6.0L powerstroke towing with 10w30

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Do any of you guys have any UOAs of 10w30 in a 6.0L powerstroke? I have found some with 10w30 but none really said they are towing. I have been using this oil for the past 3500 miles in the MC 10w30 flavor in my truck. I have not done a UOA but I am just curious about how other engines have worn on this platform thing with 10w30. The weight is about 15,000 GCVW. Trailer is about 7000lbs loaded plus gear in the truck. I tow this probably 5000 miles per year mostly from April to October

Forgot to add about 234,000 miles on the truck
 
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I think roadrunner1 had a 6.0 at one point, did some hauling and towing from what I can remember and posted some uoas of it with 10w-30 maybe try a search for those.

In my opinion 7000lbs isn't very much stress on a F350. I realize it's a different motor but there a a couple uoas on here of the newer 6.7 which is more power dense running 10w-30 towing over double your load with great uoas.

The heui system on the 7.3 and 6.0 usually shears 5w-40 or 15w-40 to a 30 anyway where a 10w-30 doesn't shear much at all.
 
Originally Posted by mattd
Do any of you guys have any UOAs of 10w30 in a 6.0L powerstroke? I have found some with 10w30 but none really said they are towing. I have been using this oil for the past 3500 miles in the MC 10w30 flavor in my truck. I have not done a UOA but I am just curious about how other engines have worn on this platform thing with 10w30. The weight is about 15,000 GCVW. Trailer is about 7000lbs loaded plus gear in the truck. I tow this probably 5000 miles per year mostly from April to October

Forgot to add about 234,000 miles on the truck


My buddy on here who used to have a 6.0L PSD that ran on a tune and would tow 13K+ regularly with a full bed ran Delvac 1 5w-40 exclusively. When he was in the engine to do injectors it was spotless.

I don't recall him doing any UOA's unfortunately, but he used this lube on the advice of Doug Hillary, who used to be quite active on here.
 
I studded and deleted it 5 years ago so no worries there
 
As long as it starts OK in cold (sub 10F) temps, or you can plug it in, you'll be fine. I put over 250K on an ‘04 E-350 6.0 PSD van, most of it on Valvoline Premium Blue Extreme 5W40-it didn't like to cold start on MC 10W30 HDEO, even with new batteries, FICM, & 5 new injectors. Unfortunately I had to park it on the street with no power available to plug it in.
 
Originally Posted by bullwinkle
As long as it starts OK in cold (sub 10F) temps, or you can plug it in, you'll be fine. I put over 250K on an ‘04 E-350 6.0 PSD van, most of it on Valvoline Premium Blue Extreme 5W40-it didn't like to cold start on MC 10W30 HDEO, even with new batteries, FICM, & 5 new injectors. Unfortunately I had to park it on the street with no power available to plug it in.


I put new injectors in when I did all the head work 5 years ago. The truck will start with no stiction down to 0*F without being plugged in on the 10w30. My main concern is the HTHS while towing.

Originally Posted by Donald
Why not 5W40 synthetic?


Cost for one. The 5w40 shears quickly down to a 30wt due to the injection system. The add pack on the MC oil is pretty good with the zinc and phosphorus and sill a CJ4 oil.
 
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10W30 also tends to be cheaper, although a little harder to find sometimes. If you have Menards around, they always have Rotella T4 10W30 for a good to great price.
 
Originally Posted by bullwinkle
10W30 also tends to be cheaper, although a little harder to find sometimes. If you have Menards around, they always have Rotella T4 10W30 for a good to great price.


Menards also usually has the 10w30 Valvoline Premium Blue Synthetic Blend HDEO for $12.99 or 13.99 a gallon. It has good amount of Zinc/Phosphorus/Moly/Boron.
 
You'll be fine. This truck here weighs in around 16K without me or tools and and didn't mind T5 10W30 one bit, seemed to run and start better on it than the Chevron 15W40 that the shop always put in. That was on the 6.0 it had when I started driving it (which wasn't original, chassis had 209K) and its replacement that I put about 5K on before changing jobs.

[Linked Image]
 
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Originally Posted by mattd

Originally Posted by Donald
Why not 5W40 synthetic?


Cost for one. The 5w40 shears quickly down to a 30wt due to the injection system. The add pack on the MC oil is pretty good with the zinc and phosphorus and sill a CJ4 oil.


FYI - Many 5W40's will go practically 5000 miles before shearing to what a 10W30 starts at. It depends on the formulation and the amount of VII used. For example, Schaeffer 9000, Mobil 1 TDT, and Mobil Delvac 1 oils (5W40) are all routinely at 12 cSt at 5000 miles. Rotella T6 and Valvoline PBE will shear at a slightly faster rate according to some very limited data I have.

Regardless, if you don't go too long on an oil change, the 10W30 will be fine. Just be aware that 10W30 can shear also (not all of them shear at the same rate though). There is data posted on numerous forums showing 10W30 oil to be in the very low 30 wt range (close to a 20 wt) after 7500 miles. No surprise that it (10W30 oil) will shear more slowly than most 5W40 oils.

Rotella T5 can be as low as 9.5 cSt after 8k miles (below 9.3 is a 20 wt). The viscosity when new is 12 cSt. Some 10W30's shear at a slower rate than T5.

Getting oil on sale (and using rebates) can seriously reduce the price impact of 5W40 oil and 10W30 oil. I have numerous gallons of TDT and Mobil 1 oil purchased between 12 and 15 dollars a gallon.

Viscosity (SUS) vs Miles Driven (Mobil Delvac 1 and TDT 5W40) chart below. Note 66 SUS is essentially 12 cSt.

5W40 viscosity vs miles driven.jpg
 
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As a reference ... the viscosity shearing on 10W30 T5 after 8k miles comes from posts in threads by roadrunner1, who was referenced earlier in this thread. His John Deere +50 10W30 did not sheer as fast. It was down from 12.1 to 10.6 at 7.5k miles, according to him.

My personal Mobile Delvac 1 results were down from 14.4 to 12 at 7.4k miles. Faster shearing than at least the JD +50, but right at the 30 wt starting point. It did not shear faster than the T5 (12 sheared to 9.7 ... when averaging 3 points).

Mobil 1 TDT sheared slightly more (down to 11.8 and 11.9). Schaeffer 9000 sheared even less than the Mobil oils. My personal data on Mobil Delvac 1 and TDT were taken on the second oil change after switching to the oil because of the residual 16% of oil that is held in the system after each oil change). I don't believe the 10W30 oil data included that precaution.

Note - fuel dilution was all under 0.5% (mdl) from Blackstone who only estimates it from flashpoint. Fuel dilution of course would lower the viscosity if it were to occur.
 
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Not sure why there is still some slight paranoia on the part of some folks about using a 30 weight in these small diesels. Every heavy truck engine manufacturer is recommending and factory filling with 10w30. And those engine have to move up to 80,000 lb from Mexico to well into Canada, year round.
 
The topic of shearing is an anecdotal input.
What we should be caring about is the wear metals; the output.

All the data shows that wear rates are essentially identical between 30 and 40 grade lubes, holding other variables constrained such as base stocks, environmental use, etc.

Vis is like FP and other inputs; it's only a predictor to warn of potential shift in wear rates.
Wear rates, themselves, are what tell you how well things are going in the engine.
For most any OCI the typical BITOGer is likely to practice in his 6.0L PSD, the topic of Vis is moot.
 
You may well be right, but you're also speaking to the fringes, not the masses. The specific output in 6.0L PSDs in stock or near-stock condition does not reveal any disparity in wear control referenced to lube grade.

In highly modified engines, there may be differences, there may not be. I don't collect data on the fringe experiences, so I cannot comment one way or another. But it does not interest me, nor does it represent the large, main group of "normal" users, so I ignore that kind of data. Engines that run very high S.O., creating much higher stresses, may experience a preference for lube grade in wear control. But we'd have to get a LOT more data to make a sensible conclusion based on statistical analysis. And again - I don't care to expend the energy on out-lying points in non-standard conditions.
 
FWIW my truck is tuned . Only about an additional 60 hp for towing. I do have a "have some fun" tune but rarely use it.
 
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Originally Posted by dnewton3
The topic of shearing is an anecdotal input.
What we should be caring about is the wear metals; the output.

All the data shows that wear rates are essentially identical between 30 and 40 grade lubes, holding other variables constrained such as base stocks, environmental use, etc.

Vis is like FP and other inputs; it's only a predictor to warn of potential shift in wear rates.
Wear rates, themselves, are what tell you how well things are going in the engine.
For most any OCI the typical BITOGer is likely to practice in his 6.0L PSD, the topic of Vis is moot.


I totally agree w/ the above. The whole shearing issue has been overblown. That said, the discussions will no doubt continue. Shearing rates will continue to be exaggerated on 5W40 oils, and 10W30 oils will continue to be mistakenly assumed to be miraculously immune.

That said, one UOA I recently saw showed wear metals (copper, iron, and perhaps lead) just starting to rise (based on UOA history), but the absolute numbers were still not bad. IMO they were showing the early signs of atypical wear for that engine. The oil was a 10W30 and the viscosity was at 9.6 cSt (almost a 20wt). His mileage on the oil was 16k. He has chosen to keep running it.

No doubt he is one of the "fringe" with 16k + OCI, but I wouldn't say that it was excessively out of operating ranges that many people chose to go (I see a number of people at 10k OCI). He chose this course based on the assumption that 10W30 doesn't shear and that, with his engine, he is focused on the absolute numbers (trends aren't what he will use for decision making).

The fact is, when you are operating on the edge, there are abnormal and unanticipated things that can happen that could become costly when perhaps they wouldn't have been if a conservative approach were being taken. For example, a coolant leak can unexpectedly send temperatures upwards while driving on a long trip. Unexpected fuel dilution from an injector is another possible problem. Operating on the edge of your oils capability, because normal conditions say it is acceptable, might be OK in industry where things are done statistically and the entire maintenance program is designed to protect against many failure modes. That is simply not true for the average vehicle owner. Most individuals would get hit hard from a catastrophic failure of a 20k (+) vehicle. With the 6.0L, caution seems to be even more warranted, lol.

Personally, I appreciate your response above. As you know, statements like "the 6.0L prefers a 30 weight" tend to get me started.
 
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