I've got a Cat 3406 Genset. Is AMSOil 5w30 Series 3000 really tough enough to pour in to a 14 liter, 24 valve, 479HP monster? It's got a 6KW block heater, but the oil pan lives under the block, and is unheated. Trapped moisture moves from hot to cold, I assume not heating the oil pan allows any moisture in the engine to migrate to the 10 gallons of cold oil in the pan, rather than finding some machined part to condense on to. Upon startup, this genset holds at 1200 RPM until there is oil pressure before the governor jumps it to 1800 RPM. On the factory fill oil, the engine would linger at 1200 RPM for 3-4 sec, and up to 8-9 sec when the ambient temps were really low. That's 8-9 sec at 1200 RPM, no oil pressure. This bothered me enough to seek a synthetic. After dumping in 5w30, it usually doesn't have time to level off at 1200 RPM, it just goes right to 1800. I did a cold start-load test when the air temp was around -5 F, and it just barely had time to level off at 1200 RPM before the governor sent it to 1800. (My brother said "You tested it at -5F?! Wow, you must really hate that engine!)
So, in that regard, the synthetic is worth it in my book, but I have no idea how well it protects the engine when it's up to temp, burning copious amounts of diesel, and working hard enough to be able to feel the thumping from every power stroke in the soil 3 feet away from the cement pad it sits on. (Varies depending upon load.... very apparent when a couple of 30HP motors are trying to start at the same time!)
The same holds true for my Duramax daily driver. I would really like to settle on a single oil for all my engines, (and the gas engines, too) but 5W30 just "sounds thin." When I told my friend, and mechanic that I was going to put a bypass filter on, and pour Synthetic 5W30 in to my Duramax, he laughed at me and said "You need a high quality oil like Shell Rotella!" (Shell marketing at work?) Even though he does dozens of oil changes a week, he doesn’t seem to have a strong lubrication-oil-science background, so I don’t give his comments much merit.
I'm wondering if a 15W40 (AMS heavy duty Diesel and Marine would be the oil I would chose) might be a better choice in these engines. The Cat only has about 10 hours on the 5W30, (65 hours total) and no UOA has been done yet on the current oil. I have not yet drained the dino oil out of my just purchased Duramax yet, either. Comments?
So, in that regard, the synthetic is worth it in my book, but I have no idea how well it protects the engine when it's up to temp, burning copious amounts of diesel, and working hard enough to be able to feel the thumping from every power stroke in the soil 3 feet away from the cement pad it sits on. (Varies depending upon load.... very apparent when a couple of 30HP motors are trying to start at the same time!)
The same holds true for my Duramax daily driver. I would really like to settle on a single oil for all my engines, (and the gas engines, too) but 5W30 just "sounds thin." When I told my friend, and mechanic that I was going to put a bypass filter on, and pour Synthetic 5W30 in to my Duramax, he laughed at me and said "You need a high quality oil like Shell Rotella!" (Shell marketing at work?) Even though he does dozens of oil changes a week, he doesn’t seem to have a strong lubrication-oil-science background, so I don’t give his comments much merit.
I'm wondering if a 15W40 (AMS heavy duty Diesel and Marine would be the oil I would chose) might be a better choice in these engines. The Cat only has about 10 hours on the 5W30, (65 hours total) and no UOA has been done yet on the current oil. I have not yet drained the dino oil out of my just purchased Duramax yet, either. Comments?
