Community Forums

rvguy1990 · 01-23-2019, 01:43 PM

Three subjects I try to avoid at all cost - politics, religion, and motor oil.
I'll take a chance here and ask about oil. Have a 1989 Foretravel Grand Villa Unihome U280 with about 120,000 miles. Bought it last year so I don't know if it has ever had synthetic in it or not, I have used Sinopec T500 non synthetic for 2 oil changes. So far so good - but I have considered switching to T700 full synthetic oil. My primary interest extending the life of the engine as long as possible. I read claims of better fuel economy, less frequent changes, cooler temp, not as important as engine life, would likely continue to change oil at about 4000 mile intervals. I have been doing some research and can not find a conclusive answer, their are a lot of mixed responses online and I am not sure if this goes as a per vehicle basis. The T500 has been my choice of oil simply because it's basically shell rotella / mobil delvac but without the crazy prices. A lot of you guys may not be familiar with the T500 but since I have multiple diesel engine vehicles and RVs so for 399 a barrel I caved. Thanks Much for any input, almost time to hit the road again!

egwilly · 01-23-2019, 01:49 PM

I use full synthetic oils in all my vehicles, including our diesel truck. For many reasons.

Lots of good research on www.bobistheoilguy.com website.

Use what you want, what you can afford, and how long you plan to keep it.

rvguy1990 · 01-23-2019, 01:57 PM

What I would do is usually run whatever came with the vehicles until time for the first oil change, then switched to synthetic unless the manual said otherwise on my most recent vehicles but in this instance the car is already so old I am concerned with how this will affect the wear of the engine. I feel like The sludge that has built up over time will often break loose, causing leaks, increased engine wear, or even engine damage due to the sludge blocking oil passages. Older engines also have increased clearances due to wear that synthetics may be too thin

rvguy1990 · 01-23-2019, 02:00 PM

This is what I am currently considering switching to
https://buysinopec.com/products/15w4...55-gallon-drum

This is what I use now:
https://buysinopec.com/products/15w4...l-55gal-drum-1

But like I said earlier, if the sludge has built up over time and breaks loose, causing leaks, increased engine wear would the viscosity difference between the two play a huge role?

rvguy1990 · 01-23-2019, 02:01 PM

Is there anyone who has a better understanding of PDS's who can take a look at the two and tell me if there is any other risks I am not considering?

twinboat · 01-23-2019, 02:11 PM

Oil related failures are very rare, even with standard oil, if changed according to schedual.

Lack of oil, overheating, wear on non oiled parts ( rings, valves ) due to dirt ingestion are the killers of engines. Synthetic oil won't prevent that.

Using oil specified by the manufacture will be all you need.

Bahamaniac · 01-23-2019, 02:19 PM

I have a 1999 F53 with the v10. I changed to synthetic due to length of my trips. I safely go 5000 miles on an oil change rather than 3000 on conventional oil. USE A GOOD OIL FILTER! Do not use a Fram or similar. That will make a HUGE difference in longevity.

1bigmess · 01-23-2019, 02:39 PM

How will you know if, along with other things that cannot be seen, if your oil is doing a good job and your engine is wearing normally? Oil testing. Otherwise, we're all really just guessing that this or that oil is OK.

https://www.blackstone-labs.com/

But without oil sample testing, use what the engine manufacturer says to use and you should be OK without investing in the higher cost of synthetic oil, unless the engine manufacturer says to use synthetic oil exclusively.

Change it according to the schedule. Maintaining the vehicle according to the schedule, or more often than recommended, is the best way to spend money on longevity first.

Mr_D · 01-23-2019, 02:41 PM

Cummins doesn't say much about synthetics other than you can't extend the change intervals when using it. I suspect it's due to the suspension of soot which us collected at the same rate for both conventional and synthetic.

twinboat · 01-23-2019, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bahamaniac

I have a 1999 F53 with the v10. I changed to synthetic due to length of my trips. I safely go 5000 miles on an oil change rather than 3000 on conventional oil. USE A GOOD OIL FILTER! Do not use a Fram or similar. That will make a HUGE difference in longevity.

In 1999 Ford recomended 5000 mile oil changes and conventional oil.

The 3000 mile change suggestion came from oil change places. Marketing at its best.

fagnaml · 01-23-2019, 03:00 PM

From me the "Refining Guy" whose company manufactures engine oils. Full synthetic oils are great for gasoline engines as synthetics have much better thermal stability for a much longer period of time that do conventional oils. Viscosity break down over time is why gasoline engine oils "wear out".

For diesel engines Mr. D is spot on. The oil's ability to "absorb" combustion products i.e. carbon (soot), sulfur and nitric oxides, etc. is the limiting factor for diesel engine oils. Synthetic oils and conventional oils have no differences in the amount of combustion products they can absorb thus why Cummins requires the engine oil to be changed after a defined number of miles (12,000 miles max for my Cummins ISB) regardless of oil type. I use Shell Rotella or Valvoline Premium Blue.

Winemaker2 · 01-23-2019, 03:43 PM

Maybe do a poll and find out how many have worn out an engine using dino?
There are a LOT of OTR trucks that go 1,000,000 mi between rebuilds on Dino oil.
Why go by oil Co recommendations instead of engine mfg?
If Dino was that much better eng mfg should extend warranties like Allison does w syn tranny fluid... but then again they don't get the combustion contaminants...
Ah... there's the answer?

jimmy braden · 01-23-2019, 05:07 PM

If you got a gas engine and pulling a load your oil temps are 250+ then you might need a synthetic and an OIL Cooler. But no diesel pusher will likely need them. Just change it at 1yr and 12K mile internals and it will still out live you. And spend at least 60$ on some oil analysis.. At least to get a baseline of the motor. Its better for most big diesels.

Winemaker2 · 01-23-2019, 05:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimmy braden

If you got a gas engine and pulling a load your oil temps are 250+ then you might need a synthetic and an OIL Cooler. But no diesel pusher will likely need them. Just change it at 1yr and 12K mile internals and it will still out live you. And spend at least 60$ on some oil analysis.. At least to get a baseline of the motor. Its better for most big diesels.

BIL towed a horse trailer w a 4 banger gasser and ran 350,000 mi w dino. Just normal changes.
How many ar ed putting more than 350k and need to worry???
Contaminants are the enemy and only way to get rid of them is change frequency.