Not able to get engine over 1500 rpm.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by Gorzie

I bought 5 gallons of rotella for $60 at farm and home is cotteville,mo (about 30 minutes from St. Louis) which is 10 minutes from my house.

Non-synthetic?

[banman]

Tractor supply has had the Rottela T6 5w40 2½gal jugs on sale for $48 all month.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by banman

Tractor supply has had the Rottela T6 5w40 2½gal jugs on sale for $48 all month.

I almost went to O'Reilly's, called for verification of stock on their Rotella T6 Full synthetic on sale for $64.99, $5 off the 5 gallon price for the 2.5 gallon. While she was checking stock on the phone I remembered you mentioned TSC, so I got on line and saw they had it for $43.99. Girl came back on to tell me they only had one, did I want her to order another. At $25 cheaper than your sale price, no thanks, I'll run next door to TSC. So 5 gallons was $94.14, $59 after rebate for full synthetic 5 gallon. Hard to beat, probably won't see that kind of deal till next Xmas.

[brokedown]

I might need to make a trip to TSC this week. Usually I run Rotella conventional but I'm not gonna spend more for it. A3RE should be getting an oil change in January.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by brokedown

I might need to make a trip to TSC this week. Usually I run Rotella conventional but I'm not gonna spend more for it. A3RE should be getting an oil change in January.

Rebate program ends 12/31, so get it now. I don't need a change right now, but for this deal, I'll put it aside with the 3 extra filters.

[cadillackid]

What’s the advantage of switching to full synthetic on a 200k engine ? Mine has been fed T4 it’s whole life. Is there reason to switch? And isn’t that really thin oil for a HEUI engine?

[brokedown]

In theory the synthetic stuff can hold its properties for longer than the conventional stuff. At this point I'd buy it because it's cheaper than the conventional stuff, not because i expect any particular benefit. Next oil change will be back to dino oil.

What I'm dreading the the trans service.. MD3060 wants the good stuff.

[EastCoastCB]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8H6SO0Oz0E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMF5OoZGhew

[Booyah45828]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

What’s the advantage of switching to full synthetic on a 200k engine ? Mine has been fed T4 it’s whole life. Is there reason to switch? And isn’t that really thin oil for a HEUI engine?

It's not necessarily the full synthetic, but running 5w40 vs 15w40 in the winter makes a huge difference in cranking speed while cold, especially with a heui engine. I typically try to convince my customers to run 5w40 in all the 6.0 and most 7.3 diesel engines that we service. The difference is definitely noticeable.

That 2.5 gallon price for t6 rotella is pretty good. Normally you can find t6 rotella in the gallon jug on sale for around 20 bucks(making it $50 for 2.5 gallon) from various places throughout the year. I see menards offer it for sale quite often, and if you're lucky, you can get their 11% rebate at the same time, making it an even better deal.

[PNW_Steve]

I have gone back and forth on the synthetic Vs conventional oil.

As best I understand it, the primary advantage of extending oil change interval.

I am currently driving less than 6000 miles a year. Eventually I hope to be putting on a lot more miles but until then I will stick with conventional and change twice a year.

Am I missing anything? Any fault in my reasoning?

[o1marc]

My experience with synthetics is always running cooler and better MPG's

[cadillackid]

5W just seems thin like kills-off oil presure thin is my only point.. i dont believe it causes any more leaks than any other oil would..

[Booyah45828]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

5W just seems thin like kills-off oil presure thin is my only point.. i dont believe it causes any more leaks than any other oil would..

5w40 and 15w40 are roughly the same thickness(14.9 mm2/s vs 15) at 212°F, which is near operating temperature. So it shouldn't kill off your oil pressure anything significant.

They really shine though in flowability at freezing. You can look on youtube and see dozens of "tests" where people will show the pour-ability difference between 15w40 and 5w40. The 5 weights blow the others out of the water.

I recommend you try it and see for yourself how much easier they start when cold.

As far as running longer oil change intervals with synthetic vs conventional, I wouldn't run any longer oci's then the manufacturer specs, unless you're doing an oil analysis and letting blackstone or another lab tell you when to change it. But doing so costs around 30 bucks per test. For a semi that takes 200+ dollars worth of oil, it makes sense to test and get the most out of the oil. But for your honda civic, the test costs as much as the oil change, so it doesn't really make sense. Use your own judgement when it comes to a school bus.

[cadillackid]

this is great info.. im going to try it.. how long is the T6 on sale for?


my normal interval on the busses is 6000 miles oil / filter. and I do just filter at 3000.
is that too much for a 444E and DT360?


-Christopher

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

this is great info.. im going to try it.. how long is the T6 on sale for?


my normal interval on the busses is 6000 miles oil / filter. and I do just filter at 3000.
is that too much for a 444E and DT360?


-Christopher

Rebate ends 12/31/19

[cadillackid]

super cool.. found it on TSC. 43.99.. of course i can only get the rebate on 2 bottles.. i ordered 4 since ive never seen the T6 in general that low before figured id get enough for 2 oil changes... one road trip for me can kill off an oil change lolol

[Brad_SwiftFur]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

this is great info.. im going to try it.. how long is the T6 on sale for?


my normal interval on the busses is 6000 miles oil / filter. and I do just filter at 3000.
is that too much for a 444E and DT360?


-Christopher

Considering many big rigs go on 20-30K oil change intervals? That's a 2-3 month oil change schedule for trucks that are driven a lot. Since many of us don't retain the constant stop-and-go, high idle-time type of driving school buses do when in service, I'd feel comfortable adjusting the oil change interval accordingly.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

super cool.. found it on TSC. 43.99.. of course i can only get the rebate on 2 bottles.. i ordered 4 since ive never seen the T6 in general that low before figured id get enough for 2 oil changes... one road trip for me can kill off an oil change lolol

The 5 gallon buckets were $10 more than the sale price of the 2- 2-1/2"s. I would have been $20 more to use 2 coupons for 2 -5s.

[Booyah45828]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

this is great info.. im going to try it.. how long is the T6 on sale for?


my normal interval on the busses is 6000 miles oil / filter. and I do just filter at 3000.
is that too much for a 444E and DT360?


-Christopher

IIRC navistar later updated the t444e oci to something like 10k miles in standard service. I wouldn't be afraid of doing that with the rotella t6, as long as you reach that in a year or so.

You have to remember, additive packages in the oil deplete with mileage and time, so if it takes 10 years for you to go 10k miles(like me), synthetic isn't for you.

I like the fact that you change the filters at a shorter interval. Some manufacturers have the opposite approach, which has always been backwards IMO. Maybe when you spin the filter off at 5k, take an oil sample and send it in to see what they say.

[cadillackid]

thats a great idea to take oil samples at various intervals.. as for 10k I definitely drive that in much less than a year.. some of my long roadtrips end up with 4000 miles plus round trip.. not to mention all the times I drive it as a daily driver around the city, region etc... Marions Pizza runs are common!!


-Christopher