Originally Posted By: D-Roc
With those amount of miles on your last Cummins (w/ Kendal 15W40), did you run the engine in coldsoaked temps with unaided starts on a regular basis?
I think this is what some of the members are referring to...an oil that can cover the bases in winter time, if you cannot plug in.
My self, I personally believe that it has to be pretty cold before you start to see excess wear with dino 15W40 unaided. Then again, it gets cold where I live...sometimes very cold.
In a word... yes. Now let's be realistic. Why would anyone want to try and leave a diesel engine for any great length of time in the cold unaided with the temp low enough to cause a flow problem. There will probably be more issues about getting the vehicle started than whether the oil flows. Even when I was in a remote enough area that I couldn't plug in, I would start the engine every few hours to operating temp and run it for a while. I even had an auto start feature installed that would start the engine once it reached a pre defined cold temp. Also, it begs the question on where the person is located that they cannot get access to less than 1000 watts of power to plug in even the largest oil pan heater. I didn't hear that anyone here lived in a remote portion of the Arctic like I did. And even then, I had access to power if I was shutting the vehicles off for any extended length of time (i.e. more than 8-12 hours). Heck, a SMALL portable generator (1000+ watts) can power the oil pan heater in most everything except a large class 8 truck or D9 Cat engine. Or do we delve into the rediculous and even leave the small, hand carried portable generator out in the elements so that it will have a starting issue as well. The heater does not have to be plugged in every moment the engine is not operating. A couple of hours (add time if temp is real extreme) of the heater plugged in will take care of any starting issues. A healthy dose of common sense will go a long way.
Of course this is all moot if someone likes to see how far they can push an expensive piece of equipment before they destroy it. I think I will opt for some relatively cheap options that will spare a lot of wear and tear on a big investment.
It is not my intent to belittle anyone for jumping back and forth between oil viscosity on a seasonal basis. Just that there is no need to. Even the group IV 15w40 varients will flow quite well down to -30. But it would be extremely cruel to an expensive diesel engine to continuously start it in that temp without a warming aid, assuming, of course that you don't also have a fuel gelling problem or your battery is too cold to have enough amps to crank the engine. But then I don't like taking a engine that I just spent thousands on and not invest, at most, a few hundred dollars to make sure it does not have to suffer any more abuse than necessary.
With those amount of miles on your last Cummins (w/ Kendal 15W40), did you run the engine in coldsoaked temps with unaided starts on a regular basis?
I think this is what some of the members are referring to...an oil that can cover the bases in winter time, if you cannot plug in.
My self, I personally believe that it has to be pretty cold before you start to see excess wear with dino 15W40 unaided. Then again, it gets cold where I live...sometimes very cold.
In a word... yes. Now let's be realistic. Why would anyone want to try and leave a diesel engine for any great length of time in the cold unaided with the temp low enough to cause a flow problem. There will probably be more issues about getting the vehicle started than whether the oil flows. Even when I was in a remote enough area that I couldn't plug in, I would start the engine every few hours to operating temp and run it for a while. I even had an auto start feature installed that would start the engine once it reached a pre defined cold temp. Also, it begs the question on where the person is located that they cannot get access to less than 1000 watts of power to plug in even the largest oil pan heater. I didn't hear that anyone here lived in a remote portion of the Arctic like I did. And even then, I had access to power if I was shutting the vehicles off for any extended length of time (i.e. more than 8-12 hours). Heck, a SMALL portable generator (1000+ watts) can power the oil pan heater in most everything except a large class 8 truck or D9 Cat engine. Or do we delve into the rediculous and even leave the small, hand carried portable generator out in the elements so that it will have a starting issue as well. The heater does not have to be plugged in every moment the engine is not operating. A couple of hours (add time if temp is real extreme) of the heater plugged in will take care of any starting issues. A healthy dose of common sense will go a long way.
Of course this is all moot if someone likes to see how far they can push an expensive piece of equipment before they destroy it. I think I will opt for some relatively cheap options that will spare a lot of wear and tear on a big investment.
It is not my intent to belittle anyone for jumping back and forth between oil viscosity on a seasonal basis. Just that there is no need to. Even the group IV 15w40 varients will flow quite well down to -30. But it would be extremely cruel to an expensive diesel engine to continuously start it in that temp without a warming aid, assuming, of course that you don't also have a fuel gelling problem or your battery is too cold to have enough amps to crank the engine. But then I don't like taking a engine that I just spent thousands on and not invest, at most, a few hundred dollars to make sure it does not have to suffer any more abuse than necessary.
