short trip driving? RX and oil recommendations

[Soupy]

I have a couple of questions.. First I only drive short distances towing a 3,000lb GTW. I have two trucks that I use in this manor. They never see highway use. One is a 92 silverado 6.2L diesel that I sometimes keep running most of the day with A/C on. The other is a 00 Silverado 5.3L that has the same conditions but not left running. These are used for Lawncare.

The questions are will AutoRX work under these conditions? The other thing is it might take me a year to run through one cleaning process and I know the diesel can use 2 because it has 195,000 and the 5.3L has 110,000. Does it matter if it takes this long for each process.

The other question is what kind of Oil should I use in the 00 5.3L Truck (110,000 miles). Since I don't drive much should I use Synthetic (I am towing a small load)? I'm going to see if I can get lucky on the Pennzoil deal at HD tomorrow and I'm unsure what I should stock up on. This is a new truck for us and the previous owner said he switched from Synthetic that it came with to Dino because he had a slight ping and it went away with Dino.

Oh.. I also use synthetic 10w-30 in the mowers, could I go to a 10W-30 in the 5.3L in the summer. I currently use Amsoil HD synthetic diesel oil in the mowers but I am thinking I might just switch everything to Pennz synthetic 10W-30 except for the 6.2L diesel.


Thank You

 

[JHZR2]

see my poss of similar questions about this time last year regarding ARX for a camry in severe service in the USVI (more severe than you can imagine down there with the super steep hills).

ARX with ursa 15w-40 worked like a champ for smoke at startup and sludge issues.

The concensus for application was to go by number of tanks of fuel used, rather than miles, since mileageisnt really a metric down there.

Runa search in the additives section and youll gain some insight. Search by my member number, #712

Im running Amsoil ACD 10w-30/straight 30wt diesel oil... seems great. given that you have a diesel, and you use syns without FMs in the yard equipment, Id just uuse it everywhere... it was designed as a fleet oil for use as in situations like yours.

JMH

 

[Soupy]

I think I'm using the same Amsoil product as you. Here's a link http://www.amsoil.com/storefront/acd.aspx

The thing is I am hoping to get away from the costly Amsoil and try to go with Pennzoil or something similar. I change oil a lot in the mowers and it's getting costly to throw this expensive Amsoil at them when they have to be changed frequent because of the dusty conditions they are used in. I like Synthetic for heat build up in these smaller motors but Extended drains is not good for them.

I will still use Amsoil 2 cycle oil though.

The real questions are... will 10w-30 be ok for the truck or should I just stock separate oil for it? The other thing is do I use high mileage, synthetic or regular dino?

I only put a few thousand miles a year on these work trucks (tight service area). We hit a area and only move the truck a couple blocks at a time then shut them down. This will cause the RX treatment to take forever and the RX treatment will never see a real good work out. Am I still good to go with the treatment.

 

[TR3-2001SE]

I think the auto-rx will work just fine even over a year. The Pennzoil will do fine also but I would change it every 6 months or 3000 mile which ever comes first. Don't know what you are using in the diesel but Delo 400 15w-40 is what I would recommend and do the same change interval ie 6 months or 3000 miles. It works great with auto-rx and seems to do a lot of cleanning with the combo. Auto-rx can clean in as little as 500 miles with dino oil. The rinse probably needs 1500 miles. Frank is your best source if you are concerned about enough miles before draining it.

 

[JHZR2]

for the diesel engine, IMO, you could potentially downgrade to a cheaper diesel spec oil, like, say delo400. Youll save cost this way.

For the mowers running on amsoil, IMO what you want to be sure of is that the oil does not have any VIIs, or whatnot that can break down in the heat and stress. If the pennzoil cant do this, then Id stick with what you are using. Perhaps do a UOA and see how the oil is holding up!

For the gasser truck, I think that you coule run pennzoil 10w-30 year round without any issue at all - it should do well.

JMH

 

[Soupy]

quote:

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Originally posted by JHZR2:
for the diesel engine, IMO, you could potentially downgrade to a cheaper diesel spec oil, like, say delo400. Youll save cost this way.

For the mowers running on amsoil, IMO what you want to be sure of is that the oil does not have any VIIs, or whatnot that can break down in the heat and stress. If the pennzoil cant do this, then Id stick with what you are using. Perhaps do a UOA and see how the oil is holding up!

For the gasser truck, I think that you coule run pennzoil 10w-30 year round without any issue at all - it should do well.

JMH

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The Diesel does get Delo400, I forgot to mention that. I don't stock up on that oil. I included the Diesel in the thread to discuss the RX only.

I do stock up on the mower oils since I change them all every 40 hours. So I am thinking I can use my 10-30 stock on the gas truck and just buy the oil as needed for the diesel.

I'm thinking of maybe trying the Amsoil stock which is almost gone on the gas truck since I know the previous owner has neglected the oil changes. The Amsoil is a HD synthetic which should help clean things out.

Thanks for the input..

 

[JHZR2]

Im almost thinking now that you could run delo 400 in the diesel and the lawn equipment (it is air cooled, right?), and then just buy Pennzoil platinum or whatnot for the gas truck. This would be cost effective, and delo 400 is just that good!

Or stick with the ACD 10w-30 in everything - and only have to stock one oil. More expensive, but the simplicity might be worth it, and if you run a few UOAs, you can probably find that you can extend the OCI on most everything!!!

JMH

 

[Soupy]

I'm seriously consider using the ACD 10w-30 for everything. Would LC work good in this oil?

I'm going to start a new thread with this question because I have some on the way I planned on using when I change my oil this week in the diesel.