Why does my shop insist on 15-40???

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antonmnster

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I have a brand new (well, 101 hours) New Holland T4030 at work that would just not start tonight (-5F). Didn't have the heater plugged in. Cycled the grid heater and cranked for about 30 seconds 3 times before the battery couldn't take it anymore. Ugh!

Finally hooked up the bat charger and plugged the block heater for 1/2 hour.

Got it started, but the hydro system was so cold I couldn't even turn the steering wheel for about 10 minutes.

Even though the manual indicates that the engine oil should be 5-30 up to 68F, my shop INSISTS that it get 15-40. I wonder if that has anything to do with the starting.

Don't know about the hydro fluid... I think that's ISO 32.

Just had to vent!
 
That's the oil they have in the shop and that's what you will get no matter what else may be better at low temps.I use wd40 as a starting aid.Never use starting either.
 
These guys are generally unaffected by "new information". And as an operator I do not have the standing to be taken seriously. Hence the "venting" part.
 
Originally Posted By: antonmnster
my shop INSISTS that it get 15-40. I wonder if that has anything to do with the starting.


Yes, of course it does. You might as well have molasses in the crankcase at -5F. If they insist on a 40 weight, they should use 5W-40, you would see a big improvement in cold starts.

This is a bitoger's nightmare, oil so thick it won't turn over, yikes
cry.gif
 
I know of a couple of shops around here that use 15-40 on any pickup or SUV out of warranty. One in particular uses all Chevron products and loves the Delo. I personally would think Rotella 10w30 T5 would be a better all around choice, especially in winter if they insist on using HDEOs. 15W40 is just nuts for a MN winter. Leave a bottle out one night and pour it out and you won't believe how slow it comes out.
 
Originally Posted By: JDD
One in particular uses all Chevron products and loves the Delo.

I'd use Delo 0W-30, if I could get the blasted stuff!
 
In MN I'd look to see if 0w40 (of appropriate spec) would be acceptable.

John Deere 0w40
PetroCanada Duron 0w40
Delvac 1 ESP 0w40
 
Originally Posted By: antonmnster
I have a brand new (well, 101 hours) New Holland T4030 at work that would just not start tonight (-5F). Didn't have the heater plugged in. Cycled the grid heater and cranked for about 30 seconds 3 times before the battery couldn't take it anymore. Ugh!

Finally hooked up the bat charger and plugged the block heater for 1/2 hour.

Got it started, but the hydro system was so cold I couldn't even turn the steering wheel for about 10 minutes.

Even though the manual indicates that the engine oil should be 5-30 up to 68F, my shop INSISTS that it get 15-40. I wonder if that has anything to do with the starting.

Don't know about the hydro fluid... I think that's ISO 32.

Just had to vent!


Fire it up and put your foot to the floor. Operate every hydraulic system cold until the hoses burst. Then tell the guys inside setting by the stove they can go out in the cold and fix it. Someone there should call Lube Tech and get some 0w30 HDEO in that thing until spring arrives.
 
Johnny's approach is a bit extreme (I'm sure he jests) but his point is valid.

If it's so darn cold that you can't get the engine to start, it's time for thinner oil.

Hyd fluids often react that way as well.

If winter operation is important and frequent, you may have to consider using a summer versus winter fluid maintenance plan.
 
Why not just plug it in before you use it. Even with a 0W-40 thats asking alot for a diesel tractor to start below 0 w/o being plugged in. I would put 0w-40 Deere oil in this thing all year long, but I would still plug it in when it gets below +15
 
Originally Posted By: dnewton3
Johnny's approach is a bit extreme (I'm sure he jests) but his point is valid.

If it's so darn cold that you can't get the engine to start, it's time for thinner oil.

Hyd fluids often react that way as well.

If winter operation is important and frequent, you may have to consider using a summer versus winter fluid maintenance plan.


Yes, I was jesting, but city/county/state garages really tick me off sometimes with their know it all attitudes. I as a tax payer should have some say so in how they treat their equipment, but I don't.

"Now I'm ranting"
 
My local New Holland dealer here in Washington State carries a synthetic 0w-40 (New Holland label) diesel tractor motor oil in stock. Thats what I would use in those temps!
 
Originally Posted By: hate2work
Originally Posted By: rshunter
Originally Posted By: JDD
One in particular uses all Chevron products and loves the Delo.

I'd use Delo 0W-30, if I could get the blasted stuff!

That stuff has to come through a distributor. Check here for someone local to you, maybe they can help you.

http://www.chevron.com/products/wheretobuy.aspx

Yeah, I know I'd have to get it from a distributor. The only problem is that the local guy acted like I was asking for the impossible, like him getting up off his fat duff, when I inquired about getting it. You'd have thought he would have wanted the new business, but apparently he didn't.

I get good service from my Shell distributor, so I guess I'll just keep running RTS 5W-40 in my trucks. My Volvo engines technically call for a 10w30, but just about everybody runs 5W-40, or even 15w40. I wouldn't dream of running the 15w40, personally. But hey, I'll take a supplier who gives a heck any day.

Thanks for the effort, though!
10.gif
 
I drive modern diesel VW cars and EVERY oil change place in my area also says it needs 15w40. The funny thing is that Volkswagen has not specified a 15w40 oil for any of the TDI engines I've owned in the past twelve years.

To this very day Valvoline in Ashland, Kentucky, insists that my 2009 VW TDI can use SynPower 5w30 based solely on the lack of information published in the Alldata maintenance section. Sometimes people simply don't care whether they're uneducated or not. It does take effort to learn and adapt and I don't see much initiative among the ranks these days.
 
I faced more or less this exact scenario on a small utility tractor(without the shop people yelling in my ear... I only yell at myself since I am a one-man farming operation (: < ) and my problem was cured by going to 10W30 Rotella T. The 15W40 was just too thick and the engine couldn't spin over fast enough to start and killed the battery quickly. The cold pumping viscosity of a 10W30 and a 5W40 are actually very close.
 
Originally Posted By: FowVay
I drive modern diesel VW cars and EVERY oil change place in my area also says it needs 15w40. The funny thing is that Volkswagen has not specified a 15w40 oil for any of the TDI engines I've owned in the past twelve years.

To this very day Valvoline in Ashland, Kentucky, insists that my 2009 VW TDI can use SynPower 5w30 based solely on the lack of information published in the Alldata maintenance section. Sometimes people simply don't care whether they're uneducated or not. It does take effort to learn and adapt and I don't see much initiative among the ranks these days.
Sounds a lot like Valvoline and our newer diesel Sprinters-it was like pulling eyeteeth to get the VIOCs to order Synpower MST oil for them-who has time to check Euro diesel specs these days??
 
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