0w-40

[andy-stevenson]

Just looking for some opinions know running g 0w40 diesel oil through the winter. Last year we saw temperatures between -30 and -40. Truck is plugged in at night, but cannot plug it in during work so its exposed to the elements for 10hrs a day. Any reason I should stay away from 0w40?

 

[paint94979]

Just curious what did your oil psi look like?

 

[andy-stevenson]

In the winter you mean? If so I can't remember, but I do remember oil temperature was 0 at startup. I did run 5w40 through the winter, just wasn't sure if there was any advantages or disadvantages to the 0w40.

 

[paint94979]

I would stick with 5w-40

 

[blitzin247]

I would stick with 5w-40

Would you care to give any specific reasoning behind why you would go that route?

 

[btfarm]

I would stick with 5w-40

I would agree. Synthetic.
Because 0w makes me nervous. No other reason.

 

[paint94979]

I would agree. Synthetic.
Because 0w makes me nervous. No other reason.

x2 my same thoughts

 

[Magnus]

What 0W-40 were you looking to run? Do you tow or run it hard in the winter? The only concern with a 0W should be if any form of VIIs were used which may make the oil less shear stable long term, otherwise a 0W-40 performs just like a 5W-40 with lower viscosity in cold weather.

That said most 5W-40s pour to below -40*F and with modern base stocks some of them have incredible hot weather performance. Schaeffer's 9000 for example has cold weather viscosity that's nearly a 0W, but maintains a 10.0 starting TBN and a HTHS viscosity of 4.5 cP for $25/gallon after tax in my area. If you can find a 0W-40 with better performance on either end of the temperature spectrum and proven shear resistance then buy it. Running a 0W-40 wont hurt anything as long as its a solid formulation.

I do have a background in this to speak about it authoritatively and I'm not employed by an oil company yet so I can give you a solid unbiased academic answer on what benefits an oil could have, but you'll have to be more specific than "should I run a 0-40?"

 

[adeso]

I ran the rotella full syn 5W40 but would be interested to see what else is out there. We go several months where the high never gets above 25*F and lows like to sit around -5.
Nothing like looking at the weather and seeing the high for the day being 1*F with a windchill of -15. Not looking forward to it again

 

[Magnus]

The Delo 5W-40 is similarly priced to Rotella T6, and it varies engine to engine which performs better but I haven't looked specifically at the dmax results for Delo yet.

The difference in additive packs is pretty significant for virgin oil samples. I've been running a Delo 5W-40 and Schaeffers 9000 blend to try and get the quick cold starts and HTHS performance of Schaeffers but minimize copper leaching from the oil cooler associated with PAO base stocks. I'll probably change and get some analysis at 6600miles to line up with universal averages at Blackstone and post up if I have any interesting results.

I've been experimenting with all the fluids in my poor truck lol.

 

[adeso]

I have to deal with the other extreme too, 3 oil only cooled turbos can be tough on oil. I do run an aux oil cooler but the Tstat to it never opens in the winter

 

[Truckedup]

I have been running Delvac 0w40 for the last 4 years. Live in Alberta Canada where the winters can be somewhat extreme at times. Meets the required API standard so I doubt it would be a problem.

 

[plowboy_lbz]

We used to run 0w-40 John Deere synthetic oil in all of out trucks and farm equipment for probably 15 years. Temps around here are usually coldest of -10 F and hottest of 100+ F. In the last couple years we have since switched to Schaffers 5w-40 syn due to the cost increase of the John Deere oil. I have nothing to complain about either oil, and have not ever had a motor fail.

 

[Magnus]

Yeah I believe the most recent batch of John Deere oils are blended by Chevron/Delo with a slightly different additive pack. Delo and JD oils have similar anti wear additive levels, but don't quote me on the contracted blending.

Adesso: the oil cooled turbos probably have more of an impact on oil pressure through the engine than anything else, depending how you have them plumbed in. Either way I promise your setup is nowhere near the oil torture test of a 10k mile drain interval in an HEUI injected engine. If you want to see how shear stable a diesel oil really is find a used oil analysis from an HEUI CAT engine or one of the Internationals like a ford 6.0 eek: please don't ban me for mentioning it!)

Either way id be more worried about total oil flow volume and retaining optimum oil pressure through the rest of the engine in your case, depending how the oil lines are plumbed. It's probably not worth the sacrifices and taking out a second mortgage to replace those Borgs with ball bearing water cooled snails though.