Originally Posted By: 02SE
Originally Posted By: A_Harman
Originally Posted By: 02SE
Originally Posted By: A_Harman
When I was an engineer at Cummins from 1990-95, VPB was the standard oil used for test engines in the Tech Center; 88 test cells. There were 55 gallon drums of it in every aisle of the test wing. So Cummins as a company really did love the stuff. I ran VPB Classic in my truck for a few years, doing annual oil changes only, which was commonly 18k miles.
So which oil would you run in a '17 6.7 Cummins that's due for it's first oil change? This is based on time, as the accrued miles will likely never reach the recommended OCI. This is in a dually, pulling a fairly heavy trailer.
Shell Rotella. I use Rotella T6 to get the benefit of 5W for cold starting when I am in cold regions. The B series engine is not hard on oil. RT6 doesn't shear in my engine. You can look at my latest oil analysis in the Diesel UOA section.
I asked one of my old co-workers that still works at Cummins a few years back for an oil recommendation, and he said Rotella. That surprised me, I expected him to say VPB. I would consider running VPB Extreme 5w40, but RT6 is available everywhere, so I run that. I have run CK4 RT6 for ~50k miles since March, and it's done well so far, but I'm watching the Iron metal in the UOA, on account of the lower ZDDP level.
I truly appreciate the insight from someone that actually designs/builds these engines. 50k since March? I have about 3.5k since I bought the truck in March. About 2.5k of that was towing at approx. 35k GCW. It tows beautifully.
I'm only changing the oil since Ram stipulates 15k or 6 months, whichever comes first.
Yes, the truck had 322k miles when I did the oil change on March 9, and right now it has 377k.
I can hardly believe it myself.