duramax and synthetic oil..

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i just changed the oil on my 6000 mile duramax..1st two changes were with delo diesel oil.

i want go with synthetic next time..OK? and how long between changes?
i drive 100+ miles a day mostly highway, i live in the high sierras so mountain roads are common.
my 1 ton truck carrys maybe 1000+ lbs of tools/supplys (refigeration stuff).
thanks..
 
spongebob,

Congrats on your new Duramax. I own a 2002 Ford F350 Power Stroke 7.3 diesel, no complaints, like my truck a lot. I am in no way an oil expert, but I have read many positive things about Delo 15w40. I myself do not use a synthetic oil, but presently put in the 15 quarts of Motor Craft Power Stroke 15w40 every 5000 miles or 6 months. No complaiants with the MC oil. If I were to change brands, I would go with the Delo based on what I have read. The synthetic oils are very good, don't get me wrong, I would use a sythetic oil if did a lot of heavy pulling, hauling or lived in extreme cold tepms. I have also read where other Power Stroke owners who use synthetic oil stated their truck started easier using synthetic oil. I guess the best thing to do is let others who know more than me chime in.

Again Congrats on your new rig
Ruby
 
I agree with Ruby, Delo is excellent oil, especially for the price. For synthetic I would go with Schaeffer's 5w40. I'm a big fan of Delo and Schaeffer and have excellent UOA's with these brands. I'm currently using mostly Delo but plan on ordering more Schaeffer's soon. Enjoy your new truck!
 
Well spongebob, you live in the high country and travel at least 500 miles a week. You live in a cold climate in the winter and a hot climate in the summer. You want a synthetic oil....perfect choice. My opinion is the following:

1-Amsoil AME 15-40
2-EA Fullflow oil filter
3-EAO Air Filter

Change the oil and filter every 6 months...that would bring you in the 12,000 mile range. Pablo or Don can set you up and the oil and filter will be delivered to your door.
 
Check with GM on recommendations when switching to synthetics. Cummins recommends waiting something like 20k miles in order to assure proper ring seating. Synthetics are typically more expensive, so if you're planning on using extended change intervals make sure that you'll still be covered under warranty when dong so. Cummins states that the use of a synthetic is not grounds for extending change intervals.

At 20k miles I started using a synthetic blend, and am still doing so. A recent article that I ran across suggests that HDEO 15w40 dino does fine if you have mainly warm starts, but with lots of cold starts you'll see lower wear with a 5w40 PAO synthetic. They didn't look at blends as I recall, but I'll guess that there would be advantages to a 15w40 / 5w40 blend over straight 15W40. I have been using 1 gal of Mobil 1 T&S with 2 gal of Delvac 15W40, but based upon the article I'll bump it up to a 50/50 mix. Next winter I'll probably switch to 100% 5w40.
 
1040 WreckerMan

I will change to the Delo as well if for some reason I can't get the MC 15w40. How many miles on your Power Stroke and what is your change intervals?

Thanks
Ruby
 
I just replied to a Duramax owner that I requested some information from.GM recomends 10,000 OCI's or when the OLM/Oil life monitor say's to change. He said the O6 manual states to change when the OLM say's to perform the OCI. So spongebob I am sure a good synthetic will easily go 12,000 miles with the OLM confirming this.
 
My neighbour hs a 2004 GMC 2500 with the Duramax. We talk oils and performance most of the time. At 10K he swithched from Rotella T to Amsoil 15W40 synthetic (AME). With Amsoil, he now changes his oil every 3 months at 25,000 km (15,000 miles)instead of every 5,000 miles. He drives 90% highway/10% city and accumulates 60,000 miles a year. BTW, he has no difficulty starting at -10F with the 15W40 synthetic.
 
You sound like me a couple of years ago spongebob, when I bought my first Duramax. I did a lot of research on what oil to use, & the only thing I found out for sure was that everyone had a different opinion. So I started doing regular oil analysis every 8,000 miles, just to see what gave me the best results. I tried Rotella, Rotella syn, Mobil 1300 Super, Delo 400, & Mobil 1 Truck & SUV. I think I did around a dozen UOAs total, & I even have a couple samples that I didn't bother to send in.
blush.gif
To be honest with you, there wasn't a whole lot of difference, but the one oil that consistently gave the best results was Delo. It gave the best wear rates, & was the only oil that held it's viscosity. The other oils would slightly thicken due to my EGR equipped Duramax. (I did one UOA with the EGR blocked to see what would happen. Higher TBN & lower SUS visc after 8k miles.)

I drive around 5-6k miles per month with payloads from 50 to 2000 pounds. I've had an '06 Duramax for almost a month now (4900 miles), & once I do a few short OCIs, I'll use Delo & change it when the Oil Life Monitor tells me to, probably ~10-11k miles. (I did a couple 10k UOAs & Blackstone always told me to go longer.) Next winter, I'll switch to a synthetic 5w-40. Not because it gives me better wear results (it never did in my '04), but because it makes a noticable difference during cold starts when the temperature gets below 10-20F.

The Duramax engine seems to be very easy on oil, especially compared to the 6.0 Powerstroke. IMO, I really don't think a synthetic oil is needed in a Duramax, unless you're really working it, or the temperatures are really cold. But do what you're comfortable with. After all, you're the one paying for it.

Sorry for being so long-winded!
cheers.gif
 
What you want is DELLO 400,and a AC Delco oil filter or a Mobile 1 M1-303 oil filter.as far as the air filter the best is the AC Delco hands down .you use Dello 400 and change it and the oil filter every 5000 and you will wear the rest of the truck out before you do the engine.on the 2005 and newer Duramax you can block the EGR and the oil will stay cleaner longer and you can see the difference right away .by the way anyone who tells you that any other air filter is better than the AC delco air filter is full of it .you can spend more but you aint going to get better oil for that Duramax than Dello 400.
 
Sorry for the delayed replay Ruby, my 01 has 51,000 and it gets changed at 4000 miles with delo currently. The 01 is my toy/toy hauler so I'm constantly tinkering, thus the 4K OCI. I've got a 97 with about 222,000 and it has the last of my Schaeffer’s in it. I run that 8K and could easily go 10K, IMO.

The 01 doesn't see much cold weather use and it always plugged in combined with the change interval the delo give excellent service. The work truck sees a lot cold weather operation and many times can't be plugged in so I use a syn in that. I have at times run delo in the 97 with good results, but I like the extra protection with the syn. And I may be switching the 01 over as well as I'm considering going to "big oil" on that truck.
cheers.gif
 
I also have 6500 miles on my 2005 Duramax. The first 2 oil changes have been with Delo 400 and this last change I put in Amsoil Synthetic Blend. At 10,000 miles I will be switching to Amsoil Full Synthetic. I have never had an issue with amsoil products and they are shipped right to my front door. Not to mention the 2.5 gallon container is PERFECT for the Duramax.

My truck usually sees 20-30 mile trips, but I plan to use it for speed and power more than anything. It had had a Quadzilla 135hp/300tq Stealth tuner on it since new.
 
1040 WreckerMan,

Thanks for the feedback. Sounds like your trucks are running well. If I dis-continue using the MC 15w40 down the road, at this point I would go with the Delo sticking with the MC oil filter changing oil/oil filter every 5000 miles/6 months.

Thanks again
Ruby
 
I would just stick with the Delo 400. I used it in my old 2003 and in my current 2004 Duramax and it performs great! I LOVE IT!
 
The big advantage of a synthetic oil in a TURBO diesel engine is not necessarily lower wear numbers, but the ability to resist high temp burnoff. I'm not 100% sold on lower wear numbers with synthetic because both dino and syn oils function the same....to protect your engine.
 
Spongebob


I could not have said it better than Wyandot and he has done his homework as well, so I will paste what he said below to review. Use the AC PF 2232 filter and change when the oil change monitor directs you to most likely around 10,000 miles. The Duramax 6600 has a large oil cooler that keeps oil temp down. For cold starting if not using block heater or in warmed garage select the correct visicosity oil. Most likely for your temperatures spring,summer, and fall use 15W-40 Dello, cold part of winter lighter grade oil per owners manual diesel supplement.

"You sound like me a couple of years ago spongebob, when I bought my first Duramax. I did a lot of research on what oil to use, & the only thing I found out for sure was that everyone had a different opinion. So I started doing regular oil analysis every 8,000 miles, just to see what gave me the best results. I tried Rotella, Rotella syn, Mobil 1300 Super, Delo 400, & Mobil 1 Truck & SUV. I think I did around a dozen UOAs total, & I even have a couple samples that I didn't bother to send in. To be honest with you, there wasn't a whole lot of difference, but the one oil that consistently gave the best results was Delo. It gave the best wear rates, & was the only oil that held it's viscosity. The other oils would slightly thicken due to my EGR equipped Duramax. (I did one UOA with the EGR blocked to see what would happen. Higher TBN & lower SUS visc after 8k miles.)

I drive around 5-6k miles per month with payloads from 50 to 2000 pounds. I've had an '06 Duramax for almost a month now (4900 miles), & once I do a few short OCIs, I'll use Delo & change it when the Oil Life Monitor tells me to, probably ~10-11k miles. (I did a couple 10k UOAs & Blackstone always told me to go longer.) Next winter, I'll switch to a synthetic 5w-40. Not because it gives me better wear results (it never did in my '04), but because it makes a noticable difference during cold starts when the temperature gets below 10-20F.

The Duramax engine seems to be very easy on oil, especially compared to the 6.0 Powerstroke. IMO, I really don't think a synthetic oil is needed in a Duramax, unless you're really working it, or the temperatures are really cold. But do what you're comfortable with. After all, you're the one paying for it."

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