Out with GN-4 10-40, In with Delvac 15-40

[Lurch]

I decided to change my oil this morning and get rid of the Honda GN 4 Pro 10-40 oil. The GN4 had about 1500 miles on it and was brown colored, and probably would have done a fairly good job for another 1500 miles. The filter housing was hard to get off. Hercules must have tightened that on.

Was going to put Rotella T6 5-40 in but I still had a gallon of Delvac so I decided to put 3.7 qts of that in instead. It's going to be a hot Summer and I think my motor will really like the 15-40. I like it better than the GN4. It shifts easier and runs great.

Thanks for the good advice BITOG. Should I run this until next year or put in some T6 5-40 before Winter?

 

[eljefino]

You going to ride in the winter? Ideally an annual change would be before storage but moderately used delvac will still have plenty of TBN reserve.

If it's warm enough to ride (I've done it with frost on the seat) it's warm enough for 15w40, even if it's not ideal.

 

[Lurch]

Hi,

I may ride all Winter if we have decent days every week or so. Last Winter was unusually cold and there were 5 or 6 weeks straight that it was too cold and Wintry, so it sat a while.

What I call a good Winter day to ride is 45*F or above.

If you say frost on the seat is warm enough for 15-40, maybe I'll run the Delvac for a year or so. I'll bet it will hold up real good.

 

[Lurch]

Even better might be to run Delvac 15-40 in the hottest months and put in fresh Rotella 5-40 before Winter, but then I'd hate to throw away good T6 5-40 with just 1000 miles or so on it.

Maybe one of you can make up my mind for me.

 

[Lurch]

How would it be if I just run the Delvac for a year and change it in June 2011 with Rotella T6 5-40? No sense in throwing away good Delvac oil. Is it real important to change the oil before Winter?

I got 3 gallons of Rotella T6 5-40 synthetic on sale, and I plan to use that sooner or later. In a way I kind of hate to stop using Delvac but I'm sure T6 is also a very good oil.

 

[swimmer]

Originally Posted By: Lurch
Hi,

I may ride all Winter if we have decent days every week or so. Last Winter was unusually cold and there were 5 or 6 weeks straight that it was too cold and Wintry, so it sat a while.

What I call a good Winter day to ride is 45*F or above.

If you say frost on the seat is warm enough for 15-40, maybe I'll run the Delvac for a year or so. I'll bet it will hold up real good.


If you want a comparison, Suzuki's manual states 15W-40 can be used down to 10F, way below freezing. If you plan to take at least a half hour ride every few weeks, I'm sure you will be fine. All modern engines are pretty much bulletproof with good maintenance.

 

[Scooter_man]

Lurch = If it was me - i'd just run the Delvac for it's duration (x amount of miles) then go to the T6 year around.

Many street-bike riders don't ride in cold enough weather for that 15w40 to be a problem anyway, at least not where you live. Dont' worry about it, just enjoy - the bike won't care.

Now if it was a dirt-bike that you enjoy riding in the snow - maybe a different story.

 

[Lurch]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'll run the Delvac for a year and change it to T6 5-40 next June 2011. I'm not going to throw away nice Delvac oil with only 6 months on it, when I'm sure it'll go a year.

The way I ride these days, the Delvac will work out very well.

With 1 year Delvac or Rotella OCIs in that thing, regardless of which month I do them, it should last a very long time, and I think that's a wise choice of oil.

 

[spidermann59]

Victory recommends 20w40, every 2500 miles. Seems to blow the doors off "if this then that", stuff. Almost too simple to be true. In my Honda I run a motorcycle oil and change it annually, before summer. Both oils are good. T6 is now motorcycle rated.

 

[Lurch]

One more question :

If I run Delvac for a year, it may have 4000 to 5000 miles on it by then. Is that too many miles?

 

[heavyhitter]

Originally Posted By: Lurch
One more question :

If I run Delvac for a year, it may have 4000 to 5000 miles on it by then. Is that too many miles?


I would NOT recommend running 4-5k with Delvac in a bike. Non ester oils shear in shared sumps pretty bad. I would say 2-3k on your bike.

 

[Lurch]

Someone said Rotella T6 5w40 synth would shear too, and I think they said Delvac would shear less, but if 2-3k is the best interval, I will definitely change it then.

I guess I could play it be ear and see how the Delvac acts with a few k on it, and do a UOA at 3k and possibly run it a full year if the UOA looks good..

 

[Scooter_man]

Yup, I have to agree with the others - i'd go about 3k max on the Delvac. Of course it also depends on your riding style - but either way i'd feel safe running a decent HDEO for 3k in that Kawasaki. Or maybe change it out at 2500 if your overly concerned - but I see no reason to change it out at 2k.

From the UOA's i've seen on the T6 - i'd go 2500-3000 with it also. Of course a UOA is the only real way to tell (you might notice it in the shifting), but the T6 seems to hold up really well so I don't think you'd have a problem there either.

 

[sunruh]

when i tested delvac 1300 15w40, it was down to a susvis of 69.8 in 3.4 hrs w/flash of 410

SRT and ST both posted 72.3 and 75.0 for close to the same motor time.

only motorcraft 15w40 has posted a worse susvis for a 15w40 in my testing.

 

[Scooter_man]

Sunruh - have you tested the newer SuperTech CJ-4 15w40 yet?

 

[Lurch]

Originally Posted By: sunruh
when i tested delvac 1300 15w40, it was down to a susvis of 69.8 in 3.4 hrs w/flash of 410

SRT and ST both posted 72.3 and 75.0 for close to the same motor time.

only motorcraft 15w40 has posted a worse susvis for a 15w40 in my testing.


Can you break that down into layman's terms? I have no idea what it means.

 

[Quattro Pete]

He is basically saying that the oils thinned out relatively quickly. 69.8 is close to being a 30-weight oil. Then again, I don't know what the starting viscosity is for that oil, so I don't know how much it thinned out.

All in all, I think most if not all multi-viscosity oils have a tendency to thin out when in use, so I wouldn't necessarily be alarmed by it.

 

[mechanicx]

Don't mean to hijack this thread, but I noticed only Rotella T and Valvoline states it meets the JASO standards. I assume all HDEO are free of FMs and would meet the JASO standards? Also what is the consensus on the performance of Chevron Delo v. Delvac v. Rotella 15W40s in cycles and in general? I noticed Delo is priced a lot lower and Rotella T highest.

 

[Lurch]

Now I'm confused again.

 

[heavyhitter]

Originally Posted By: mechanicx
Don't mean to hijack this thread, but I noticed only Rotella T and Valvoline states it meets the JASO standards. I assume all HDEO are free of FMs and would meet the JASO standards? Also what is the consensus on the performance of Chevron Delo v. Delvac v. Rotella 15W40s in cycles and in general? I noticed Delo is priced a lot lower and Rotella T highest.


1. Yes this is a hijack
2. No they all would not necessarily pass JASO MA. I think most the other would fail due to having more that 1% ash conent. Still doent mean you cant use it.
3. Consensus on what? There are too many variables to consider, some oils do things better than others. Between the brands you mentioned the most shear stable would be in this order. Rotella, Delo, Delvac (the 15w40 flavors)