97 F250hd 7.3ltr 230k / rotella 10w-30

[JR]

my 7.3 has just over 230k miles, i was running delvac 15w-40 but ran rotella also. i run 5k to 10 k oci runs. i was thinking of running syn amsoil ame but found rotella 10w-30 at a good price i was thinking it will be great. i wanted to run 30 wt but not an option with winters cold so 10w-30 gives me both 30 wt and 10 for the cold. can i run this 5-7.5+k.

kc

ps truck runs great operation is on b-5 with 60-80% highway 10% city light to moderate idle time, no lube oil use 1 qt / 3800-4000 miles.

 

[GhostFlame]

Sounds like your engine is dooing very well. 10K oci with a dino oil is a no no if you like your engine.

I use synthetics in every thing and I can't go past 7500 miles even though the oil probably could. I think of all those solid particles weraing the old metal parts and I get all icky.

Shell Rotella Synthetic is a very good oil. I would do a 7500 oci with this oil. Why not a 5w-30 , your winters are pretty nasty cold? Your engine has taken care of you its time to show it some love. You might be a 350K candidate with that engine... maybe.

 

[Paul2007]

I have a 2003 F-250 with a 7.3. The manual speicfies a 10W-30 for temps below 20 degF. Since the injection system uses the oil as an operating fluid, you should stick close to the manual which is 5K miles. I have run M1 TDT 5W-40 for 7500 miles, and it was OK; but not with dino oil (I second GhostFlame). It might be easier to just use a 5W-40 synthetic oil year round and OCI of 7,000 miles. I use a Pure Power cleanable oil filter, and it is fantastic....expensive but fantastic.

 

[dnewton3]

Often (and with good historical evidence), the PSDs with their HEUI tend to shear oil down. Many people insist on using a 40 grade because it shears with longer OCIs.

I've noticed that the shearing is not only related to exposure duration (length of OCI) but also, shall we say, "finite", in reation. In other words, a PSD will only shear the oils down to a 30 grade or so. So, if you start with a 40 grade, it will shear down to a 30 grade over time. But if you start with a 30 grade, there is very little shearing that goes on. It's almost as though the PSDs prefer a lighter oil for the HEUI system. My neighbor has run Rotella 10w-30 in his '05 PSD several times. His UOA (posted by me here sometime long ago) showed very little shearing. He routinely runs his OCIs out to 7.5k miles, with no ill effects. The 10w-30 certainly helps reduce the cold-idle romp.

Give the 10w-30 a try in the old 7.3L and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. Do a UOA at 5k miles; it'll likely be OK for continued service. With your operating pattern biased towards highway travel (and you didn't mention any significant loading) you should be fine!

 

[Jim Allen]

+1 to dnewton's post.Sure looks like the PSD likes the 10W30, though I wish we had more Bitogers that could let go the 15W40 long enough to try it and post more UOAs. I have a pre-Power Stroke diesel (the "Power Smoke") 6.9L IDI and it likes 10W30. The old IDIs don't shear down the oil, however.

 

[Fordiesel69]

Personally I would run the rotella 5w-40 for about 5k to 7.5K. The old PSD with no pilot injection seems to blacken the oil a lot more than the newer 7.3's. Running too many miles on the oil is not real good on the HPOP.

I guess you could run the 10w-30 in the winter with no ill effects.

 

[sdan27]

Running 10k oci with dino oil should not be a problem at all if you're using a descent oil and high quality ESI filters. My 7.3l Powerstroke has about 375,000 on it and I've been doing 10k oil changes for better than 150,000 at least. If you use good filters with the occasional UOA, 7.5k or 10k should be fine. I'm thinking of trying 15 or 20k next. I live in west MI and with 15w-40 it usually starts fine on its own. If you go to the 3rd page on the UOA-Diesel link, you'll see the UOA with the results from my last oil change at 370k.