New Rotella 30

[sweezy722]

I picked up a gallon of the new Rotella 30 today. I was very surprised it is not SJ rated. It is only CF rated. One of my 6 engines is still under warranty and it specs a gasoline rated oil. With the new oil not having the SJ spec I will probably be looking for a new oil for all my engines.

Anyone have any information on the new Rotella?

Thanks.

 

[doitmyself]

We had a thread about this a few months ago with no real answers.

I e-mailed Shell and asked if it was suitable for use in commercial gasoline outdoor power equipment (ie Kawasaki mower engines) and if its use would not void the warranty. I also asked why the SJ was deleted.

Again, no real answer:

"Rotella T1 SAE 30 is suitable for this application although the SJ is no longer claimed. An alternative is the Shell HD motor oil SAE 30 for which we claim SM, the highest API gasoline rating that will cover previous categories SL and SJ."

Regards,
Keith XXXXX Shell Technical Information 800-237-8645 Opt 4, 1

So, he says the T1 is "suitable", but then implies that their SM oil is just as good. This goes against the grain for some of us who think that a more robust HDEO is better for air cooled engines than SM (a controversial subject here). It kind of makes me want to find another product just for the principle of it. Are other companies dropping the "S" rating?

 

[sweezy722]

I sent an email to shell and here is the response I got.


Dear Sir,

The oil actually has not changed, we just no longer license it
through API for the SJ specification.

Regards,

Shell Technical

 

[Johnny]

Response #2 is the correct one. Why license a commercial product for an obsolete API SJ gasoline spec? If you have an application for an air cooled gasoline engine like is used in the lawn and garden industry and it specs a 30W oil, the the Rotella 30 is an excellent product to use.

 

[Craig in Canada]

Originally Posted By: Johnny
Response #2 is the correct one. Why license a commercial product for an obsolete API SJ gasoline spec?


...so people with equipment under warranty will still use it?

...so people who aren't oil experts who go shopping for an oil with their owner's manual in hand will still consider buying it?

...so long time customers don't get confused and stop using the product because they think it's been reformulated in an inferior manner?

They may not wish to license the starburst, but at least they could have done what every oil manufacturer does and still indicate "suitable for API SJ" on the bottle, PDS etc... That would be at least halfway there, although it would still give some warranty holders the heebie-jeebies. We don't have that oil available here (as is the case with so many other good oils) so I haven't seen the bottle myself but it sounds like they've simply omitted all mention of API.