Recent content by heyjay

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    GL-4 vs GL-5 -- and a letter from Mobil

    Steve: Talk to your local Esso Bulk Lube dealer. Good news: I'm sure he'll have plenty of synthetic GL-4 in stock. Bad news: the smallest container may be a 20 litre pail.
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    Cleaning & Replacement of differential fluid

    Be careful using any solvent to clean out a differential. You must get out all traces of the solvent, or it will cause foaming of the fresh gear oil. Most spray solvents will knock a lot of crud loose, but only the lighter components will vaporise. Take your time to really get all the residue...
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    Help! My manual tranny is rock hard in the frigid cold!

    I purchased new a 1992 Honda Prelude SR with a 5spd. That was in October of 1992. Even parked in the garage, at -40 it shifted stiffly. Parked outside for 4-6 hours, it was almost impossible to shift. I was surprised about Honda recommending a 10W-30 motor oil in the transmission. I asked my...
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    Cheap stopgap solution for short trip winter driving

    TallPaul: Sorry about the confusion I was referring to the immersion style pan heater. The heater element goes inside the pan. I would imagine with a heating pad or blanket, you would need a much higher wattage, as the pad is exposed to the ambient conditions and must heat up part of the...
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    GL-4 vs GL-5 -- and a letter from Mobil

    GL-4 gear oils are still quite common in the HD trucking industry. For the most part, HD transmission OEM's like Eaton/RoadRanger prefer the GL-4 lubes for increased resistance to heat and better seal protection. Although synchronized HD transmissions are very rare (MAN in Europe??) the GL-4...
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    Mobil Delvac 5w40????

    Well, the only consolation is that you can use a longer servicing schedule with the VW oil. At least in Europe you can. Due to the higher sulfur content of diesel fuel here in North America, I'm not sure if VW diesels operated here qualify for the extended (Up to 24 months or 50,000km) WIV...
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    Mobil Delvac 5w40????

    Oh boy, there were a rash of warranty claims up here in Canada due to that problem too. It is absolutely critical to get good oil pressure on starting. In colder temps the high loads from the unit injector pump would create the flaking you describe. The wear was so accelerated that complaints...
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    Cheap stopgap solution for short trip winter driving

    That's right Cyprs, a properly sized pan heater is also a good investment in a very cold climate like ours. However, resist the temptation to oversize the heater. A HD diesel motor may have a 500 watt pan heater, but I doubt a car or LD truck would need more than a 50-100 watt heater. Have not...
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    Mobil Delvac 5w40????

    Big John: With VW, who knows? The 2004 VW diesel uses their "PD" or Pumpe Duse direct injection diesel. It's similar to the Cummins ISX motor that has individual unit pump injectors. You use a lobe on the camshaft to actuate a plunger on the unit pump that forces the fuel in at very high...
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    John Deere Plus 50 Oil

    It all depends on what part of Ontario you're from. Here, local GMC Truck dealers are quietly telling their Duramax customers to run 0W-30 in temps consistently colder than -18 C or 0 F. Many folks, including myself, have had very good results with Esso XD-3 0W-30 or 0W-40, including year-round...
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    Cheap stopgap solution for short trip winter driving

    Well, we've in an official warm spell. It was "only" -15 F this morning! But it is supposed to cool off to -30 F just in time for the weekend. =8-0 Your 2003 Buick has electric cooling fans, so in winter they won't run anyway. At slow city or town speeds, I doubt blocking off the radiator...
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    Whats too cold for 15w-40?

    I now truly regret returning to BITOG, if the quality of these posts is any indication. You again mention an example in Texas, whereas the original poster lives in Illinois and had very legitimate concerns about a 15W-40 in winter. It has been my hard-earned experience that the "theoretical"...
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    Cold temps coming (0f), need some oil advice (Jeep 4.0 I6)

    HA! Plan a little road trip through the Praries my friend. That will be a good test of the cold-start pumpability of Esso XD-3 0W-30. BRRRR. It has warmed up, it's "only" -20 C! =8-p
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    Whats too cold for 15w-40?

    Was it an older DD 2-cycle? I don't think DD recommended anything lighter than a 20W-20 in winter. Not the best motor to use in frigid temps, especially if you couldn't plug them in. Both Cummins and Cat recommend/require a 0W-30 or 0W-40 in temps colder than -30 C or -22 F. I used to run Esso...
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    Whats too cold for 15w-40?

    A lot of PowerStroke owners around here run Esso XD-3 0W-30 in winter with great results. Even the local Ford dealers recommend it for our bitter cold winters.
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