Rotella T Mixture??

[BoDuke26]

hey guys. im thinking very heavily about starting to use Rotella T 5w40 synthetic in my truck from now on! would this be ok to use in my truck since it is kind of a heavy oil??

my truck is: '03 ford ranger v6 4.0 sohc w/ 43,000 miles on it.

my truck is spec'd for 5w30 (WSS-M2C205-A), but alot of people are using 5w20 due to new ford specs. this is why i am questioning using a 5w40 rotella (although i really want to).

i did have an idea though. tell me what u guys think...

since the 5w40 rotella syn comes in 4qt. jugs only, i thought maybe i could mix 1qt. of a lighter synthetic oil to make the rotella not so heavy? maybe a 5w20? which weight and brand syn oil would u all recommend?? i would have to mix 1qt. of something i guess, might as well be lighter i quess.

sorry this was long! thank you for yalls help!! any input at all is welcome

-Bo

 

[Jim74]

I use rotella syn 5w-40 in my cavalier, mainly because I got so much of it laying around. I use it in my turbo diesel and my motorcycle, so I figure I might as well use it in my car. I don't mix it with anything, but my car only requires 4 quarts so it's the perfect size container. Otherwise, I would just stick with the 5w30 it calls for.

 

[BoDuke26]

so what would be the best 5w30 synthetic that i could mix with Rotella 5w40? should i stick with a shell product? thanks

 

[Gary Allan]

I'd say none. If they offered a Rotella synthetic in a 30 weight ..I'd say go with that ..but I'd leave RTS all by itself. It's a good oil at a decent price.

Just run it as is ..or not. I don't (myself) mind mixing ..as long as I can do it along the same line (within a product line). I don't know of what Shell offers for their XHVI base stock other then RTS. So I wouldn't mind tweeking a custom M1 blend ..or, my personal favorite, Pennzoil Long Life ..where I can span from a 20 weight to a 40 weight within the LL line. The main (assumed) liability is that you may have competing additive packages that are seeking the same turf ..and then you get less out of the combining action.

btw- RTS is available in quarts ..or at least was. It's not stocked everywhere though.

 

[m2200b]

To make 5-30 you need equal parts of RTS and 5w-20. Using either one qt of 5-30 or 5-20 doesn't do much. If you used 1 qt Pennzoil Platinum 5w30 or Pennzoil Platinum 5w20
you'd still end up 83/14 and 79/13 vs RTS 90/15

Equal parts of RTS and 5-30 give you a thick 10-30. equal parts 5-30 or 5-20 give you 73/12.5 and 64.9/11.3 vs RTS 90/15.

I'd stay in the shell family , formula/pz/qz and
and use equal parts of conventional or synthetic 5w20 if you want to make private label BoDuke OIL.

 

[Dave Hess]

Why not just use 10w30 Rotella conventional ?

 

[Rickey]

FWIW I've been running 4 qts rotella 5w40 with 1 qt Mobil 1 0w20. I think the Mobil 1 0w20 is no longer available. There is a new Pennzoil Platnum 0w20. You're probably just fine with the straight 5w40. Good luck. Rickey.

 

[427Z06]

Gee...with the ConocoPhillips/Motocraft/et al line of 5w30/10w30s composed of 75-85% Grp III base oil, I'm not seeing the cost advantage of using Rotella Syn which is also Grp III. I guess the extra additives might be advantageous if you want to do extended drains.

 

[chucky2]

BoDuke26- I'm definitely not a thin is bad person when it comes to oil...however, given Ford pushing a 20W in whatever they can...my thinking is that there HAS to be a reason they are spec'ing a 30W for their 4.0L SOHC V-6 engines. Where I'm going: I wouldn't go lighter than a 30W...but I also don't think a 40W is necessairily any better.

I've got some decent trending going on my truck - 2003 Ford Ranger FX4 Level II automatic (only option is the 4.0L SOHC V-6) - that includes a couple of Mobil 1 Extended Performance blends (both were the same). Basically, the blend started a mid-30W, and ended a heavy 30W.

You can see them, and the other runs of Mobil 1 5w30 SL/GF-3 & EP here at my latest used oil analysis:

Mobil 1 Extended Performance 5w30, 2003 Ford 4.0L SOHC V-6, 5576 mile OCI

Can't help you on any 40W used oil analysis...might try searching for Ranger or Explorer in the used oil analysis forum and see what you can turn up.

Chuck

 

[BoDuke26]

so what if i just dont mix at all. would the rotella t synthetic 5w40 be good to use in my engine that is spec'd for a 5w30? thanks

 

[427Z06]

BoDuke26, the Rotella T 5w40 synthetic probably won't harm your engine in any way. I just don't see the advantage of using it unless you want to extend your drain intervals because of the extra additives.

 

[Ed_T]

If your engine isn't all that hard on oil, why not go less expensive? That way, your oil changes won't cost so much and your rig will have fresh oil all the time at reasonable cost.

I run Rotella synthetic 5w-40 in a turbo Subie for obvious reasons. Just changed it from Mobil 1 Truck and SUV which is a remarkable product in this application.

I don't mix because I want to keep consistent add paks, and not have anything 'clashing'.

 

[GoldenRod]

I'm going to throw a wrench into this whole thread and say go with Delo 400 10w30. The stuff is really hard to find, but that's all the more fun right?

 

[tj5450]

I have a 1996 Ranger 4.0l V6 with 107k miles. Early in its life, I used Castrol 20w50 for about 2yrs. I never saw any ill effects; no change in gas mileage or really any difference.

Since then I have become an advocate of synthetics and used mostly Mobil 1 5w30, then Castrol Syntech 5w30 for about 6yrs. The label on the oil fill cap calls for 5w30.

All oil changes were at 3k OCI until 101K using mostly the orange can of death.

After discovering BITOG early last year, I decided to shoot for extended drains verified by used oil analysis. And of course, the orange can had to go being replaced with a Baldwin B2-HPG (higher flow, dirt holding capacity and better filtration than Pureone).

Last August, I dropped Amsoil S2K 0w30 in it and this feels/sounds/performs like the best oil that has been in it so far. A used oil analysis last week at 5500 miles seems to verify it. The Amsoil had lower wear numbers than the baseline used oil analysis I took using Castrol Syntech at
All of the oils have performed just fine, but as you can read above, one brand has moved ahead of the others in my book so far. My next change will be using Amsoil HDD 5w30 just to try out what others on this board call Amsoil's best, but from the used oil analysis that will be awhile.

Whatever you use, change it regularly and either early or with used oil analysis verification. This engine appears to be a good one with no problems at all for me so far. Still running strong at 107k.