topping off with non-HDEO

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forgive me if this has been covered before ...

i saw a duramax owner top up with a PCMO 10w30, and i cringed just a little.

now ... i', of the opinion that it is better to top off with something, rather than run it low, but we were only about 5 miles away from a truck stop that carries HDEO's.

just looking for opinions, i guess. what's worse? using a PCMO in a pinch, or running it low until you can get the right stuff?
 
He might have had the right stuff inside that oil jug.

You don't really know for sure what weight oil was in the container of oil that he was using to top off his engine.

I, among many others, sometimes use an empty oil jug or container to carry top-off oil for the crankcase after an oil change. Just because the jug or container shows a particular oil weight does not definitively mean that the container had that spec oil inside the container.
 
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I keep all my orphan quarts and leftover part-quarts in a Redline 0w40 jug I just happened to have laying around.

Never judge a book by its cover!
 
I use a Castrol syntec quart bottle for top ups as its got a jug size cap for refilling and a good see through window to see what the level is.
Also I noticed that some PCMO actually has a commercial api rating, usually not the current spec, but CF. I saw this on some motomaster F1 full synthetic 5W40, but no other F1 full syn oils had a commercial rating. I briefly considered running it my tractor as its not turbo charged, but T6 isn't that much more.
 
Personally, I can't believe these newer SM or SN/CF would be any worse in my old IDIs that the CC or CD oils they were originally spec'ed for-but not in the Cummins, for sure.
 
If I were going to top off with a non HDEO: I would use M1 0W40. It has HDEO viscometrics (HTHS>3.5), a high TBN and good dispersancy, and sufficient Zn/P (1100/1000ppm). And its' base is probably quite similar to the Delvac I use.

Charlie
 
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