1986 international s1900 w/ DTI-466 B210C

[Autodiculous]

so for this engine it is recommended by international to run 15w40 fleetguard

I would like a synthetic but I will be using it in winter so would it be advisable to go with say a 10w or even 5w 40?

And being an older turbo diesel with 250k miles on it could I start running rotella t6? I am unsure what was used before. Could I run mobile1 extended performance instead?

any help would be great! Thank You!

 

[ka9mnx]

15w-40 conventional is more than adequate, Summer or Winter. 10w or 5w is not recommended or required.

 

[krismoriah72]

Originally Posted by Autodiculous
so for this engine it is recommended by international to run 15w40 fleetguard

I would like a synthetic but I will be using it in winter so would it be advisable to go with say a 10w or even 5w 40?

And being an older turbo diesel with 250k miles on it could I start running rotella t6? I am unsure what was used before. Could I run mobile1 extended performance instead?

any help would be great! Thank You!


I have had 30+ Class A trucks and never used synthetic engine oil. A few units were pushing a million miles. I have done 5 inframes and none were oil related.. all had to do with liners.

Worry more about clean air and clean fuel than synthetic oils.

Ive not heard of fleetguard.. ive heard of Super S Fleetgard.

With that being said just go with T4 15w40 its available anywhere and is stout.

 

[Rob_Roy]

I can't see it getting cold enough in California to require a synthetic engine oil. 15w-40 should be more than adequate. If you are worried about the occasional cold snap, an oil pan heater is another option.

 

[PimTac]

Originally Posted by Rob_Roy
I can't see it getting cold enough in California to require a synthetic engine oil. 15w-40 should be more than adequate. If you are worried about the occasional cold snap, an oil pan heater is another option.




It depends on where in California.

 

[dnewton3]

Originally Posted by PimTac
Originally Posted by Rob_Roy
I can't see it getting cold enough in California to require a synthetic engine oil. 15w-40 should be more than adequate. If you are worried about the occasional cold snap, an oil pan heater is another option.


It depends on where in California.

Yup - just ask the Donner party ...

Although, 15w-40 is still OK for occasional cold starts, for sure. Typically it's fine down to 20 degF with no real issues. This is a matter of not only the cold temps, but the frequency of those expected temps. If you only occasionally get down to 20F or so, then 15w-40 is fine year round. If it's 20F all winter long then a thinner 10w-30 might be better.

And ... it's not really about wear rates and those cold temps. I've got a bazillion UOAs that show wear is not greatly affected by some cold starts. What REALLY matters in a diesel is the cold-cranking ability of the rotating assembly. When it's really cold outside, that parasitic drag of thicker oil make make just that slight difference in spinning the engine not quite fast enough to get enough compression heat for ignition. In older IDI diesels, this was most certainly a concern. In modern CRD injected engines with intake heaters, it's not quite as much of an issue.

I've seen plenty of data to show that either 15w-40 and 10w-30 will work just fine year round in most any environment and service factor.

 

[LubricatusObsess]

dnewton - I am glad you are back. I remember you from 4 years ago when I was still working @ Cummins.

The issue with changing between winter and summer oils is for those that don't put on enough miles to coordinate OCI's with seasons. Which is why we use Shell Rotella T6 5W-40. Here in central MN, the high temperatures don't even get to 20 degrees for much of the winter.

Granted, the percentage of people dumb enough to live here and have lower mileage is a small portion of the overall oil change population, but it's more than just a couple of people.

 

[Merek]

If you're concerned about cold temps you could run Shell Rotella T5 15w40 or T6 5w40 15w40, Chevron Delo 400 XLE 15w40, or XSP 5w40. We have a Ford tractor that's a bit hard to start in the winter where it sits inside an unheated garage so you have to plug it in when the temps get below 40 degrees and using Shell Rotella T4 15w40. I switched over to the T5 last year which made a huge improvement and didn't have to use the block heater even once, I've since changed it again but now using XLE 15w40 which is a bit cheaper than the T5. I'm sure the Rotella is more stout of an oil for diesels as it doesn't have the SN rating which Delo has.

Yes you can switch from conventional to synthetic at any time or even change back. I would probably use one of the blended 15w40 oils for a shorter interval because when switching over to a synthetic it will clean out some of the crud and blended oils are also cheaper so you won't be wasting money by paying extra for the full synthetic only to not run it for a full change.