Yes we have winter, just like the rest of the world, the concept of seasons does apply in Northern California.

Now I'm not saying it's like Fargo North Dakota out here, but it does get cold.

 

Quick search led this
http://www.cen-pe-co.com/Product%20D...gine%20Oil.pdf

 

Hey Salad,

How much of this would you say carries over to other similarly-configured mid-90's inline engines? I have a '95 F150 with the 4.9L 300ci L6 which I've owned for ten years... it runs like a top as I have been relentless with its maintenance and service, but reading this post has me wondering if there may be a better choice for engine lubrication.

Thanks!

 

While u r waiting on Salad, here's an interesting motor oil read.

http://www.supramania.com/aehaas/

 

If I recall correctly one of the wiped cams is actually from a Ford 300ci straight six. I certainly did come across a lot of literature on that subject.

 

I have maintained two of those motors powering Onan generators, they'd always run Rotella 15/40 in them without any issue.

 

Salad,
I have to admit, I originally breezed right past this thread, thinking to myself ("Oh Gee, another oil thread") and didn't give it enough interest to read it....
When I saw it reappear recently, I saw it had 28 pages, so I figured there's gotta be something interesting in there.........

I read it last night, and all I can say is "Wow, am I glad I did!"

This has got to be the most informational, and interesting oil thread I have ever seen.....
I commend you for not only the research, and the work you put into it, but also for the way you delivered it....................Kudos to you.........

The only thing I'm confused about are the ones who are bashing the thread..............calling it "Rotella Worship"?
I originally thought they were just joking................But they're serious man!

 

Thanks!

Beats me lol. Some people get very upset over pedantry I guess. The notion that "adhere to the standard" is certainly reasonable, but if the standard was really that good then a market would never be able to support more than two products...

 

Some people lead very small lives.

Just completed my oil change to T6... Engine seems pretty happy with it, noticeably less valve train noise from the start, running very smooth, but then again it already did that pretty well. I feel like I kinda won the engine lotto on this el-cheapo 2wd.

Cheers, guys!

 

For those needing or wanting something lighter than Rotella T6, I recently read that Penzoil Platinum faired well above almost any oil in the test that simulates cam follower scrubbing (don't recall the actual test name) as well as the 4 ball test and several others, it even beat high dollar Amsoil. It's only about $25 for a 5 quart jug at walmart. I've logged AT LEAST 100 TOTALLY TROUBLE FREE MILES on it in my Jeep so it's obviously superior lubrication for a 4.0. Actually my rear main seal leak may be worse now, hard to say for sure. There's another version of Platinum that's supposedly even higher rated, some racing level stuff, but I haven't seen the specs.

 

Sure, Pennzoil Platinum is a good oil.

That said, "100 trouble-free miles" is really kind of a completely useless thing to say. If an oil was going to shred your engine that fast it wouldn't be on the shelves, lol. That's like "this lightbulb has worked for 5 minutes" or "ate at this restaurant and didn't have heart disease the following day"

 

Generally speaking: If when you switch oils it turns ugly quickly it's because your other oil wasn't cleaning properly and the new oil is cleaning your engine. The oil that gets ugly fastest is cleaning the most. Oil doesn't make gunk, it only removes and carries it or leaves it behind.

I don't know if the Valvoline has any special cleaners, but whatever you were using probably doesn't have enough. I saw this a lot a few decades ago with Pennzoil lovers, that stuff sucked. When I switched them to other oils, Valvoline and Castrol being my preferences then, they'd ***** about the ****ty oil I put in turning black. The ones who stuck with it saw that it stopped blackening after a few changes and understood what I was telling them about cleaning. I did a valve cover gasket on a diehard Pennzoil guy's truck, it was scary looking in there.

 

Sarcasm. So many people say "I use xxx and my engine hasn't blown up so it's the best thing in the world". I was hoping that my emphasis on 100 miles would relay that I was being sarcastic, but also realize you've probably read that from people who actually thought it meant something real.

 

Ahhh... Yes, I have seen serious stuff like that from people lol.

For what it's worth I run Pennzoil Platinum in a special concoction with some Redline and Lubro-Moly in my truck's transmission!

 

Redline and Lubro additives or oils? Just curious, that is quite a 'concoction'. I would not mix that much stuff in an engine due to interactions, but it may be safe in a transmission to use specific additives to achieve certain qualities. I used to think I could outsmart the oil manufacturers, now I just try to find one oil from a reputable manufacturer with the best combination of properties I can and go with it...WHILE pinching pennies which brought me to the platinum even tho I'd sworn off pennzoil products entirely.

I recently did a drain & fill on my AX4 and used 3 quarts of 'Amzoil universal atf' and some non-Motorcraft Dex-V for the fill-after some research. I expected no noticeable change in shifting and that's what I got so I'm happy with it since it should have less friction now on the bearings & other stuff. From reading it appears that Motorcraft branded V may not play well with others but other dex-V is supposedly fine and more of a universal replacement for dex3; a little weird but maybe. I used the concoction because I had the 3 quarts of Amsoil along with other flavors sitting on the garage shelf.

I've used Rotella 15-40 for many years in my motorcycles including a turbo bike with no issue. In my '97 CBR1100XX it caused clunky shifting, it uses a massive 9 plate clutch so it's kinda sensitive to oil and later found that 15-40 is a known issue with that generation XX. My '01 XX has a 7 plate and not as sensitive, but having that and a Ducati 999s (that I'm way too chicken to experiment with) I've ordered 5 gallons of Amsoil's top-o-the line motorcycle spec oil from a buddy on a forum at a great price.

I've also used the Rotella 15-40 in boats, motorhomes, cars, mowers, generators, etc. None have had analysis nor failure so I can only conclude it wasn't horrible oil.