i just bought a Frightliner, with a 515 HP S-60 Detroit , just asking what would be the best Dino oil type to used Rottella, Delo, Mobil Devac?
the best oil 15/40 wt oil
- Thread starter wanttoknow
- Start date
- Status
Originally Posted By: wanttoknow
i just bought a Frightliner, with a 515 HP S-60 Detroit , just asking what would be the best Dino oil type to used Rottella, Delo, Mobil Devac?
Out of those three, the best oil would be the cheapest. They will all do an excellent job in your engine at reasonable oil change intervals. We've used all three at times and always end up with the Rotella due to pricing and availability everywhere. I would like to use the Delvac but it is always more expensive and harder to find. Delo is a little harder to find here in the midwest but you can find it if you look hard enough.
Also you might want to consider Valvoline Premium Blue. Its an excellent dino HDEO.
i just bought a Frightliner, with a 515 HP S-60 Detroit , just asking what would be the best Dino oil type to used Rottella, Delo, Mobil Devac?
Out of those three, the best oil would be the cheapest. They will all do an excellent job in your engine at reasonable oil change intervals. We've used all three at times and always end up with the Rotella due to pricing and availability everywhere. I would like to use the Delvac but it is always more expensive and harder to find. Delo is a little harder to find here in the midwest but you can find it if you look hard enough.
Also you might want to consider Valvoline Premium Blue. Its an excellent dino HDEO.
Originally Posted By: skellyman
Delvac would be my 1st choice , Delo the next , an I would not use Rotella ever .
What is your issue with Rotella?
I had Rotella T in my Cummins and got an excellent UOA. It now has Rotella T6 and hoping for an even better than excellent UOA.
Delvac would be my 1st choice , Delo the next , an I would not use Rotella ever .
What is your issue with Rotella?
I had Rotella T in my Cummins and got an excellent UOA. It now has Rotella T6 and hoping for an even better than excellent UOA.
Chevron makes some of the finest dino oils, IMO. Delo would be my choice, but any modern CJ-4 rated oil has what it takes.
If it was my rig, I would protect it front to back with Schaeffers. No, not easy to find, but direct order is easy. Just have to plan ahead a little. I pick up the phone and order $375 or more at a time and they ship it to me for free. Simple. They have excellent fuel system treatment too, and it's very economical to use their stuff. The stuff on store shelves is ok. Delvac is my first choice for dino. Rotella has a lot of name recognition. Delo is good too.
Most people have never heard of Schaeffers, yet they are the oldest lubricant blender in the USA. They have excellent products and sell to many large corporations, military, agriculture, and mining...in other words, people who cannot afford to have their very expensive equipment fail or wear out prematurely. Schaeffers does very little if any advertising, except perhaps in a couple racing series. They make conventional, syn-blend, and full synthetic lubricants. Check out their website and history sometime at www.schaefferoil.com
And, fyi, I am not a rep for Schaeffers, just a satisfied customer. Anyone (friends and customers) I have switched over to Schaeffers has been very happy with it and we do some group buying to keep from paying shipping fees.
Most people have never heard of Schaeffers, yet they are the oldest lubricant blender in the USA. They have excellent products and sell to many large corporations, military, agriculture, and mining...in other words, people who cannot afford to have their very expensive equipment fail or wear out prematurely. Schaeffers does very little if any advertising, except perhaps in a couple racing series. They make conventional, syn-blend, and full synthetic lubricants. Check out their website and history sometime at www.schaefferoil.com
And, fyi, I am not a rep for Schaeffers, just a satisfied customer. Anyone (friends and customers) I have switched over to Schaeffers has been very happy with it and we do some group buying to keep from paying shipping fees.
Almost every company uses delo here. Lots pf hate towards rotella here for some reason.
Seems that overall that Chevron oils are much more popular and available out west than here. Although, on my last trip to WM locally, I did notice they now stock gallons of Delo 5W-40 synthetic, so now we have at least one more choice for a good oil, and a couple bucks cheaper than T6.
Any of the oils you mentioned are top quality. If you plan on using the tractor for long haul operations, choose an oil that is readily available as carrying extra oil for top off is a pain. We have been using Chevron Delo 400 15W-40 in our engines for well over thirty years with excellent results. We are now switching over to the Delo synthetic 5W-40 with the idea of extending the oil drain intervals a bit.
Originally Posted By: 46Harry
Any of the oils you mentioned are top quality. If you plan on using the tractor for long haul operations, choose an oil that is readily available as carrying extra oil for top off is a pain. We have been using Chevron Delo 400 15W-40 in our engines for well over thirty years with excellent results. We are now switching over to the Delo synthetic 5W-40 with the idea of extending the oil drain intervals a bit.
Hi, what r ur oci's with the 15w40 and what engines/vehicles? Are u expecting much longer oci's with the 5w40?
Any of the oils you mentioned are top quality. If you plan on using the tractor for long haul operations, choose an oil that is readily available as carrying extra oil for top off is a pain. We have been using Chevron Delo 400 15W-40 in our engines for well over thirty years with excellent results. We are now switching over to the Delo synthetic 5W-40 with the idea of extending the oil drain intervals a bit.
Hi, what r ur oci's with the 15w40 and what engines/vehicles? Are u expecting much longer oci's with the 5w40?
dnewton3
Staff member
Originally Posted By: wanttoknow
i just bought a Frightliner, with a 515 HP S-60 Detroit , just asking what would be the best Dino oil type to used Rottella, Delo, Mobil Devac?
Welcome to the site.
Sir or Ma'am, I have some good news and some bad news for you ...
There is no such thing as the "best" oil. Or filter. Or tire. Or thoothpaste, wine or anything else.
The problem is not the topic; the problem is that you have not well defined the question. When you have such a broad based querry and don't limit the conversation to specifics, you're going to be a WIDE series of answers.
You need to define your:
Severity of use
Intended maintnenace regime and OCI duration
Environmetal concerns
Cost thresholds
Condition of equipment (coolant, fuel, intake leaks?)
etc
The only way to pronounce the "best" lube with certainty is to do a detailed series of micro-analysis trials. That is very time consuming, and takes thousands of dollars and tens-of-thousands of miles. I doubt you have that kind of investment in mind. You need to read my article on UOA normalcy; it's linked with a sticky at the top of this sub-forum.
Allow me to make an analogy, and then I'll come around full circle back to lubes.
Consider the choice of guns and ammunition. Whether you are passionately for or against, or even moot to them, does not matter, the concept will still apply equally well. Any gun will shoot reasonably well with just about any market-based mass produced ammo. So, you have to really define how/why you are going to use the gun, to make a reasonable judgement about the ammo. If you only want to shoot out to 100 yards and 2 MOA, with a bolt action .308Win, then just about any ammo will do that eaily. But if you want to shoot out to 300 yards, and find the most accurate round you can commercially buy, you'll going to have to go through a LARGE series of trials, tasking all kinds of brands, bullet weights, bullet shapes, etc. You'll also have to chart the environmental conditions like temps and wind. And all that is important because every gun has a preference for the "one" combination for that utmost accuracy. But if you don't need the "best", there are MANY, MANY choices that are well more than good enough. It simply depends upon your quest. You see, until you set a threshold of what you need (notice I didn't say "want" but "need") then you're (pardon the pun) shootin' in the dark!
And to come full circle, the same goes for lubes.
There most assuredly is a "best" lube out there, but it would take a HUGE investment of time and money to find which one it was for your unique situation. However any of the qualified CJ-4 lubes will more than well protect your rig in nearly every situation. So your decision to make is what threshold are you going to set? Do you really need the "best" when there are probably more than a dozen lubes that are well more than good enough?
I will venture a wide-angle swag for your quest here:
If you are after a good "bang for the buck" lube and intend to change oil at OEM OCI suggested limits and there is nothing severe in your surrounding conditions, then any CJ-4 rated lube will do just fine. And that includes not only the brand names, but also there are some fine house-brand lubes as well.
So to answer your question, the answer is ...
all of them, none of them, some of them.
i just bought a Frightliner, with a 515 HP S-60 Detroit , just asking what would be the best Dino oil type to used Rottella, Delo, Mobil Devac?
Welcome to the site.
Sir or Ma'am, I have some good news and some bad news for you ...
There is no such thing as the "best" oil. Or filter. Or tire. Or thoothpaste, wine or anything else.
The problem is not the topic; the problem is that you have not well defined the question. When you have such a broad based querry and don't limit the conversation to specifics, you're going to be a WIDE series of answers.
You need to define your:
Severity of use
Intended maintnenace regime and OCI duration
Environmetal concerns
Cost thresholds
Condition of equipment (coolant, fuel, intake leaks?)
etc
The only way to pronounce the "best" lube with certainty is to do a detailed series of micro-analysis trials. That is very time consuming, and takes thousands of dollars and tens-of-thousands of miles. I doubt you have that kind of investment in mind. You need to read my article on UOA normalcy; it's linked with a sticky at the top of this sub-forum.
Allow me to make an analogy, and then I'll come around full circle back to lubes.
Consider the choice of guns and ammunition. Whether you are passionately for or against, or even moot to them, does not matter, the concept will still apply equally well. Any gun will shoot reasonably well with just about any market-based mass produced ammo. So, you have to really define how/why you are going to use the gun, to make a reasonable judgement about the ammo. If you only want to shoot out to 100 yards and 2 MOA, with a bolt action .308Win, then just about any ammo will do that eaily. But if you want to shoot out to 300 yards, and find the most accurate round you can commercially buy, you'll going to have to go through a LARGE series of trials, tasking all kinds of brands, bullet weights, bullet shapes, etc. You'll also have to chart the environmental conditions like temps and wind. And all that is important because every gun has a preference for the "one" combination for that utmost accuracy. But if you don't need the "best", there are MANY, MANY choices that are well more than good enough. It simply depends upon your quest. You see, until you set a threshold of what you need (notice I didn't say "want" but "need") then you're (pardon the pun) shootin' in the dark!
And to come full circle, the same goes for lubes.
There most assuredly is a "best" lube out there, but it would take a HUGE investment of time and money to find which one it was for your unique situation. However any of the qualified CJ-4 lubes will more than well protect your rig in nearly every situation. So your decision to make is what threshold are you going to set? Do you really need the "best" when there are probably more than a dozen lubes that are well more than good enough?
I will venture a wide-angle swag for your quest here:
If you are after a good "bang for the buck" lube and intend to change oil at OEM OCI suggested limits and there is nothing severe in your surrounding conditions, then any CJ-4 rated lube will do just fine. And that includes not only the brand names, but also there are some fine house-brand lubes as well.
So to answer your question, the answer is ...
all of them, none of them, some of them.
Last edited:
Cost is important. Also, don't forget another important thing - choose which is most convenient for you. If you have to go on a wild goose chase to stock your oil, it isn't worth it. Delo up here is routinely available at truck stops, for instance, but to get it at a better price, one has to go elsewhere. For top up, one would never have trouble finding it.
Originally Posted By: Chris142
Almost every company uses delo here. Lots pf hate towards rotella here for some reason.
That is because in the VOA section, 15w40 Delo usually has a stronger add pack than Shell Rotella 15w40.
Almost every company uses delo here. Lots pf hate towards rotella here for some reason.
That is because in the VOA section, 15w40 Delo usually has a stronger add pack than Shell Rotella 15w40.
Originally Posted By: artificialist
Originally Posted By: Chris142
Almost every company uses delo here. Lots pf hate towards rotella here for some reason.
That is because in the VOA section, 15w40 Delo usually has a stronger add pack than Shell Rotella 15w40.
And, as Dnewton has pointed out many times, that is a very poor indicator of actual oil performance in a given application.
When I broached this subject several years ago, the late BITOG member Stinky Peterson of Butler CAT Oil Labs told me that after analysis of thousands of UOAs of HDEO's , he could not determine the holy grail of oils.
With that in mind, how could any of us recommend a "best" oil?
What prompted my conversations with Stinky was an accusation here that a certain oil performed poorly in the Orbahn Shear Test. Ol' Stinky then sent me data that showed how some of the market leaders that performed poorly in this test did best in overall UOA performance over many hundreds of UOA's.
So, yes, Dnewton's advice is excelllent, in my opinion.
Originally Posted By: Chris142
Almost every company uses delo here. Lots pf hate towards rotella here for some reason.
That is because in the VOA section, 15w40 Delo usually has a stronger add pack than Shell Rotella 15w40.
And, as Dnewton has pointed out many times, that is a very poor indicator of actual oil performance in a given application.
When I broached this subject several years ago, the late BITOG member Stinky Peterson of Butler CAT Oil Labs told me that after analysis of thousands of UOAs of HDEO's , he could not determine the holy grail of oils.
With that in mind, how could any of us recommend a "best" oil?
What prompted my conversations with Stinky was an accusation here that a certain oil performed poorly in the Orbahn Shear Test. Ol' Stinky then sent me data that showed how some of the market leaders that performed poorly in this test did best in overall UOA performance over many hundreds of UOA's.
So, yes, Dnewton's advice is excelllent, in my opinion.
I know the ability of an oil is not determined on paper, I remind other members that Castrol GTX looks weak on paper, but works well in gasoline engines.
I was just pointing out a way of thinking that many BITOG members have.
I was just pointing out a way of thinking that many BITOG members have.
thanks for all the inputs, for oils,, my truck has 600k on it, no leaks, no oil buring issues, but is the 1st yr for EGR system Without DPF system. i was told the S60 Detroit runs best on DELO 15/40 so i will try that.. i have no records of what oil type was used in engine because i bought truck at auction.
I have been getting darn good numbers from Delo 15w40 in my 12.7 Series 60. Tried the synthetic Delo for a little while, but the numbers were so close I decided to go back to the conventional version. Only thing I would recommend is using something like the Donaldson Extended Life ELF3998 oil filters. You can get them very reasonable priced at Ryder Fleet Products online. They offer a synthetic mesh filtration down to 15 microns. Great choice for a Series 60 engine.
As a side note, you would come out ahead if you got the EGR portion deleted and a good going over in the ECM programming. You could easily tweak out between .5 and 1 mpg better mpg. For those here not that familiar with heavy diesels in truck, that much mpg improvement would equate to between $5000 and $10,000 a year in fuel savings in the typical operation. There are several guys that can do your engine ECM. I recently had my pre-egr 12.7 500 hp 60 gone over in the ECM. I have picked up an easy .6 mpg improvement. And we bumped the ECM up to 550 hp and 1850 torque. Cost to do it was $300. Recovered the cost in just a few weeks.
As a side note, you would come out ahead if you got the EGR portion deleted and a good going over in the ECM programming. You could easily tweak out between .5 and 1 mpg better mpg. For those here not that familiar with heavy diesels in truck, that much mpg improvement would equate to between $5000 and $10,000 a year in fuel savings in the typical operation. There are several guys that can do your engine ECM. I recently had my pre-egr 12.7 500 hp 60 gone over in the ECM. I have picked up an easy .6 mpg improvement. And we bumped the ECM up to 550 hp and 1850 torque. Cost to do it was $300. Recovered the cost in just a few weeks.
Originally Posted By: artificialist
Originally Posted By: Chris142
Almost every company uses delo here. Lots pf hate towards rotella here for some reason.
That is because in the VOA section, 15w40 Delo usually has a stronger add pack than Shell Rotella 15w40.
I can guarantee you that none of the companies that "would not put Rotella in a lawnmower" have no clue about add packs.
Sort of like the Pennzoil makes sludge people. They heard a story from somebodys cousin and it must be true.
Originally Posted By: Chris142
Almost every company uses delo here. Lots pf hate towards rotella here for some reason.
That is because in the VOA section, 15w40 Delo usually has a stronger add pack than Shell Rotella 15w40.
I can guarantee you that none of the companies that "would not put Rotella in a lawnmower" have no clue about add packs.
Sort of like the Pennzoil makes sludge people. They heard a story from somebodys cousin and it must be true.
- Status