Duramax Oil and Lube Question

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Bought my first diesel, a used 06 Duramax with 28,000 miles. Considering syn oil, either Rotella or Amsoil. Amsoil makes claims of extended miles for oil change which offsets some of the cost. I can't find any extend miles claims for Rotella syn. Anyone have any info on Rotella or Amsoil syn oil change intervals?
Does anyone know where I can get a lubrication skematic or list. I didn't get one with the truck
 
You should be ok to start out with 10k miles on RTS (Rotella syn). Amsoil AME would probably be ok for 1 year or 15k miles. I would consider using that oil with an EaO oil filter for that long of an interval as well. And also would recommend a used or drain oil sample be sent off at some point to see how your engine and oil/filter are doing at those intervals. Two other great synthetic oils to consider would be Mobil 1 TDT 5W-40 at WM in gallon jugs and Schaeffers 5W-40 syn, available from the Schaeffer rep here, named salesrep (Mark).
 
I was in Walmart today and did not see any Mobil 1 TDT 5W-40 in the local Supercenter,and it is the newest and largest one in the state of Minnesota!
 
Originally Posted By: junebug
I was in Walmart today and did not see any Mobil 1 TDT 5W-40 in the local Supercenter,and it is the newest and largest one in the state of Minnesota!



It says Turbo Diesel Truck 5w40 on it and you being in Minnesota I would almost guarantee they stocking it..

Enjoy the DMax,they are GREAT!
 
Originally Posted By: Bambam
Originally Posted By: junebug
I was in Walmart today and did not see any Mobil 1 TDT 5W-40 in the local Supercenter,and it is the newest and largest one in the state of Minnesota!



It says Turbo Diesel Truck 5w40 on it and you being in Minnesota I would almost guarantee they stocking it..

Enjoy the DMax,they are GREAT!


You would be surprised what the Wal-Marts in Minnesota and Wisconsin don't stock. My local Wal-Mart does not carry 5W-20 in any brand. Just depends on the department manager, store manager, and regional manager. And believe me, they have some real winners up here.
 
JRDM - welcome to the site!

For extended drain intervals (the REAL reason to go with synthetics in my opinion), you can't hardly beat the ones mentioned. Of the several brands (Amsoil, Mobil, Shell and Schaeffers), I'd have to say the RTS is possibly a "best buy" to coin the Consumer Reports phrase, because it typically turns in very good wear results and usually can be found at Wally World for a moderate price. On a performance/dollar ratio, it's flat hard to beat. The others are probably a bit on the higher end of development, but in no way is that meant to be a slight on the RTS. I personally use RTS, but I only drive around 10k miles a year in my truck (Dmax/Allison), and so I typically O/FCI once, and use UOA's as verificaiton. If I drove a lot more miles per year, I'd strongly consider a higher end product, and most likely use bypass filtration too.

I would suggest you analyze what your driving patterns are going to be. Weigh your typical mileage per year against the cost of the oil changes, including the full flow filter options as well. Let the math and UOA's guide your conscience, not rhetoric.

The upside to a Dmax is that they seem to be very easy on oil; they don't shear it much and they don't seem to contaminate much. In this regard, nearly any oil will perform well in a Dmax.

Some of the core concepts many of us here at BITOG try to educate newcomers on are oil analysis and "synthetics". These are probably two of the most mis-understood and often nearly mythical topics in the world of lubricants. I, for one, have learned a great deal from contributors here like Johnny, Bruce381, Pablo, Gary Allan, The Critic, and many others. WE DON'T ALL AGREE ALL THE TIME, TO SAY THE LEAST.
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But if you take away one thing from this site, please try to help educate others with thought provoking facts, rather than lore and "they say that ..." generalizations. I think it's good when we all share experiences and facts. But be careful to seperate opinions from facts. There's nothing wrong with opinions, but they sometimes take on a "herd" mentality, and grow in strength without merit.

Rather than my rambling on here about "synthetics", use the search funciton on this site (it actually works, contrary to the actions of some members) and spend time studying the UOA diesel section and this section. You'll learn a lot.

However, if you want a "Synthetic Oil for Dummies" quick answer to your post, I'll say only this:
(Caution! the following is my opinion!)
There are plenty of good brands of oil out there, in many variations of weight, price, and performance enhancing attributes. If you can get out of the "gotta change oil at X,xxx miles" mentality, then UOA's and synthetics will pay you back in spades. If not, then a conventional group II oil will do a wonderful job for short OCI's, and there are millions of vehicles in service right now as proof. Synthetic lubricants and UOA's and Bypass Filtration are tools; if you don't use them correctly, they are a waste. But if you can, you will reap the benefits for years to come.

Again, welcome;
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you've officially entered the world of lubricant insanity.
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x2 to what dnewton3 said. You can also check out other Duramax owners at dieselplace.com. It's a website for us Duramax guys...
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Rob
 
Sure did Arka,thanks.
Thats the thread I made my first post on, I wish I could have got in touch with Ralph a few weeks before, but I'll definitely look him up for future needs.
Oh yeah and uh, I'll give a ya a lil' Pig Suey!;D
 
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Just come back from our local WM. M1 Turbo Diesel Truck 5w40 Gal Jugs was on the mark down shelf for $19.95 a gal. The clerk sayed they are going to stop stocking it. Everytime I went into the store the shelf was empty. They could never keep the gal jugs in stock. Now they are going to quit stocking it. I'll never understand this Company!!
 
Hey guys....also coming over from DMax Diesel place. I was going to ask question about RTS vs.Amsoil for 10,000 OCI, but I got my answer. I will also second the fact that no Mobil 1 TDI to be found anywhere. One auto parts store had it, and they were going to quit stocking it also. I currently use Amsoil, but was lookig for a good oil that I could just go buy at the store instead of having to order every time....oh well.
 
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