Rottella T5 0W40 safe for wet clutch

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Sep 1, 2004
Messages
1,283
Location
Canada City, Canada
I have a bottle of this laying around and was wondering if its safe for use in my ducati 848 with its wet clutch? There's no energy conserving talk on the bottle that I can see.
 
It can't be "energy conserving" or "resource conserving" because there's almost no way a 40 weight oil could beat the benchmark 10-30.

That being said, I doubt you'll have issues. I have yet to see the 0-40, but the 5-40 and 15-40 are pretty standard fare on motorcycles. If you wanted to be double safe, I'd choose one of those. Most motorcycles can't get out in temperatures where the 0w vs 5w vs 15w really matter. If you can, that is a.) awesome and b.) makes you more of a man than I am.
 
Last edited:
I found this thread by using google:

http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-157664.html


It's pretty old though, and the Shell rep's response in it couldn't be more confusing. See the two sentences I highlighted below:


Quote:

Thank you for visiting Shell Canada’s web site and please accept our apologies for the delay in responding.


Rotella T SB 0W-40 is not that shear stable, which would be magnified in a transmission clutch/tranmission situation and that in company with anything associated with synthetics(all PAO in this case) and clutches could be contributors to the observation of clutch slippage. Tt also does "not" have the JASO T903. We currently would have FormulaShell 10W-40 and 20W-50 as T903 recommendations. The 20w50 is a synthetic blend. Other customers have used Rotella T SB 10w40 with excellent results.

The use of Rotella T SB 0W-40 for this type of application is uncertain and potentially inappropriate, however it appears that there may be other extenuating circumstances( the filter issue) that may have clouded the perception of oil as the only cause of the problem. To answer your question, in general diesel rated engine oils do not contain friction modifiers and are not energy conserving oils.

RotellaT 5w40 synthetic will be available to the Canadian Market by end of July the earliset or in the fall at the latest. That still leaves open the question of Rotella T Synthetic 5W-40 and whether it is a viable recommendation motorcycle applications. I guess the only real way of knowing would be to have the 5W-40 tested for the JASO T903.

Hope this anwers your concerns.

Regards,

Jerome Milce
Technical Representative
Shell Canada Products
 
The Shell rep does have a good point about it not being sheer stable... high viscosity spread using mostly conventional oil (with probably no more than 30% synthetic added) can't be very shear stable.
 
Originally Posted By: D189379
Looks like the T6. 5W40 is what I'll use

Yup. Either T6 or T 15w-40 would work nicely. Both carry JASO MA spec.
 
Does it have a JASO MA or MA-2 rating on the bottle? If so, then it meets the specification for wet clutch use. I see on the Rotella T-5 PDS it lists JASO-DH2 (which does not seem to be the same as MA or MA-2):

From Wikipedia, here is a brief description of Motorcycle Oil:

Many motorcycles have a wet clutch, where the clutch plates are immersed in oil. Some oils make the friction plates in the clutch slippery so that the clutch doesn't engage properly when shifting gears, or the clutch slips when the engine exceeds a certain torque. Some oils contain friction reducing chemicals. One element of the JASO-MA standard is a friction test designed to determine suitability for wet clutch usage. An oil that meets JASO-MA is considered appropriate for wet clutch operations. Oils marketed as motorcycle-specific will carry the JASO-MA label. A properly specified motorcycle oil will still allow for the appropriate lubrication and cooling of a motorcycle clutch, whilst maintaining 100% of the drive to be transmitted by the clutch, even under arduous operating conditions.

Hope this helps!
 
Originally Posted By: 2010_FX4
Does it have a JASO MA or MA-2 rating on the bottle?

If it did, we wouldn't be having this discussion.
smile.gif


The only specs T5 0w-40 lists are API CG-4, CF-4, CF, SJ, and Allison C-4.

That's not to say that it wouldn't pass the JASO MA test if Shell were to submit it for such testing.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: 2010_FX4
Does it have a JASO MA or MA-2 rating on the bottle?

If it did, we wouldn't be having this discussion.
smile.gif


The only specs T5 0w-40 lists are API CG-4, CF-4, CF, SJ, and Allison C-4.

That's not to say that it wouldn't pass the JASO MA test if Shell were to submit it for such testing.

Then he has his answer...
 
I have run the 0W40 in my atv for winter. Its got a wet centrifugal clutch and one that works off the shifter that's wet as well. It didn't slip but its got like 15hp.
This winter I ran some syntec 5W40 that meets a bunch of german car specs, not energy conserving, but one of the clutches did start to slip anyways, going to rotella 15W40 for summer has cured that.
 
It's the transmission that chews up oil molecules. Does the Duck have a shared engine/transmission oil supply?

I thought most all Ducatis has dry clutches.
 
Originally Posted By: dwendt44
It's the transmission that chews up oil molecules. Does the Duck have a shared engine/transmission oil supply?

I thought most all Ducatis has dry clutches.


Most Ducatis do have dry clutches, but this model has a wet clutch.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top