deleted my buddies 2010 3500 cummins in February, been running Mobil Delvac 15W40, but would def run some CI-4 if i could find some!
ULSD on ci-4+ oil
- Thread starter armyn21
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AMSOIL has ci-4+ oil!! the 15w40 HDDM and 10w30 HDD. talked to a amsoil rep and they said that they will not discontinue the ci-4+ oils..
dnewton3
Staff member
Try to keep in mind what CI-4+ has versus CJ-4.
CJ-4 lost some TBN due to the reduction in part of the additive pacakge, as contrasted to CI-4+. That in mind, it would be fair to say that CI-4+ oils would last some portion of time longer in the crankcase if you were using LSD fuel.
However ...
ULSD is the predominant fuel in the total diesel market, and is the only fuel available for on-road service. Therefore, the higher TBN is pretty much moot because you won't be using LSD fuel, and therefore acid fighting TBN is not needed nearly as much any longer. And, it would ONLY play into account if you use the oil for such a long duration that TBN was the limiting factor of the OCI.
That means it comes down to condemnation levels for wear metals, soot, TBN, coolant, fuel, etc. And typically, either wear metals or soot is going to "limit" the OCI before TBN will, in your application. In all the used oil analysis I see, TBN is almost never the reason oil is changed, (there are a few rare exceptions), and if TBN is the limiting factor, it's typically because there is something wrong with the engine (coolant or moisture ingress, etc).
Further, for most oil brands, CJ-4 oils actually show less wear than the preceeding CI-4+ oils, and CJ-4 oils are also designed for better soot control as well.
It's my suspicion that your OCI plan, which you stated is only 13k miles, will never reach the condemnation limits of either type fluid, so the topic is moot. In short, you're probably going to change oil way before it's necessary.
Let's go all the way back to your initial post:
" ... just wanted to know if i can run CI-4+ oil on ULSD diesel fuel.. would it be better??"
To answer your first question: Yes.
To answer your second questions: No, because you'll never reach the practical limit of either fluid.
It seems you're dead-set on using Amsoil CI-4+ lube; that will indeed protect your engine well. But it's going to leave your wallet in hurting in a big way. That's not the fault of Amsoil (or any other syn brand). That's a result of a poorly defined and executed maintenance plan.
CJ-4 lost some TBN due to the reduction in part of the additive pacakge, as contrasted to CI-4+. That in mind, it would be fair to say that CI-4+ oils would last some portion of time longer in the crankcase if you were using LSD fuel.
However ...
ULSD is the predominant fuel in the total diesel market, and is the only fuel available for on-road service. Therefore, the higher TBN is pretty much moot because you won't be using LSD fuel, and therefore acid fighting TBN is not needed nearly as much any longer. And, it would ONLY play into account if you use the oil for such a long duration that TBN was the limiting factor of the OCI.
That means it comes down to condemnation levels for wear metals, soot, TBN, coolant, fuel, etc. And typically, either wear metals or soot is going to "limit" the OCI before TBN will, in your application. In all the used oil analysis I see, TBN is almost never the reason oil is changed, (there are a few rare exceptions), and if TBN is the limiting factor, it's typically because there is something wrong with the engine (coolant or moisture ingress, etc).
Further, for most oil brands, CJ-4 oils actually show less wear than the preceeding CI-4+ oils, and CJ-4 oils are also designed for better soot control as well.
It's my suspicion that your OCI plan, which you stated is only 13k miles, will never reach the condemnation limits of either type fluid, so the topic is moot. In short, you're probably going to change oil way before it's necessary.
Let's go all the way back to your initial post:
" ... just wanted to know if i can run CI-4+ oil on ULSD diesel fuel.. would it be better??"
To answer your first question: Yes.
To answer your second questions: No, because you'll never reach the practical limit of either fluid.
It seems you're dead-set on using Amsoil CI-4+ lube; that will indeed protect your engine well. But it's going to leave your wallet in hurting in a big way. That's not the fault of Amsoil (or any other syn brand). That's a result of a poorly defined and executed maintenance plan.
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I would add that his running 700 miles a week, hauling 5K in the truck is the way to get all the TBN depleting moisture out of the oil-you would be a good candidate for a bypass system or Fleetguard centrifuge type oil filter-thereby getting the excess soot out, allowing even LONGER OCIs! Oil analysis is definitely going to be able to save you some $$$ on oil.
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