15W30 revisited

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Originally Posted By: Big O Dave
I contacted Chevron regarding the exact NOACK and HTHS numbers for the SD 15W-30, and here is the response I got:

Quote:
Delo 400 SAE 15W-30 properties as received from technical support:
Noack (D5800) 9.7%
HTHS (D4683) 3.7 cP




nice
 
I haven't owned a Semi since the middle 1970s and the companies
I worked for used sae 30 for the 4 strokes and sae 40 for the two strokes, My wifes Powerstroke recommends 15w-40 from around 17*f to over 100*f 15w-40 works for me. and it costs less per Gallon.
 
A 15W30 is a very logical oil, especially for a diesel.

It will contain very little VII so piston cleanliness will be extraordinarily good for a diesel. Compared to the usual 15W40, it will have a lower Noack volatility (a good thing), contain more heavy base oil (also good), possibly contain less DI (surprisingly this could also be a good thing), it will hardly shear and of course give fuel economy benefits.

As it will contain hardly any VII and should contain less DI, it would be a cheap oil for blenders to produce. How much of that saving would get passed onto the customer is anyone's guess but it should be there.
 
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That sort of figures. Back in the '80's I used to periodically visit the guys at Shell Geelong oil refinery. They were very proud of some lube base stock (I forget it's exact name now) that they made by hydrogenating surplus slack wax. As I recall it had a very high VI. It might have been that that they were part using in the 15W30.

The lubes world was a very different world back then. Lots of 'characters', lots of very aggressive ego-maniacs in charge, not a lot of science and far too much cheating and dodgy dealing. Maybe a 15W30 in this new, more enlightened age would fare better than it did back then.
 
"The lubes world was a very different world back then. Lots of 'characters', lots of very aggressive ego-maniacs in charge, not a lot of science and far too much cheating and dodgy dealing"

I believe it...Deceit can't survive long in the Internet age.

I would have thought the NOACK would be around 8.0.

I use Delo 15w30 in my old Subaru...Absolute zero oil consumption. It is not quite as smooth and quiet as PYB 10w30.
 
One good thing about a 15W30 would be it wouldn't be a ILSAC grade. It would be a fuel economy grade that wouldn't have to be put through the API's crackpot fuel economy test. This being so, it could be made with a decently high CCS which in turn would give you a decently low Noack of 6-7%.

Not sure that deceit has absolutely gone away. VW seem to have got away with it for long enough. It will be interesting to see what else people find when they start turning over stones...
 
PYB 10w30 and PHM 10w30 are the only ILSAC oils I would consider. I surmise PHM 10w30 is the HTHS 3.4 version of PYB 10w30.

Delo 15w30, Mobil 1 0w40, Mobil 1 High Mileage 10w30 (A3/B3) are the only oils I use now.
 
Originally Posted By: Joe90_guy
A 15W30 is a very logical oil, especially for a diesel.


But again, the rub is what the diesel in question is doing. Even this 15w30 is being targeted towards regional and local P&D truck operations. Fleets that run the entire 48 are not prime candidates for this stuff. Availability of fill oil on the road is critical. You cannot find one drop of 15w30 at any major truck stop in the country, and the odds are highly likely one never will. Maybe a mom and pop operation. Truck stops are only going to stock what moves. And OTR fleets are not jumping on board with 15w30. 15w40 is still king, 10w30 is rapidly gaining ground. It is nice to be able to play around with this sort of thing as a one truck owner that stays close to home. But you have Chevron running ads in all the trucking rags about how their 10w30 has tested out to 70,000 miles, without bypass, in the new commercial semi engines. Why would any fleet play games with a 15w30? No, it will only be a niche market thing.
 
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