Fleet Engine Oil Question

Joined
Oct 26, 2023
Messages
3
Location
FL
I manage a fleet of 40 vehicles but started with this same company as a tech 10 years ago. Since before I started here through today, our shop has always purchased Mobil Delvac 1300 Super 15w-40 for our entire fleet. Until recently it was a mixed bag of gas and diesel engines from 3.6 Rams to Cummins ISB 6.7's and Cat C7's. Today, the fleet is mostly gasser Fords. 2015 and newer 3.5L's (NA), 5.4/6.8L's (2V), and recently a handful of 7.3's (still have a couple 3.6 Chrysler engines though). I've been going back and forth on changing our bulk oil purchases from the Delvac 15w-40 to a 5w-30 synthetic blend to be more in line with Ford's "manufacturer recommendations" and maybe improve the fleet's MPG's in the process.
FWIW, I haven't had any issues with the 15w-40 in any of our vehicles, and we keep them until 200k with a 6k OCI. We're in Central Florida and these vehicles do mostly highway speeds and some moderate idling.

Wanted to gather opinions from the BITOG crowd, as most posters seem to have done a lot of research and are well knowledged in the engine lubrication world. Do you think the move to 5w-30 is wise, or should I stick with the "if it's not broke don't fix it" approach with the 15w-40?
 
Moderate fleet idle is still a lot and idling is harder on the engine than people think as hths and heat become an issue. Both of which 15w-40 will do better than 5w-30 though using 5w-30 in all your gas engines wouldn't be bad it's not better than 15w-40. A cheap syn blend 15w-40 is better formulated overall than a cheap syn blend 5w-30 Keep using 15w-40. Hot weather and idling makes it a better choice.
 
Have you ever considered trying a 5w40? It might not meet your cost requirements but I would think it would be a great "middle ground" for all of your vehicles.
 
Have you ever considered trying a 5w40? It might not meet your cost requirements but I would think it would be a great "middle ground" for all of your vehicles.
In warm weather like Florida i don't think the added costs is worth it. Now if the business was in an area where it can go below 0 I'd agree.
 
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