Oil type/interval for a ambulance

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My brother-in law runs a ambulance service. He has two Ford's, a 96 E-350 diesel and a 98 E-450 diesel. Both are high mileage (180K+) and are running 3K interval oil changes currently. I'd like to find out if there is a "more economical/better for the engine" solution. Keeping these engines running for a long time is paramount to the cost. I don't know the exact kind of filtration system they have, the ambulance body company may have upgraded it.

1. What oil would be best/most cost effective? (he can buy oil in bulk if necessary)
2. What change interval?

Thanks everyone!
 
Since he runs it tell him to set up a commercial acct at a parts store like Pep Boys or Autozone and he can get good prices on oil and filters among other parts

as far as OCI goes i think 3k is short for a diesel
 
They have situations that they need to Idle for long periods that put them in a severe use catagory. It should have an hourly schedule. 3000 miles OCI is meaningless if the thing idled for 5hrs straight.
 
Originally Posted By: willix
They have situations that they need to Idle for long periods that put them in a severe use catagory. It should have an hourly schedule. 3000 miles OCI is meaningless if the thing idled for 5hrs straight.

Good point.
 
10w-30 hdeo, i'm running the deere plus 50, although not in an ambulance application, but very similar.

my 7.3's idle for hours on end running their hydraulic systems and then get run down the road a couple of hours with a full load.
i think a 10w-30 would work very well in this application.
 
Originally Posted By: willix
They have situations that they need to Idle for long periods that put them in a severe use catagory. It should have an hourly schedule. 3000 miles OCI is meaningless if the thing idled for 5hrs straight.


We use to run cars that ran 8 - 10 hours at idle and they still went in at 3,000 miles for oil change. At public sale they were checked and had full engine compression and showed no major compression engine loss at 220,000 miles plus I really have no idea how many idle hours they had thousands would be my guess .
 
UOAs are the way to go. Until you know where you're at, you have no idea how to get where you want to be.

Your OCIs might be maxed out right now, or may have 50% more life left, on the current fluid. You (actually, he) has no idea until UOAs are done.
 
Originally Posted By: 5sfe91
Since he runs it tell him to set up a commercial acct at a parts store like Pep Boys or Autozone and he can get good prices on oil and filters among other parts

Unfortunatly most auto parts stores do not give shops a break on oil, filters or spark plugs. Atleast none do here. We buy our oil as needed and from whoever is having a walk in sale.

Probly be a better idea to set up an account with a local supplier but even then they would have to buy a 55 gallon drum of oil just to beat the price of oil @ WM.
 
You can't 'take chances' with an ambulance. I know any 15W-40/10W-30 HDEO will work fine here; but if it were me, I'd feel more comfortable going with a high-quality synthetic like M1 TDT or an Amsoil HDEO.

If cost is a main consideration, getting a PC account with Amsoil, and using the 15W-40 PCO syn-blend would probably be a good option.
 
I'd use one of the big 3-Mobil Delvac 1300 15W40, Shell Rotella T dino 15W40, or Delo 400 15W40, and use an hour meter & UOAs to determine how long the oil will last-there are documented examples in the UOA forum of diesel pickups going 15K+ without bypass filtration. I'd personally not recommend synthetic due to the (probably) high mileage 7.3s in those 12 & 14 year old ambulances-and you're talking a lot more cash for 10-14 quarts of synthetic every oil change.
 
BTW, my 7.3 probably has as low or lower mileage on it as anything I have (Ford reman motor)- I run Delo 400 SAE 30 exclusively, wouldn't waste the cash on synthetic!
 
First of all, our squad cars run on synthetic blend for 4k OCI. And these cars are usually running 24/7. We have cars up at 150K miles + too. I would personally run a 3K OCI, but at that OCI, pretty much any diesel oil should hold up. Rotella is my recommendation.
 
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