Any trade-offs Using Rotella T in a Gas Engine?

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I have a turbo Subaru and like Shell's Rotella T series of oils. Any trade-off using a HD diesel oil in a petrol engine?

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If you can find the T6 5W-30 Multivehicle, let me know where please. I'm fairly positive it actually doesn't exist and Shell is just screwing with me.

To answer your question, no there isn't a "trade-off" with using a HDEO as long as it meets the specs your engine requires.
 
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You should probably make sure it has a gas rating (SN) to be safe on a newer car (on an older car, who cares). Rotella is removing gas ratings from many of its diesel oils.

Look at Delo. Most I have seen are still dual rated.
 
In Canada I get Rotella T5 5W-30 and T6 5W40 from Canadian Tire, but it's also available from Partsource (a Jobber) and Princess Auto (a farm parts supplier).

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Rotella has been used in gasoline engines for decades.
It has seen service in thousands of motorcycles and perhaps
millions of OPE engines.
While Shell maybe removing the SN gas rating from the packaging,
it's still a highly regarded oil for use in gas engines of all kinds.


My 2¢
 
Never liked diesel oil in stead of a good passenger car 40. Never ran as good or as fast or as smooth. I have run mixed fleet 10w30 triple protect. it did fine as an amendment to keep the big V8 sized pistons in the EJ Subaru motors happy when thrashed. The sump did respond to a Qt or 2 of Formula Shell 5w30. Only if you drive a car a lot would you notice. The car also did well on 2qt Mobil Clean 5000 and balance of 2+qts Mobil clean 500 5w30. This may have been in the API SL days
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Why don't you try some motorbike oil? A Good 4T like Castrol Power?
 
Diesel rated oils usually have higher levels of ZDDP, which I would not worry much about in an older car, but on a newer car I would look for a passenger car oil that has good anti-wear. The newest Mobil 1 0W-40 and 5W-30 formulations seems to test out very well for anti-wear and film strength per this guy: Motor Oil Engineering Test Data: Facts, not Myth Scroll down to his anti-wear rankings after you get tired of reading the extra-long, repetetive prologue. These 2 commonly found oils seemed to do very well in his testing for extreme wear situations. Of course, formulations can change on the fly without us knowing....

He also lists his ratings for temps when thermal breakdown starts, possibly giving you a relative comparison point between any oils that you are considering using.
 
Newest spec oil for over the road diesels that optimizes fuel economy and performs better in most areas. Not sure if backwards compatible though.
 
You might get like .00000001 mpg less and your catalytic converter might not make it to 500k
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But it is a quality oil that will give you no problems
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Originally Posted By: JustN89
If you can find the T6 5W-30 Multivehicle, let me know where please. I'm fairly positive it actually doesn't exist and Shell is just screwing with me.

To answer your question, no there isn't a "trade-off" with using a HDEO as long as it meets the specs your engine requires.


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The only 5w30 synthetic HDEO I know of that you can actually buy is Chevron Delo LE, on Amazon.
 
Hi LaszloToth, yes, Rotella products exceed gasoline engine manufacturers limitations on Phosphorus, which degrades the catalytic converter. Hope this helps! - The Rotella Team
 
Originally Posted By: bluesubie
Some good comments from Doug Hillary in this thread:

https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2716911



He ( Doug Hillary in that thread posted ) made a statement that any diesel oil that is not also rated for gasoline engines should never be used in gasoline engines. So, in my 92 Explorer, it has run Shell T6 5W-40 since the product was introduced. Runs fine and cleans things out. I've also run the T6 5W-40 in all my Honda bikes.

According to Mr. Hillary, now that Shell T6 5W-40 has dropped the "S" rating, it shouldn't be used in gasoline engines; however, that same 5W-40 that is not SN rated does carry the JASO MA2 rating, which IIRC, is a gasoline engine rating.

Can't see any reason to stop using Rotella 5W-40 in either the truck or the bikes merely because one rating was dropped. If I'm wrong, someone please advise.

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Originally Posted By: HouseTiger
Originally Posted By: bluesubie
Some good comments from Doug Hillary in this thread:

https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2716911



He ( Doug Hillary in that thread posted ) made a statement that any diesel oil that is not also rated for gasoline engines should never be used in gasoline engines. So, in my 92 Explorer, it has run Shell T6 5W-40 since the product was introduced. Runs fine and cleans things out. I've also run the T6 5W-40 in all my Honda bikes.

According to Mr. Hillary, now that Shell T6 5W-40 has dropped the "S" rating, it shouldn't be used in gasoline engines; however, that same 5W-40 that is not SN rated does carry the JASO MA2 rating, which IIRC, is a gasoline engine rating.

Can't see any reason to stop using Rotella 5W-40 in either the truck or the bikes merely because one rating was dropped. If I'm wrong, someone please advise.

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Not to speak for Doug, but perhaps one reason that he only specifically recommended dual rated HDEO's in petrol engines is because if an oil was not dual rated perhaps the phosphorus levels would be far above what we have now in your RT6 example. While we can guess that perhaps the reason that the new RT6 5W40 isn't dual rated is possibly because Shell felt like it wasn't worth the cost since petrol engines is not the intended target. Maybe Shell just didn't want to take a chance due to the existing phosphorus levels (see Chris G's comment above).

Also note the reasons that people first starting using HDEO's in petrol engines was because of poor petrol engine standards at the time. And of course, "Modern appropriately classified lubricants as recommended by the engine's Manufacturer have almost effectively negated their use in petrol engines today IMO".

Personally with Mobil 1, Pennzoil, and Castrol 0W40 being readily available at Wal-Mart, I don't think there is really a reason to run RT6 in a turbocharged Subaru any longer. If I want something a little more robust than a light 0W40 based on uoa results or oil pressure , I'd probably run a 5W40 or 10W40. Or if I wanted a robust 5W30, I'd run Castrol Edge 0W30 or Red Line/Motul 300V 5W30.

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Thanks @ChrisGuerrero from the Rotella Team, didn't know you were on here. That is helpful.

One more question, is T6 Multivehicle so new that it hasn't hit the store shelves in Canada yet? We can't seem to find it at the typical retail outlets in Toronto (Canadian Tire, etc.).
 
It is listed on the O'Reilley's Auto Parts web site for order to your house and local store for $29 a gallon. As to if you will actually see it or get it - all bets are off.
 
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