It's time to switch to a new oil...

Post by **nxski** » Sat Feb 02, 2013 12:07 am

Well, I love Royal purple oil but it's pricey and becoming harder to find at a price I'm willing to pay. Since I have an account with Amsoil I figured I'd order from them. They offer three types of Synthetic 15W40 oil and I'm trying to figure out which is best for my application. I have a dual bypass system which I replace the oil in every 15,000km (although it says 20k I have found the oil is fairly dirty at that point). I also replace my filters each time although I know they can be used again i just don't feel comfortable doing that. It's only an extra $50 per chance anyways.
So I've created a poll to figure out what everyone thinks is the best Amsoil 15W40 oil to run.

I'm leaning towards the heavy-duty diesel and marine oil because it's made for pre 2007 vehicles and can be used for extended drain capabilities (I don't know if that's assuming a bypass system or not though).

thedjjack · Post by **thedjjack** » Sat Feb 02, 2013 1:02 am

Shell Rotella 15W 40 (non synthetic) cheap (20L pales >$75.00)...

the only oil 4D56 needs :)

Firesong · Post by **Firesong** » Sat Feb 02, 2013 6:40 am

You don't live in frigid temps :). My van wouldn't start with 15/40 in the winter. However shell 15/40 is what I use in the summer and shell 5/40 synth this winter

mararmeisto · Post by **mararmeisto** » Sat Feb 02, 2013 7:17 am

A synthetic oil is wasted on these ol' busses (IMHO) - the tolerances just aren't there - just use a 15W40 diesel oil. I don't know what's in the "heavy duty and marine" variant you posted, so I didn't select it for your poll.

Pajero · Post by **Pajero** » Sat Feb 02, 2013 9:09 am

Firesong wrote:You don't live in frigid temps :). My van wouldn't start with 15/40 in the winter. However shell 15/40 is what I use in the summer and shell 5/40 synth this winter

I'll second that one, synthetic oil is definetly not wasted money in the north, HUGE differance in the winter. Summer back to the 15W40 Rotella and in the winter whatever the best deal is on synthetic oil.

Shell rotella is on sale at Can tire for I think for 59.99 for the 18.9l pail. In the lower mainland you would be fine with that all year unless you travel where its alot colder often.

Joe

thedjjack · Post by **thedjjack** » Sat Feb 02, 2013 11:15 am

Sorry I meant 15W40 is the only oil needed for the lower mainland (where Nick is)

I only run synthetic in the winter in the north since if you poor it and conventional oil at -30C one pores like water and one like a solid

I also once saw a study on taxi cabs and it found that it did not mater what oil was used what was important was not switching brands of oil all the time for engine longevity so I always run Rotella based on this (Cummins and Mercedes forums seem sold on this oil)

psilosin · Post by **psilosin** » Sat Feb 02, 2013 11:42 am

if you look around the www its generally understood that north american diesel oils are already too heavy duty with too much cleaning agents for the small displacement japanese engines and can lead to things like glazing of the bores. Not that we have any other options like they do in Aus (like Castrol JMax) but I would definately not choose anything that advertises itself as extreme heavy duty etc as that would likely just be worse..

Unless it is very cold these engines are plenty happy with dino 15w40 but since you have a fancy bypass setup with extended draininterval you might as well get the regular amsoil synthetic 15w40 to make the most of it.. It is good oil no dought, better to overkill than underkill.

*typing on tablet is hard...why are these so popular?

Post by **nxski** » Sat Feb 02, 2013 12:27 pm

I definitely want synthetic for the cold starts and prolonged drain intervals. 15w40 because I don't have a problem starting with it. I am leaning towards the heavy duty one because it's supposed to retain its viscosity better, it's designed for on-road and off-road use with pre-2007 vehicles as well as caterpillars etc which use the 4d56.

I'm looking the the best Amsoil oil for this engine regardless of cost.

Firesong · Post by **Firesong** » Sat Feb 02, 2013 12:42 pm

My van started last week using synth 5/40 at -27 celcius. Cord wasn't plugged in to the house (ouch) where I jumped onto the snow blower for the day. Dino oil wouldn't have cut it.

CREGAN · Post by **CREGAN** » Sat Feb 02, 2013 1:15 pm

I run the 15w40 Amsoil HD Synthetic. I like it, and last week in the minus 30 weather it started just fine. I think I have learnt the hard way to not check your oil on a sloped driveway though, as I think over filling has led to the demise of my valve cover seal.

Craig

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