking I will get a sample at next oil change and send it in to get anaylized. Anybody know of a company I can do this with??? address or phone please? What does it cost???

http://www.blackstone-labs.com/

 

[Diesel JD]

Blackstone is great, they are a little pricey however. Most times I go with my local Caterpillar dealer, true its not as good of a breakdown but it is about 7 bucks cheaper, it comes with a postage paid container and still tells you about wear metals and any potential coolant, fuel or water contamination of the oil. That's good enough for me.

 

[MJ Synthetics]

Oil Analyzers Inc. (OAI) is one of the more popular labs along with Blackstone Labs for testing your used oil. Blackstone charges 20.00 and an additional 10.00 for a TBN test. You must pay your shipping.

OAI is a little better priced if your wanting to do a TBN test even for the retail kit. You can buy the kits through the Amsoil website or any Amsoil dealer retail for 28.50. OAI includes your TBN test and shipping costs in their price. Preferred Customers of Amsoil get even cheaper rates on the test kits.

I stock OAI test kits however by the time you pay shipping from me its will be the same as buying them off the website. If you buy the test kits from the Amsoil website please use my reference/dealer number 1466322 so atleast I can get credit for the sales since I am a vendor here. If you just buy them any random dealer they select near you will get the credit.

You may also use this link to buy the pump to take a sample from your dipstick tube and add the test kits to your shopping cart . Test Pump

You may use these links to buy test kits only. Either UPS or US Postal kits they have both. Test Kits Postal Or Test Kits UPS

Thank You,

Dane

 

[Diesel JD]

MJ it sounds like OAI does the TBN as part of the basic test package? yes?

 

[MJ Synthetics]

MJ it sounds like OAI does the TBN as part of the basic test package? yes?

Yes it is a part of the basic package. No extra charges for anything really shipping and TBN are all part of the initial price.

 

[Diesel JD]

Sweet, its a good deal then if you get the Amsoil preferred discount and want TBN it is going to be way cheaper than Blackstone. I'll have to keep that in mind.

 

[Diesile]

That is absolutely correct. The newer ULSD engines and the ULSD fuel create less detrimental acids, acids that cause wear and break down the additive pack in the oil. That is why the starting TBN is lower on most CJ-4. It wasn't needed to be as high from the start. That is also why Amsoil came out with the new 15W-40 CJ-4 API rated oil and reformulated the exsiting 5W-40 API rated CJ-4 oil. The higher TBN and lower acids created allow for longer life of the additive package and longer OCI. This is why they added the 3x OEM recommended OCI interval guarantee to the new CJ-4 oils offered by Amsoil.

Whereas we are running the older engines and adding 2cycle/wmo/biodiesel to the ULSD to (hopefully) help our mechanical engines, where does that leave us
regards TBN/acids? Anyone have actual tests confirming where that is?
Thanks