Big rigs-how many quarts of oil?

[Patman]

I'm just curious, how many quarts (or gallons) of oil do those big rigs (18 wheelers) have?

And how often do most of those guys change their oil? (the ones not using bypass filters that is)

 

[BOBISTHEOILGUY]

10 to 15 gals depending on the engine.

Some drivers go average of 10 to 15,000 miles oil drains which is what most standard oils can handle. Also, it is noteworthy to notice that most of those same trucks are doing an in frame overhaul at 6-700,000 miles as well.

Trucks we sell Schaeffers to,(ones that get on the program early in the engines life) usually ends up with 25 to 40,000 mile drain intervals and normally make it up to the million mile mark. Of course this is with many and do vary from truck to truck depending on the maintainence practices. I know there is other oils particularly delvac 1 that seems to do well in that area as well from the analysis I have seen.

Delo and rotella do not fair as well, although delo seems to better than shell when it comes to the analysis reports that cross my desk.

 

[Patman]

With 10k intervals I guess they must change their oil quite often! In a case like that it definitely pays off to use not only a long interval oil, but a bypass setup too. I'd hate to be the guy doing the oil change, waiting for all that oil to come out! Not only that, but imagine if he had to pour it all back in one quart at a time?

 

[BOBISTHEOILGUY]

My truck lube center does one in half hour or less. Uses pump from tanks/ 55 gal drums.

Average driver otr will do between 3200 miles to 4000 miles a week.

Average local driver 1000 to 1500 miles a week.

Most otr drivers, running conventional delo or rotella do monthly to bi monthly oil changes if they value their engines. A lot of major companies such as one of which I drove for years back did it when ever you got into the yard and was close to drain time.

 

[JakeGMCHD]

BOBISTHEOILGUY,
You missed one thing about OTRs and that is they don't typically change their oil by miles as much as they change it by engine hours. Do to idling.

 

[BOBISTHEOILGUY]

Jake, you'd think that wouldn't you, but not the case. Most OTR drivers do it by milage. First, it's easier to keep track of milage as there is no hobb's meters on most trucks, second, newer trucks are now equip'd with auto shutdowns that if they idle more than 15mins, it will shut the engine down and require recranking. Kinda pain in the kester but that's new technology at it's best.

I wouldn't be suprised if they have incorporated the oil change indicator into these systems yet but since it's been quite some time since I've been OTR and driven a new truck, I can't say for sure. Most all my trucking companies I work with don't have new trucks mainly because of the new emmission requirements being imposed on the new trucks.

 

[widman]

A lot of them down here have centrifugal filters as well. When it comes to changing oil, the centrifuge is caked with crud.

 

[MolaKule]

Widman, you have a private message!

 

[ssmokn]

Wow! PF58 is the big filter for the LS1. The Caddy Northstar uses that filter and I always think to myself how SMALL it is. I guess it is all relative.

I recently started using the Walmart (Black version) Super Tech ST2 in my 4.6L V8 Fords. This is the replacement for the Motorcraft FL820-S.

I queried Champion Labs via email on the specs and here is the reply I got:

"The single pass and the multi-pass efficiency ratings listed are based on
the efficiency of removing 10 - 20 micron sized particle beads. The media
used in the Super Tech oil filters averages around 20 micron nominal."

 

[deepsquat]

How much does a rebuild cost on a typical big rig?? I know that about 12 years ago when I herring fished for a living my boss had a 6 cylinder 2 stroke turbo rebuilt and it cost $12000 ...is that about right today or is it closer to 20000???
BTW point of interest for longevity..many of the salmon fishing boats up here use engine from WWII tank and what not...when rebuilding they just press in new cylinder sleeve and start over again....the blocks must be built like a tank huh?

 

[MolaKule]

"the blocks must be built like a tank huh? " Ooooohh, Ughh, I just caught that!

 

[BOBISTHEOILGUY]

Good one deepsquat...

I have a boat that has a leaking sleeve(liner) where electrolisis has ate through the liner which is what most diesels use now adays. The problem is most will run straight water in the cooling system or run antifreeze without taking the time to change the fluid and also check the ph balance for acidity. As glycol breaks down it becomes acidic and then creates electrolisis which attacks these liners then water starts entering the piston area then over heating the engine. He stated it's gonna cost approx 13 to 18,000 to rebuild this motor if it comes down to that but I suspect he wont go that far. So yes avg cost is about the same on big trucks as well.

 

[TheTanSedan]

Most rigs I've driven were 12-15 gallons capacity and 15-18,000 mile/changeover; Detroit, Cat and Cummins.

Most were also past 600,000 having each had over a half-dozen drivers, plenty of all-night idling (pretty much 6/nights week), no auto-shut-off or other gizmos besides fast idle ramp-up.

Consumption was generally 6-8000/mile per gallon topoff.

Clutches and transmissions were replaced before motors, most were auctioned off at 650-800,000 miles with plenty of miles left before an in-frame needed.

Smart companies and conscientious drivers can take 'em a long ways, even with no shut-off for 6 days week except to fuel daily; though, for many reasons, this is not "ideal".

 

[groomernut]

I run a S60 detroit in my KW and it holds 10 gallons. It won't use a quart of oil for the first 6-7000 miles. Then it starts to gradually use oil more and more and I change it at 12000. I do mostly local runs and I can tell when I idle more it will use more. I figure it is getting more soot and that is causing the oil consumption. If I idle more I may change it at 10000 or if I idle less I may change it at 15000. I watch consumption and use that as an indicator i guess

 

[Gene K]

The largest capacity I can think of is a CAT 3406E with hydraulic Brake Saver option and the optional bypass filter. 20 gal (80 qt) capacity.

Most over the road engines without a bypass filter hold 9.0 - 11.0 gal.

 

[Justin]

quote:

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Originally posted by Patman:
I'm just curious, how many quarts (or gallons) of oil do those big rigs (18 wheelers) have?

And how often do most of those guys change their oil? (the ones not using bypass filters that is)

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Largest I've seen was on an old KT600...16 gallons on a full change.