Fleet motor oil

[ripcord]

The use you described, "Fully loaded...Dirt roads. Tons of idle time, lots of foot to the floor wide open throttle," is pretty much the definition of severe service. I'm pretty sure you'll find Ford will recommend 5K oil changes.

 

[SteveG4]

If your trying to save money, i think kirkland or super tech full syn is well suited for your applications, since your vans will see no cold starts go 5 or 10w30 and experiment with one van on 15w40 ?? As you state fuel mileage is not much of a concern !

Yes. Please use an oil analyzing company when accomplishing extended drains. You might be disappointed,.. or not. And yes, please try Kirkland's oils, and try their SN-rated, HD 15W-40.

Make sure you have a top-notch battery in the truck with the 15W-40 oil, especially if the trucks are cold-soaked during a bitter day in the field.

 

[Spike555]

The use you described, "Fully loaded...Dirt roads. Tons of idle time, lots of foot to the floor wide open throttle," is pretty much the definition of severe service. I'm pretty sure you'll find Ford will recommend 5K oil changes.

Exactly. 5k with the factory oil, which is a syn blend 5w-20. Only they do not recommend oil change intervals for commercial vehicles. They leave that entirely up to you. Manufacture recommended service intervals are for personal cars and trucks.
But, let’s assume 5k using Motorcraft engine oil, so using a full syn engine oil why couldn't we go to 10k?

The previous fleet manager used cheap bulk oil and went 5-6k, if I can double the drain intervals I can cut costs, even though the oil changes will cost more the trucks will be on the road an extra day, which means more profits.
In order to PM the vans they need to be pulled off the road for the day. That means lost revenue.

 

[Spike555]

Yes. Please use an oil analyzing company when accomplishing extended drains. You might be disappointed,.. or not. And yes, please try Kirkland's oils, and try their SN-rated, HD 15W-40.

Make sure you have a top-notch battery in the truck with the 15W-40 oil, especially if the trucks are cold-soaked during a bitter day in the field.

I plan on doing SOS on the V10’s and V8’s to see how demanding each is on the oil.

I don’t know when you started reading on the thread, but these are parked inside a heated building when not in use and run all day long. They are never shut off during the day, except maybe for the rare occasion.

 

[vivaUkraine]

Shouldn't you go by the engine hours instead of mileage? Ford-approved 5w-20 every 200 hours. And that's it

 

[BLND1]

I plan on doing SOS on the V10’s and V8’s to see how demanding each is on the oil.

I don’t know when you started reading on the thread, but these are parked inside a heated building when not in use and run all day long. They are never shut off during the day, except maybe for the rare occasion.

I think you are maybe treating these like you would a personal vehicle. Fleet maintenance is triage. You don’t have enough money or time to keep them all perfect. Your goal is to get the vehicles across the finish line with as little effort and money as possible. You are going to lose some - no matter what oil you use - and it’s ok.

Those Ford v8’s will go hard for a long time on just filters and oil (and tires - lots of flat tires). See if you can’t find a deal on a drum of something that meets the -A1 Spec and call it good. A supply of jobber oil and air filters will work just fine as well.

The one thing I learned was that tires and air filters needed the most attention. Oil/filter was an afterthought.

Those Vegas taxi fleets aren’t getting synthetic - and those 600k mile motors do ok, no?

 

[Spike555]

I think you are maybe treating these like you would a personal vehicle. Fleet maintenance is triage. You don’t have enough money or time to keep them all perfect. Your goal is to get the vehicles across the finish line with as little effort and money as possible. You are going to lose some - no matter what oil you use - and it’s ok.

Those Ford v8’s will go hard for a long time on just filters and oil (and tires - lots of flat tires). See if you can’t find a deal on a drum of something that meets the -A1 Spec and call it good. A supply of jobber oil and air filters will work just fine as well.

The one thing I learned was that tires and air filters needed the most attention. Oil/filter was an afterthought.

Those Vegas taxi fleets aren’t getting synthetic - and those 600k mile motors do ok, no?

You make very good points. And you are correct. Just get the job done with as little effort as possible.

 

[Spike555]

Shouldn't you go by the engine hours instead of mileage? Ford-approved 5w-20 every 200 hours. And that's it

That’s roughly every two weeks. Not going to happen. That is way to often we’d go broke.

 

[SteveG4]

I plan on doing SOS on the V10’s and V8’s to see how demanding each is on the oil.

I don’t know when you started reading on the thread, but these are parked inside a heated building when not in use and run all day long. They are never shut off during the day, except maybe for the rare occasion.

I didn't remember the "not being shut off" or "shut off for long" part. That's good. Give that SN-rated Kirkland 15W-40 a try then! I'm thinking it's likely your best bet.

Find what works best! Cheers!

 

[SR5]

Here is a link to the 2018 Camry Hybrid VVTI owners manual printed for Australia where we have no requirements to use the same oil that was in the car when the factory put it in for the standard fuel economy test.

Toyota say you can use 0W16, 0W20, 5W20, 5W30, 10W30 and 15W40 to keep your factory warranty. All in the same engine. As long as it meets your cold weather starting requirements.

2018 Camry Hybrid Manual

Specially printed for Oz

bobistheoilguy.com

I don’t believe this one oil weight only stuff, it certainly doesn’t exist in other parts of the world.

That’s why I was thinking about the Rotella T6 5w-40, .....I’m just not sure about using it in a brand new engine designed for 5w-20.

 

[Crash Bandicoot]

Can’t comment on duration, oil type, etc however, based on your explained needs you should be speaking to a local distributor and buying oil in bulk 55 gallon drums with discount for the volumes you’re running. Buying these at a retail location will cost more per gallon and that’s before you add up opportunity cost with the time spent futzing with small containers and running to the store and the tax implications.

 

[mpgo4th]

I want “one and done”.
I know that Dexos is only a rating and not brand specific.
If I can do a PM for under $50 that would be great.

I can service those engines in my fleet for $18.93. A 55 gallon drum of motorcraft synthetic blend for $530.25 works out to $2.41 a quart. A case of champ ecore filters is $24. 7 quarts and a filter is all you need. That’s not even the cheapest option. If I buy Chevron Supreme it goes down to $15.69. I switch around based on sales and what my mood is that day. I have lots of favorites. We do sample too and none have given bad results that were the oils fault.

 

[SteveG4]

I can service those engines in my fleet for $18.93. A 55 gallon drum of motorcraft synthetic blend for $530.25 works out to $2.41 a quart. A case of champ ecore filters is $24. 7 quarts and a filter is all you need. That’s not even the cheapest option. If I buy Chevron Supreme it goes down to $15.69. I switch around based on sales and what my mood is that day. I have lots of favorites. We do sample too and none have given bad results that were the oils fault.

Lots of experience with Chevron Supreme as well. It's an excellent, value-priced oil with a strong add pack.

 

[BLND1]

Lots of experience with Chevron Supreme as well. It's an excellent, value-priced oil with a strong add pack.

And now officially a synblend in 5w30.

 

[Creekside]

I think you are maybe treating these like you would a personal vehicle. Fleet maintenance is triage. You don’t have enough money or time to keep them all perfect. Your goal is to get the vehicles across the finish line with as little effort and money as possible. You are going to lose some - no matter what oil you use - and it’s ok.

Those Ford v8’s will go hard for a long time on just filters and oil (and tires - lots of flat tires). See if you can’t find a deal on a drum of something that meets the -A1 Spec and call it good. A supply of jobber oil and air filters will work just fine as well.

The one thing I learned was that tires and air filters needed the most attention. Oil/filter was an afterthought.

Those Vegas taxi fleets aren’t getting synthetic - and those 600k mile motors do ok, no?

It took me a long time to figure out your first point when I took over maintenance and repair of a fleet of forklifts. The old way was every filter at every pm. They were changing hydraulic filters with only 300 hours on them. I made up a basic spreadsheet and combined with dating everything with a marker or paint pen the maintenance cost is a fraction of what it was. We now loosely follow the manuals and only touch it when it’s required. I can see a new lift through 10,000 hours with around $5k of maintenance and repair on average where they had been approaching $15-20k. Takes a serious amount of labor to do basically a 4,000 hour service every 300 hours.

 

[doublebase]

Worked in a fleet for ten years. We carried only 5w20 and 5w30. Bulk conventional 7,500 mile oil changes. This was nation wide with a federal agency.

It sounds like you're going to be running these vehicles a little harder and with more idle time. I'd go with Rotella gas truck or Super Tech...and I'd probably lean super tech due to price.

 

[nascarnation]

Those Vegas taxi fleets aren’t getting synthetic - and those 600k mile motors do ok, no?

You'll be scorned on BITOG for mentioning this, LOL

 

[Spike555]

Thank you everyone for your input.
I have reached out to a local oil distributor, we are seeing what options they have to offer.
I am going to look into bulk oil, if I go that route I will need a place to store it.

 

[Spike555]

Here is a link to the 2018 Camry Hybrid VVTI owners manual printed for Australia where we have no requirements to use the same oil that was in the car when the factory put it in for the standard fuel economy test.

Toyota say you can use 0W16, 0W20, 5W20, 5W30, 10W30 and 15W40 to keep your factory warranty. All in the same engine. As long as it meets your cold weather starting requirements.

2018 Camry Hybrid Manual

Specially printed for Oz

bobistheoilguy.com

I don’t believe this one oil weight only stuff, it certainly doesn’t exist in other parts of the world.

I agree with you on the “one weight only” EPA stuff. It is done mainly for MPG.
These are delivery vans and fully loaded will be weighing in just under 24,000 lbs.

 

[Spike555]

Just to give everyone an idea, this van is a 2017 and we are renting it until our van’s come in.
This is the kinda of miles and engine ours I am talking about.

This van has a GM engine, which is a standard oil school the way God intended push rod V8, and I’d not even hesitate one bit to run Rotella 15w-40 dino juice in it.
But these Ford’s seem to be more delicate and picky.