Trying to find "The One" 15w40 oil to use across my whole fleet (pre-emission diesel and gas engines)

[leroyd92]

I have 40 gallons of oil gifted to me, once they run out I'm going to use delvac 1300. It's so cheap at Walmart and the cold flow numbers are so great, I just don't see another oil that could take it's place.

I don't own diesels, only high mileage older gas motors and an air cooled skid steer.

 

[martinq]

Not sure if it matters but the Deere Plus-50 II 15w40 can be ordered in 1, 5, 55 and 275 gallon capacities.

 

[WillBrinkhoff]

Hey all. Long-time lurker but first-time poster. I apologize if I am beating a dead horse here, but I've been doing a lot of research (and have done virgin oil analyses on most of the major brands of HDEO available in my area), and still cannot come to a good conclusion. I would like to hear some opinions from the forum - maybe you can help me stop overthinking (and hopefully the info from the VOA's will help others here).

To start off, nothing in my fleet is newer than 2000 model year. I tinker with old tractors in my spare time, which have engines ranging from air-cooled Kohler single-cyl and Onan two-cyl gas, Yanmar & Kubota 3-cyl liquid-cooled diesels, two-cylinder gas John Deere's (which originally called for a low-ash SAE30), and some 50-60 HP three-cylinder diesels. Also have plans of collecting more antique tractors (both gas and diesel) in the future, along with old semi trucks (Cat/Cummins/Mack diesel powered). My tow rig is a Ford F-250 with 7.3L Powerstroke (pre-emissions). I've spent way too long buying different kinds of oils for all of my equipment and would like to find "THE ONE" 15w40 oil that I can use across my whole fleet - an oil that would fulfill the "low ash" requirement for my air cooled Kohler engines (splash lubed with no filter), but still provide good lubrication for the Onan air-cooled twins (with an oil pump), the small diesels, all my antique tractors, and my truck. Something I can easily buy in a 55-gallon drum that I won't have to worry about becoming obsolete (like JD Torq-Gard 15w40 or Mobil Delvac MX - both originally rated CI-4+ and getting harder to find here in the US). My machines all get used throughout the year (for work and play), and they all get a decent amount of hours put on them per year, but not enough that I can justify the cost of synthetic oil (or the need to deal with an independent sales rep - especially if I'm in a pinch).

I've had VOA's performed on the following conventional diesel oils which are readily available at most auto parts stores and dealerships around me (plus I work for a Case IH dealer that frequently stocks the Akcela No. 1 and Mobil Delvac 1300 oils). The exception being AMSOIL 15w40 which I used as the control. The results from the lab tests are as follows (and yes, I'm aware they are all decent choices, but if I'm buying a 55-gallon drum I want to make sure all my bases are covered):

View attachment 147854

From the results, it would seem that the Delvac MX, JD Torq-Gard, TSC Traveller, and Case IH/Akcela No. 1 (all highlighted) have the best combination of additives, detergents, and TBN. While my air-cooled Kohler engines typically require a low-ash, non-detergent oil, I don't know that I'll be able to achieve that without sacrificing some of the additives that the bigger engines need. I was leaning toward JD Torq-Gard and Mobil Delvac MX due to their high additive packages, but both of them are practically obsolete (and expensive if you can find them in a 55-gal anywhere). Working for a Case IH dealer I'm also leaning toward the Akcela No.1 since it's readily available, but it doesn't really qualify as a "low ash" oil. I've always used the Motorcraft 15w40 in my 7.3 Powerstroke, as I know Ford's WSS-M2C171-F1 spec is basically in a class of its own.

Am I better off just buying a low-ash SAE30 for my Kohler's and sticking with a 15w40 for everything else? Is there really a good all-around oil that fits all these categories? Am I just overthinking it??

GET CHEVRON OIL, OR NAVISTAR OIL.

 

[Hohn]

I run Mobil delvac1 5w40 in every machine and vehicle I own but my maxima and tahoe. They get 5w30. Log splitters, two side by sides, three different generators, two tractors. Zero issues and do 15k oci on my maxima, tundra, and tahoe.

I feel obliged to share a story “from the trenches” based on one of the few field experiences I’ve had with a high-hour teardown of an engine run on Delvac 1.

A large mining customer of Cummins had an excavator with a QSK60 in it that they decided was at the end of its life at somewhere around 1.6 million gallons of fuel burn. This is a 60L V16 with typical ratings of 2750hp. This particular unit burned a LOT more fuel than most engines of this kind, which are typically ready for an overhault around 20,000 hours and 1M gallons of fuel burn.

The fuel system parts were returned to us because we were interested in their condition as this was a very rare data point for us at the factory.

Not only was the engine run on Delvac 1 oil, it was using GTL diesel fuel because the location of the site made it very practical to do so. So, synthetic fuel and oil. This particular fuel was notably higher lubricity than most (HFRR< 400)

At about 50% beyond the intended component life, the injectors were barely worn. They’d lost a bit of fueling (typical) but were just barely out of spec for *brand new* injectors.

But the most amazing part was the inside of the High pressure fuel pump. On these engines, the pump’s roller cam followers are typically the highest loaded oil film in the entire engine. And in this particular era (early 2010s), there were lubrication-related failures occurring on the pumps in some applications.

Yet this pump which had gone FAR past its intended lifespan looked immaculate. The cam followers had almost no perceptible wear. The cam itself, front and rear bearings, etc could have passed for new parts. All of us back at the factory were stunned not just by what we saw in the teardown but what we knew it had been doing: Excavators have an average duty cycle of nearly 90%.

What I took away from this experience:
1) Delvac 1 is one heck of an oil— or was in its CI-4+ formulation
2) high lubricity, high purity fuels are wonderful for injectors
3) Do not fear prolonged operation at higher load. It’s low load and cold start that kill engines, it seems

 

[OVERKILL]

I feel obliged to share a story “from the trenches” based on one of the few field experiences I’ve had with a high-hour teardown of an engine run on Delvac 1.

A large mining customer of Cummins had an excavator with a QSK60 in it that they decided was at the end of its life at somewhere around 1.6 million gallons of fuel burn. This is a 60L V16 with typical ratings of 2750hp. This particular unit burned a LOT more fuel than most engines of this kind, which are typically ready for an overhault around 20,000 hours and 1M gallons of fuel burn.

The fuel system parts were returned to us because we were interested in their condition as this was a very rare data point for us at the factory.

Not only was the engine run on Delvac 1 oil, it was using GTL diesel fuel because the location of the site made it very practical to do so. So, synthetic fuel and oil. This particular fuel was notably higher lubricity than most (HFRR< 400)

At about 50% beyond the intended component life, the injectors were barely worn. They’d lost a bit of fueling (typical) but were just barely out of spec for *brand new* injectors.

But the most amazing part was the inside of the High pressure fuel pump. On these engines, the pump’s roller cam followers are typically the highest loaded oil film in the entire engine. And in this particular era (early 2010s), there were lubrication-related failures occurring on the pumps in some applications.

Yet this pump which had gone FAR past its intended lifespan looked immaculate. The cam followers had almost no perceptible wear. The cam itself, front and rear bearings, etc could have passed for new parts. All of us back at the factory were stunned not just by what we saw in the teardown but what we knew it had been doing: Excavators have an average duty cycle of nearly 90%.

What I took away from this experience:
1) Delvac 1 is one heck of an oil— or was in its CI-4+ formulation
2) high lubricity, high purity fuels are wonderful for injectors
3) Do not fear prolonged operation at higher load. It’s low load and cold start that kill engines, it seems

This mirrors @Doug Hillary's experience with Delvac 1. @Pablo shared some bearing and liner pics for him here at one point. He ran OTR truck trains through the Australian outback testing Delvac 1 for Mobil and at 1.6 million km, they did a random tear-down of one of the engines and it was pristine. No liner wear, bearings measured "as new". It was impressive.

 

[Hohn]

This mirrors @Doug Hillary's experience with Delvac 1. @Pablo shared some bearing and liner pics for him here at one point. He ran OTR truck trains through the Australian outback testing Delvac 1 for Mobil and at 1.6 million km, they did a random tear-down of one of the engines and it was pristine. No liner wear, bearings measured "as new". It was impressive.

I really wonder if the current Delvac 1 formulas can pull off such feats or if CJ and later versions with <1.0 SAPS have been neutered.

I’d be tempted to think the only real impact of lower SAPS would be shorter max OCIs, you’d think the basic wear protection and cleanliness should hold.

 

[tuney443]

Here's another 15/40 story :

 

[sandbergmc]

Hey all. Long-time lurker but first-time poster. I apologize if I am beating a dead horse here, but I've been doing a lot of research (and have done virgin oil analyses on most of the major brands of HDEO available in my area), and still cannot come to a good conclusion. I would like to hear some opinions from the forum - maybe you can help me stop overthinking (and hopefully the info from the VOA's will help others here).

To start off, nothing in my fleet is newer than 2000 model year. I tinker with old tractors in my spare time, which have engines ranging from air-cooled Kohler single-cyl and Onan two-cyl gas, Yanmar & Kubota 3-cyl liquid-cooled diesels, two-cylinder gas John Deere's (which originally called for a low-ash SAE30), and some 50-60 HP three-cylinder diesels. Also have plans of collecting more antique tractors (both gas and diesel) in the future, along with old semi trucks (Cat/Cummins/Mack diesel powered). My tow rig is a Ford F-250 with 7.3L Powerstroke (pre-emissions). I've spent way too long buying different kinds of oils for all of my equipment and would like to find "THE ONE" 15w40 oil that I can use across my whole fleet - an oil that would fulfill the "low ash" requirement for my air cooled Kohler engines (splash lubed with no filter), but still provide good lubrication for the Onan air-cooled twins (with an oil pump), the small diesels, all my antique tractors, and my truck. Something I can easily buy in a 55-gallon drum that I won't have to worry about becoming obsolete (like JD Torq-Gard 15w40 or Mobil Delvac MX - both originally rated CI-4+ and getting harder to find here in the US). My machines all get used throughout the year (for work and play), and they all get a decent amount of hours put on them per year, but not enough that I can justify the cost of synthetic oil (or the need to deal with an independent sales rep - especially if I'm in a pinch).

I've had VOA's performed on the following conventional diesel oils which are readily available at most auto parts stores and dealerships around me (plus I work for a Case IH dealer that frequently stocks the Akcela No. 1 and Mobil Delvac 1300 oils). The exception being AMSOIL 15w40 which I used as the control. The results from the lab tests are as follows (and yes, I'm aware they are all decent choices, but if I'm buying a 55-gallon drum I want to make sure all my bases are covered):

View attachment 147854

From the results, it would seem that the Delvac MX, JD Torq-Gard, TSC Traveller, and Case IH/Akcela No. 1 (all highlighted) have the best combination of additives, detergents, and TBN. While my air-cooled Kohler engines typically require a low-ash, non-detergent oil, I don't know that I'll be able to achieve that without sacrificing some of the additives that the bigger engines need. I was leaning toward JD Torq-Gard and Mobil Delvac MX due to their high additive packages, but both of them are practically obsolete (and expensive if you can find them in a 55-gal anywhere). Working for a Case IH dealer I'm also leaning toward the Akcela No.1 since it's readily available, but it doesn't really qualify as a "low ash" oil. I've always used the Motorcraft 15w40 in my 7.3 Powerstroke, as I know Ford's WSS-M2C171-F1 spec is basically in a class of its own.

Am I better off just buying a low-ash SAE30 for my Kohler's and sticking with a 15w40 for everything else? Is there really a good all-around oil that fits all these categories? Am I just overthinking it??

I have been watching videos of a guy in Utah with a 6.7 diesel that has been using Lorenzo Oil which a high grade diesel oil with Tungsten Disulfide and bypass oil filter. His truck has 900,000 miles on it. Check it out on instagram it’s under “Insane Diesel” there are numerous videos to watch that will answer your questions on best oil to use. Watch the videos

Hey all. Long-time lurker but first-time poster. I apologize if I am beating a dead horse here, but I've been doing a lot of research (and have done virgin oil analyses on most of the major brands of HDEO available in my area), and still cannot come to a good conclusion. I would like to hear some opinions from the forum - maybe you can help me stop overthinking (and hopefully the info from the VOA's will help others here).

To start off, nothing in my fleet is newer than 2000 model year. I tinker with old tractors in my spare time, which have engines ranging from air-cooled Kohler single-cyl and Onan two-cyl gas, Yanmar & Kubota 3-cyl liquid-cooled diesels, two-cylinder gas John Deere's (which originally called for a low-ash SAE30), and some 50-60 HP three-cylinder diesels. Also have plans of collecting more antique tractors (both gas and diesel) in the future, along with old semi trucks (Cat/Cummins/Mack diesel powered). My tow rig is a Ford F-250 with 7.3L Powerstroke (pre-emissions). I've spent way too long buying different kinds of oils for all of my equipment and would like to find "THE ONE" 15w40 oil that I can use across my whole fleet - an oil that would fulfill the "low ash" requirement for my air cooled Kohler engines (splash lubed with no filter), but still provide good lubrication for the Onan air-cooled twins (with an oil pump), the small diesels, all my antique tractors, and my truck. Something I can easily buy in a 55-gallon drum that I won't have to worry about becoming obsolete (like JD Torq-Gard 15w40 or Mobil Delvac MX - both originally rated CI-4+ and getting harder to find here in the US). My machines all get used throughout the year (for work and play), and they all get a decent amount of hours put on them per year, but not enough that I can justify the cost of synthetic oil (or the need to deal with an independent sales rep - especially if I'm in a pinch).

I've had VOA's performed on the following conventional diesel oils which are readily available at most auto parts stores and dealerships around me (plus I work for a Case IH dealer that frequently stocks the Akcela No. 1 and Mobil Delvac 1300 oils). The exception being AMSOIL 15w40 which I used as the control. The results from the lab tests are as follows (and yes, I'm aware they are all decent choices, but if I'm buying a 55-gallon drum I want to make sure all my bases are covered):

View attachment 147854

From the results, it would seem that the Delvac MX, JD Torq-Gard, TSC Traveller, and Case IH/Akcela No. 1 (all highlighted) have the best combination of additives, detergents, and TBN. While my air-cooled Kohler engines typically require a low-ash, non-detergent oil, I don't know that I'll be able to achieve that without sacrificing some of the additives that the bigger engines need. I was leaning toward JD Torq-Gard and Mobil Delvac MX due to their high additive packages, but both of them are practically obsolete (and expensive if you can find them in a 55-gal anywhere). Working for a Case IH dealer I'm also leaning toward the Akcela No.1 since it's readily available, but it doesn't really qualify as a "low ash" oil. I've always used the Motorcraft 15w40 in my 7.3 Powerstroke, as I know Ford's WSS-M2C171-F1 spec is basically in a class of its own.

Am I better off just buying a low-ash SAE30 for my Kohler's and sticking with a 15w40 for everything else? Is there really a good all-around oil that fits all these categories? Am I just overthinking it??

there’s more information there than I can put in in this post.

 

[daimlercoupe]

Hey all. Long-time lurker but first-time poster. I apologize if I am beating a dead horse here, but I've been doing a lot of research (and have done virgin oil analyses on most of the major brands of HDEO available in my area), and still cannot come to a good conclusion. I would like to hear some opinions from the forum - maybe you can help me stop overthinking (and hopefully the info from the VOA's will help others here).

To start off, nothing in my fleet is newer than 2000 model year. I tinker with old tractors in my spare time, which have engines ranging from air-cooled Kohler single-cyl and Onan two-cyl gas, Yanmar & Kubota 3-cyl liquid-cooled diesels, two-cylinder gas John Deere's (which originally called for a low-ash SAE30), and some 50-60 HP three-cylinder diesels. Also have plans of collecting more antique tractors (both gas and diesel) in the future, along with old semi trucks (Cat/Cummins/Mack diesel powered). My tow rig is a Ford F-250 with 7.3L Powerstroke (pre-emissions). I've spent way too long buying different kinds of oils for all of my equipment and would like to find "THE ONE" 15w40 oil that I can use across my whole fleet - an oil that would fulfill the "low ash" requirement for my air cooled Kohler engines (splash lubed with no filter), but still provide good lubrication for the Onan air-cooled twins (with an oil pump), the small diesels, all my antique tractors, and my truck. Something I can easily buy in a 55-gallon drum that I won't have to worry about becoming obsolete (like JD Torq-Gard 15w40 or Mobil Delvac MX - both originally rated CI-4+ and getting harder to find here in the US). My machines all get used throughout the year (for work and play), and they all get a decent amount of hours put on them per year, but not enough that I can justify the cost of synthetic oil (or the need to deal with an independent sales rep - especially if I'm in a pinch).

I’ve been searching this forum on an almost-weekly basis for the last five years but I never came across this thread. I’m guessing there are plenty of people in the same boat as OP. I finally created an account to post a few new VOAs but figured I’d keep this thread going with my two cents. My take? There is no one-oil-fits-all, there are too many variables. The application has to dictate the formula.

For years I used the same oil, Rotella T6 5w-40, for literally everything, from Powerstrokes to skid loaders to zero turns to classic Mercedes. After digging deeper into the world of doing my own equipment maintenance, collecting more toys and taking on more in-depth projects, I started sending in UOAs. Thanks to those I added T6 15w-40 to the lineup, started playing around with additives for fun and now I keep four different engine oils on the shelf.

For all of my diesels I use Schaeffer’s 700 15w-40 (when the age/condition of the motor calls for it, I’ll throw in some Schaeffer’s 132 Moly EP Oil Treatment to bump the viscosity up and for the antimony). I have a 5-gallon jug of HPL 10w-40 HDEO coming that’s going for a test run in the Powerstroke and a ‘21 John Deere skid loader. For all my two-cylinder gas engines (the oldest one is a 2013 Polaris four wheeler) I use Schaeffer’s 9001 5w-50. For my bigger gas engines, I either use the 15w-40 (in an old gas Ford tractor and in one 351 Windsor), or Schaeffer’s 9040 0w-40 (in a 5.4 Triton, my wife’s V6 Volkswagen, among others). When I can I use oversized filters with the lowest micron rating and my OCIs are every year, 5,000 miles, 150 hours (except the small engines) or whichever comes first.

Is any of this necessary or cost effective? Were my UOAs on T6-for-everything that bad? That’s subjective. For me, it’s about doing my best to preserve and maintain the 20 or so cars, trucks, tractors and other internal-combustion investments (toys is probably a better word) I own. UOAs look phenomenal, but they should, I spend way more time changing fluids (and rebuilding engines that arguably don’t need to be rebuilt) than I do actually driving or using anything that’s more than 10 years old.

95% of the population doesn’t need to use anything they can’t buy at TSC or NAPA, 90% of the population doesn’t need to use anything other than generic products (as frequently mentioned on BITOG, Traveler is great stuff). If you want to buy a bulk oil for everything and don’t have an engine with special requirements (DI, 6.0-6.7 Powerstroke, flat tappet, Porsche, etc) you’re probably just fine putting Traveler 10w-30 HDEO in everything you’ve got and running 10k/ 400-hour OCIs. But if you’re like me and you enjoy geeking out over relatively abstract concepts like HTHS viscosity… you’ll probably end up like me, welcome to the rabbit hole.

 

[Hohn]

Because of today's Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel fuel, there is no longer a need to have oils with high DI content. The tendency to form acids in the oil due to high levels of sulfur in the fuel just isn't there anymore. (Are you running ULSD?) This also leads to not requiring the oil to have high antiwear content because the DI package no longer has to compete with the antiwear package. The lower DI content means that you will not have as much ash to deal with, so the non-detergent oil requirement for some of your engines will have less importance.

To further head off concerns for ash deposits, could you add ash content to your table? I remember that traditionally, oils with high Magnesium form harder ash deposits, so it may be good to minimize Mg. (Although this may have changed in recent years.) Rotella T4 and Motorcraft Super Duty have almost no Mg.

Since all of your engines are old, and have no DPF's to contaminate, don't feel the need to go with lower Phosphorous content.

Another good parameter to add to your table would be KV100. If you want to put 40-weight into some of your old engines that specify 30, it would be good to go for the 40 with the lowest viscosity.

I would go with either Motorcraft Super Duty or Rotella T4, depending on which has the lower viscosity.

Excellent post. The removal of most sulfur for diesel fuel is a huge enabler all around, and you did a brilliant job showing how the benefit propagates through to 3rd and 4th order effects.

 

[Hohn]

I have been watching videos of a guy in Utah with a 6.7 diesel that has been using Lorenzo Oil which a high grade diesel oil with Tungsten Disulfide and bypass oil filter. His truck has 900,000 miles on it. Check it out on instagram it’s under “Insane Diesel” there are numerous videos to watch that will answer your questions on best oil to use. Watch the videos


there’s more information there than I can put in in this post.

A cummins 5.9 went 1.6 million miles on dino delvac 1300 on 30k OCIs. Super high mileage engines are a testament to engine design, maintenance and usage-- and rarely a reflection of one particular product being used.

 

[Sberry]

I used bulk back in the day, barrels really and always a mess. Then engines oils and prices changed and can get it the way I like it in gallons for only slightly more if we keep ahead on sale. Extended has really changed that as well as experience. We almost never stop to do an oil change, it gets done if its due when a piece comes in for other work.

 

[My5.9]

I will try the TSC my next oil change the numbers posted from your oil analysis look good. That being said I am a firm believer of Rotella T4. I have used it in my 6.0 powerstroke, 5.9 cummins, boat with 5.0 mercruiser and another with 3.0 mercruiser, honda cr250r, raptor 660, honda trx 400, lawn mower, and pressure washer. Like franks hot sauce I put that s*** on everything.

 

[dlundblad]

T6 5w30?