Rotella and Mobil 1 compatability.

[George7941]

I take care of a small fleet of trucks and I use Mobil 1 0W40 ESP in our cold winters. In spring I switch over to Rotella 15w40 which I buy by the 20l pail for about $55. Mobil Delvac Super 1300 is available this year, on sale, for $65 per 20l pail, just a $10 difference.

Is it worth spending this small extra amount to stay with a Mobil oil year round? I am thinking of possible additives incompatibility between different brands.

 

[Clevy]

There is no such thing as additive compatibility problems. Use rotella if you like. I never use the same brand oil for 2 consecutive oil changes yet I've never had a single problem with deposits nor oil incompatibility.
Engine oils are far more similar then they are different.

 

[dparm]

If they're API approved they must mix with other API oils. It's not optimal, but you can do it.

 

[Garak]

How about Delvac 1 ESP 5w-40 year round, which has the longer drain spec anyhow?

 

[CurtisB]

George changing oil brands is perfectly normal for many fleets. The company I drive for now does two oil changes a year. They use either Petro-Canada Duron-E 5/40 or Rotella T6 5/40 for our winter change. For summer they use conventional, either Chevron Delo 15/40 or Shell T 15/40.

 

[George7941]

Originally Posted By: Garak
How about Delvac 1 ESP 5w-40 year round, which has the longer drain spec anyhow?


Longer than Delvac 1 ESP 0w40 or longer than Rotella T 15w40? And do I gain anything from switching from Delvac 1 ESP 0w40 to Delvac 1 ESP 5w40?

 

[Garak]

The 5w-40 has the higher TBN and the ACEA longer drain specifications to go with it. It should be a better long drain oil than either of the other options. The Rotella 5w-40 has similar specifications, but in my experience, the Delvac 1 5w-40 is available at a much cheaper price.

 

[SilverC6]

If using the dino Delvac lets you sleep at night, use it.

Sounds like the cost difference is incidental.

Ask your Mobil supplier to match the Rotella deal to keep your business.

 

[George7941]

The Rotella deal is a Walmart Canada sale 25% off and Canadian Tire sale is not far off at a few dollars more. The Rotella sale comes up about every two months and I go and load up a shopping cart with all the Rotella pails on the shelf. The Mobil 1300 Super is on sale at Canadian Tire this week. I doubt my Mobil 0w40 supplier, Noco, can match the Rotella price on the Mobil 1300. I haven't asked, though.

From the recommendations so far, I am leaning towards staying with Rotella and saving the money.

 

[Garak]

The Imperial Oil distributor will also have occasional sales on the Delvac, but I'm sure you're aware that coming across that is luck as much as anything else.

 

[George7941]

I just noticed you are using Delvac 1 5w40 ESP in your Infinity. The oil meets SN as per the Mobil site but does it meet GF4? I was told by Shell that Rotella T CJ4 does not meet GF4 because of too much Zinc - Rotella has .12 ppm of zinc whereas GF4 restricts it to .08ppm to avoid gas engine catalyst poisoning. When I bought my GMC in 2006, I looked into using HDEO but was informed I should not.

 

[dnewton3]

For any given application, the API fluids are compatible. No harm will come to the engines if you mix the fluids.

The only downside would be if you intend to do UOA trending to find a "best" fit oil. Can't be done when you hop willy-nilly from brand/grade to brand/grade. However, that does not stop most any BITOGer from doing as such, and then drawing flawed conclusions ...

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: George7941
I just noticed you are using Delvac 1 5w40 ESP in your Infinity.

Rotella and Delvac 1 don't meet ILSAC for more than just zinc and phosphorous. They are too thick. Even Mobil Delvac 1 LE 5w-30 doesn't get ILSAC certification because of its thickness, despite its very low phosphorous.

I'm not terribly worried. If Shell doesn't want people using Rotella in modern gasoline engines, they should get rid of the gasoline specification. Mobil specifically mentions high performance gasoline applications in their data sheets for Delvac 1. In any event, I had a stash of it hanging around and want to use it. Aside from that, the price of the product is just about too good to pass up from a Canadian perspective. Considering its regular price is in the regular price range of most conventionals, it's a very tempting choice.

 

[George7941]

Originally Posted By: Garak

I'm not terribly worried. If Shell doesn't want people using Rotella in modern gasoline engines, they should get rid of the gasoline specification. Mobil specifically mentions high performance gasoline applications in their data sheets for Delvac 1.


I don't think you are using HDEO in your gasoline car just to "show" Shell and Mobil. In my case I decided against using HDEO because of risk of damage to the Cats on the truck.

Do you have emissions testing in Regina? In Toronto if the Cats set a code then the vehicle will not pass the emissions test. In your case you either do not have emissions testing or, if you do, you feel the risk of damage to the Cats is minimal by using HDEO.

 

[Garak]

No, I'm not doing it to "show" Shell and Mobil. Mobil is perfectly fine (within reason) with using Delvac 1 in gasoline applications.

Using HDEO will not automatically set off a catcon code. Cats can fail with PCMO just like HDEO. We don't have emissions testing here and I'm not worried. Even without emissions testing, if there was a failure, I'd replace it anyhow.

If a car is consuming a lot of oil, its cat is going to be in trouble in any event. Automakers applied pressure for phosphorous reduction from oils because they were required to warrant emissions systems for longer. They're only worried about catalytic converter life in an indirect way. I can't say I've heard about a lot of warranty claims for catcons, either.

 

[amptramp]

I was in a Canadian Tire store recently and saw Rotella T6 0W-40 with and API-SN rating. Apparently this is a Canada-only version of the oil so we finally get something better than our American neighbours. With a 0W-40 available, why not run it year round? I used to run Mobil 1 5W-30 but it seemed to thin out after a while, so I changed to Pennzoil Platinum 5W-30 and I have been happy with that, but the prospect of a good 0W-40 means I may be making another change.

 

[Garak]

I'll have to take a peek next time I'm there. I don't pay a lot of attention to their HDEOs since they are rather overpriced and can be had elsewhere for better prices. But, there's certainly nothing wrong with a Rotella 0w-40, assuming it's a fit for the engine and conditions.