Winter oil - 7.3L diesel

[01F450]

I have a 2001 7.3L Ford diesel truck running 15W40 Delo. The temperatures have been dropping at night down to the 20’s. In the morning, I notice for the first few seconds after starting that the engine runs a little rough, below 40F. I have a high pressure oil (ICP) gauge and can see that the pressure at start is much higher (1800psi versus 1000psi normal) at these temps and would guess this is from the oil being thicker at colder temperatures. The pump is likely working a lot harder to push the oil through the injectors. Based on this I am considering running a 5W40 oil. I know that Rotella, Delo, and Amsoil have this weight of oil. Any recommendations based on these different brands? From what I have read, the 5W40 is fairly popular for these diesels during winter months. A while back, I did run the Amsoil series 3000 which worked pretty well cold starting, but was not sure the 5W30 was the right oil for these diesels or not.

I have been running Amsoil filters. Are the Amsoil oil filters pretty decent or are there better options out there? Thanks.

 

[Paul2007]

I have had great results with Mobil 1 5W-40 Truck oil. According to Ford, you can use a 10W30 oil at temps below 20F. I occasionally see it in China-Mart (quarts only) alongside the Motorcraft 15W-40. Ford also now has a Motorcraft 5W-40 Synthetic oil out. Advance usually has MC 15W-40 in 5 qt. jugs, maybe they could get you some 5W40.

 

[D-Roc]

Head across the border if you're close and try for some Esso XD3 0W40...my picks would be Delvac 1 5W40 (ESP, or CI4+), or RTS.

 

[bmwtechguy]

Mobil 1 5W-40 is good for cold weather. Rotella 5W-40 too, and less expensive. Delo 5W-40 would work well, if you could find it in your area.

Schaeffers has a 5W-40 or even their 15W-40 blend would do well at your temps. These are 2 of my favorite oils overall.

Amsoil AME 15W-40 would do better than your Delo at cold temps.
Amsoil ACD 10W-30 would be a good winter choice for you as well and cost a tad less. The DEO 5W-40 would be another option.

Amsoil filters are excellent for flow and filtration, but expensive, especially if changed every 5-10k miles. You can find Motorcraft and Mobil 1 filters for about $10 each. Other suitable brands for less. Amsoil is more than twice that, IIRC. Their oil filters are rated up to 1 year or 25k miles, even in diesel apps now.

I change oil on one customer's 97 Powerstroke 7.3 every 10k miles and use either a MC or M1 oil filter. This combo works well for him price-wise, and the performance of the engine on cold starts is very good. Engine uses no oil between changes.

 

[Steve S]

That 5w30 will work .I wonder if the 15w/40 amsoil diesel Marine would make you happy it is a wonderful oil as you seem happy with amsoil.It will last a long time.

 

[01F450]

Thanks for all the info.

I have heard good things about Schaeffers, but not sure if any of the common auto shops carry that. Do you normally just order online for that brand oil? Does Schaeffer's have any advantages, disadvantages compared to Mobil 1 or Amsoil? I also did not know Motorcraft has a 5W40, but will look into that one as well.

I have been changing my oil around every 5k or 6 months whichever comes first. I hope to get as much mileage as I can out of my engine. With my lower mile change interval I might go with either Motorcraft or Mobil 1 filter depending on which one I can find. Looks like the Amsoil filter for my truck is currently priced at just over $21.

 

[Jim Allen]

Don't forget the Mortorcraft 0W30 HDEO oil that has just come out, though we don't really have a track record on it yet. Plus, I haven't seen it yet either.

 

[bmwtechguy]

Here's an idea that might have some merit. Use syn during the cold weather, starting in September. Then when the warm weather shows up in May, change to any of the 15W-40 HDEO's, such as your Delo 15W-40. With your kind of miles, the Rotella 5W-40 would be the lowest price syn for the winter months and ususally readily available.

The other oils in this thread are very good as well, but might not be as cost-effective if changed as often as you do.

As for Schaeffers, if you cannot find it locally, you should contact the Schaeffer site sponsor here Mark, and he would hook you up with some excellent oil, shipped right to your door. Either of those Schaeffers oils would go the full year or 10-12k miles, as would the other synthetics on this page, unless you are just going short trips without warming up your oil completely. Then I would stick with your 6 month interval.

You asked about any advantage or disadvantage between these oils. All 3 of those you mentioned are excellent. I think that one advantage with Schaeffers is their proprietary additives called Micron Moly and Penetro, which have been shown to reduce wear and friction very well. I always see very low wear on oil analysis reports with Schaeffers. I have used all 3 synthetic brands and can say they all work very well and all are low-wearing and shear resistant. I would consider buying whichever one I could get the best deal on.

The 97 Powerstroke I mentioned above is on Rotella 5W-40 year-round and gets changed every 10k miles along with the filter. I'm sure it could go longer as he usually drives longer trips with full warm-ups. That is a huge sump and filter on those engines.

 

[Steve S]

Looking at the UOAs posted using Shaeffers oils ,they are aweson oils.

 

[D-Roc]

Originally Posted By: Jim Allen
Don't forget the Mortorcraft 0W30 HDEO oil that has just come out, though we don't really have a track record on it yet. Plus, I haven't seen it yet either.


I wonder how that (MC 0W30 HDEO) would work in my rig...

 

[artificialist]

Originally Posted By: D-Roc
Originally Posted By: Jim Allen
Don't forget the Mortorcraft 0W30 HDEO oil that has just come out, though we don't really have a track record on it yet. Plus, I haven't seen it yet either.


I wonder how that (MC 0W30 HDEO) would work in my rig...

Since you have a 2006 truck that uses either CI4, CI4+, or CJ oils, and the new Motorcraft oil is CH, I would say that you should avoid it.

 

[salesrep]

Both our 9000 series 4-40 and 700 series 15-40 have proven to work great with these engines.

 

[D-Roc]

Originally Posted By: artificialist
Originally Posted By: D-Roc
Originally Posted By: Jim Allen
Don't forget the Mortorcraft 0W30 HDEO oil that has just come out, though we don't really have a track record on it yet. Plus, I haven't seen it yet either.


I wonder how that (MC 0W30 HDEO) would work in my rig...

Since you have a 2006 truck that uses either CI4, CI4+, or CJ oils, and the new Motorcraft oil is CH, I would say that you should avoid it.


ahhhh...I thought it was a new CJ4 formula. Thanks for the heads up. Not too many 0W30's (HDEO) out there that meet the latest and greatest.

 

[Ken2]

The advantage Schaeffer offers is quality and performance equal or superior to any at a lower cost. Be aware that in some engines the syn blend is consumed at a higher rate than expected for a couple of oil changes. It's a chemical process, not leakage, which I don't fully understand. It isn't every engine, and it will take care of itself after a time, but don't be surprised. I've used the 700 series syn blends with no problem for years, but I've seen the short-term consumption on other engines.

 

[01F450]

Originally Posted By: bmwtechguy
Here's an idea that might have some merit. Use syn during the cold weather, starting in September. Then when the warm weather shows up in May, change to any of the 15W-40 HDEO's, such as your Delo 15W-40. With your kind of miles, the Rotella 5W-40 would be the lowest price syn for the winter months and ususally readily available.

The other oils in this thread are very good as well, but might not be as cost-effective if changed as often as you do.

As for Schaeffers, if you cannot find it locally, you should contact the Schaeffer site sponsor here Mark, and he would hook you up with some excellent oil, shipped right to your door. Either of those Schaeffers oils would go the full year or 10-12k miles, as would the other synthetics on this page, unless you are just going short trips without warming up your oil completely. Then I would stick with your 6 month interval.

You asked about any advantage or disadvantage between these oils. All 3 of those you mentioned are excellent. I think that one advantage with Schaeffers is their proprietary additives called Micron Moly and Penetro, which have been shown to reduce wear and friction very well. I always see very low wear on oil analysis reports with Schaeffers. I have used all 3 synthetic brands and can say they all work very well and all are low-wearing and shear resistant. I would consider buying whichever one I could get the best deal on.

The 97 Powerstroke I mentioned above is on Rotella 5W-40 year-round and gets changed every 10k miles along with the filter. I'm sure it could go longer as he usually drives longer trips with full warm-ups. That is a huge sump and filter on those engines.


Thanks again.

I will look into the Rotella 5w40. I think I am also going to contact the sponser on this site regarding the Schaeffer's oil to compare pricing. I believe their 9000 line is available as a 5w40 from looking at the Schaeffer's site. I do like the idea of reduced wear and friction.

I usually let my engine warm up as much as possible. I generally let it run 10 minutes before driving and sometimes try to leave the engine running for short stops.

 

[01F450]

Originally Posted By: Ken2
The advantage Schaeffer offers is quality and performance equal or superior to any at a lower cost. Be aware that in some engines the syn blend is consumed at a higher rate than expected for a couple of oil changes. It's a chemical process, not leakage, which I don't fully understand. It isn't every engine, and it will take care of itself after a time, but don't be surprised. I've used the 700 series syn blends with no problem for years, but I've seen the short-term consumption on other engines.


That is good to know. I believe when I ran the syn oil (Amsoil) a couple years back that the consumption was around the same, maybe slightly more initially. The Delo I am running now has worked well with consumption. I went 2,000 miles and the oil level was still around the same as before.

 

[TiredTrucker]

As I posted in a couple of other threads.... why waste your time changing viscosity and oil brands just because of cold weather? A oil pan heater pad will do the trick. Will keep the oil warm while engine off and the heat will rise making for easy startups.

And all this garbage about the oil getting cold in the pan even during operation is just that... garbage. You would have to run the oil thru a radiator after reaching the 180-200 degrees in the engine to get it that cold in the short time it is in the pan. Warm up your engine on even a -70F day, and grab onto the oil filter. It should be cold to the touch if the oil got cold enough to cause a flow problem since the oil goes from the pan to the filter.

I may not have the technical knowledge that some here have, but I have over 45 years of real world experience with diesels in farm equipment, construction equipment, pickups, semi's, etc. And 6 full years of operating equipment and trucks in the Alaskan interior. Even put on over 1.4 million miles on my last Cummins using 15w40 Kendall year round and only had to replace a head gasket, a couple of injectors, and an accessory drive seal. And that truck covered 48 states and all of Canada year round.

If you want to try a different brand for better lubricating qualities, I can concur with that idea. But all this chatter on the forums about needing a "thinner" oil for winter is grade a bull muffins. A oil pan heater pad will cure what ails you. We had no problem using 15w40 dino oils in Alaska year round. Even with the equipment or trucks shut off for days at a time. The oil pan heater in conjunction with a block heater in those low temps made for hassle free startups. Even at those low temps, I never had a diesel fuel gell up (and, in fact, never have) since I was contientious about the quality and treatment of the fuel I put in.

 

[D-Roc]

Originally Posted By: TiredTrucker
As I posted in a couple of other threads.... why waste your time changing viscosity and oil brands just because of cold weather? A oil pan heater pad will do the trick. Will keep the oil warm while engine off and the heat will rise making for easy startups.

And all this garbage about the oil getting cold in the pan even during operation is just that... garbage. You would have to run the oil thru a radiator after reaching the 180-200 degrees in the engine to get it that cold in the short time it is in the pan. Warm up your engine on even a -70F day, and grab onto the oil filter. It should be cold to the touch if the oil got cold enough to cause a flow problem since the oil goes from the pan to the filter.

I may not have the technical knowledge that some here have, but I have over 45 years of real world experience with diesels in farm equipment, construction equipment, pickups, semi's, etc. And 6 full years of operating equipment and trucks in the Alaskan interior. Even put on over 1.4 million miles on my last Cummins using 15w40 Kendall year round and only had to replace a head gasket, a couple of injectors, and an accessory drive seal. And that truck covered 48 states and all of Canada year round.

If you want to try a different brand for better lubricating qualities, I can concur with that idea. But all this chatter on the forums about needing a "thinner" oil for winter is grade a bull muffins. A oil pan heater pad will cure what ails you. We had no problem using 15w40 dino oils in Alaska year round. Even with the equipment or trucks shut off for days at a time. The oil pan heater in conjunction with a block heater in those low temps made for hassle free startups. Even at those low temps, I never had a diesel fuel gell up (and, in fact, never have) since I was contientious about the quality and treatment of the fuel I put in.


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.

 

[Rob_Roy]

Originally Posted By: 01F450
I will look into the Rotella 5w40. I think I am also going to contact the sponser on this site regarding the Schaeffer's oil to compare pricing. I believe their 9000 line is available as a 5w40 from looking at the Schaeffer's site. I do like the idea of reduced wear and friction.


I purchased a 55 gallon drum of the Supreme 9000 5w40 from Mark (salesrep) a few weeks ago and already changed some of our equipment from conventional 15w40 to the Schaeffers 5w40. We have had some cold mornings (25F) since then and I can tell you firsthand that the cold start performance of this oil is outstanding. In addition to being a great oil, Schaeffer's beat the price of Rotella 5w40 from our local distributor.

Oil pan heaters are great when the equipment is near an electrical outlet or you have time for a generator, but when you have a bulldozer/excavator/log-skidder that has been out in the snow and wind all night and it is time to go at daylight...synthetic engine oil really pays off.

 

[RWEST]

Quote:
Oil pan heaters are great when the equipment is near an electrical outlet or you have time for a generator, but when you have a bulldozer/excavator/log-skidder that has been out in the snow and wind all night and it is time to go at daylight...synthetic engine oil really pays off.

Agreed. Excellent point.

The difference in cranking between dino 15-40 and RTS 5-40 in my Yanmar diesel (admittedly NOT a 7.3, as this thread covers) on cold mornings, after sitting in an unheated garage in 10 degree weather overnight, was definitely noticeable.