Oil & Filter recommendations

[LBZ]

What are you guys running for oil & filtration? Anyone ran the real world cost differentials between synthetics vs. standard?

Am getting to change everything in my truck & on the fence about a lot of stuff.

I ran Schaeffers synthetic (http://www.schaefferoil.com/engine_oils.html)in the dually & it runs great, but that was a 10 qt pan & now have to buy 10 gal. for this truck. On the dually I could easily justify the switch to synthetic as the standard oil was changed out at 5,000 miles & syn at 10,000. So costs were identical plus what ever benefits the synthetics provided. Current truck has a by pass filter set up & the previous owner would have changed around 15,000 miles at a Speedco. Said he had samples & testing done, but never saw the reports.

Last I knew Schaeffers was around $15-$19 a gallon & Rotella varies from $9-$12 & am going to do the changes at the house instead of a shop.

Also, filters, each warehouse will tell you what ever is on their shelf is the best, but have heard so many stories over the years w/o any proof of claims it gets irritating. Is there any current testing results out there that are independant?

Cummins owns Fleet guard & that seems to be the industry standard. I thought Baldwin was decent, but someone at a Ford HD service center said they were have issues with the media within them plugging awhile back.

The previous owner told me to avoid CAT fuel filters in the winter as they will plug.

Donaldson air filters have always been excellent & will stick with those, but virtually everything else am wanting to find what is the best investment for the dollar spent whether it be standard oil or X branded filter.

On a side note, Schaeffers grease is excellent, you can visually see the difference with it. So if you are placing an order with them for oil definitely check it out.

[ccoop769]

From the roughly 10 oil samples I have done, Ive noticed normal oil can go 20-30k miles in a dually with a bypass system and synthetic (amsoil particulary) can go 40-60k miles with a bypass. Never done samples with no bypass. EGR systems can really destroy your oil also so that takes a big part on how long oil lasts. Not famaliar with big trucks but i have heard stories of oil lasting over 100k miles on big trucks with bypass systems. It may just justify to do that.

From my experiences, I will run a oil bypass and aux fuel setup on any deisel I own from now on. It would be stupid not too especially since the upfront costs are cheap as it is. Im sure you seen my sample posted just from a few days ago.

Thats bout all I can say as im unfamaliar with big rigs.

[Buster]

Mobile 1 is a good syn. I run nothing but amsoil. My wife tests it for me. With DPF delete, the Amsoil on a mobile 1 filter could go as long as 40-50k miles on my truck. I change it at 10k. She gets about 15k per change on here Honda (commuter car) with Amsoil.

[ccoop769]

Question Buster, you run amsoil and per OA's you can get 40-50k miles with your setup, but you change it anyways at 10k???? just a little confused, thats all. I know it costs me directly from amsoil which includes 4 gallons 12 tbn oil, 1 bypass ea100 filter, and 1 ea80 filter, with shipping, it costs $180.

[bayou hotshot]

my buddy redwine runs amsoil in his c15 550hp he does a oil filter change at 50,000 miles and oil sample he said he is still running the same oil that he put in it 3 years ago and has over 300,000 miles on that oil he said it takes about a gal to do filters he also said he was adding about 1 gal every oil change (15,000 miles) be4 he went to amsoil now he puts about a gal for every 50,000 miles
He talks and talks about it but im not sold if thay had oil that last that long the epa would mandate them standards for every oil comp thats the way i look at it
Im a sucker for trying new things but im not sure on this one had a guy call a few weeks ago said he had a fuel treatment that would get me 1-2 miles to the gal better he really talk me in to it so $130 dollers later i got a gal of this stuff that was good for 1,000 gal well i used it and my mpg went down had to change the fuel filters every 6-7,000 miles the guy said thats a sign that all the trash was coming out of my system so after i used it all it didnt work no better mpg it actually droped i always run fuel treatment every time i fill up when he called me back i went off on him i pissed in that bottle for 2 days filled it up with piss and sent that to him with a letter hope he liked that one

[Tosch88]

I used Kendal semi- synthetic for my big truck for the first service when I got it. I never had an oil sample done but it never really used oil until about 16k when I was told to service it anyways. The last time, I switched to Rotella just because its readily available anywhere (Kendal semi-syn is not sold everywhere) & I've used it in about all my trucks & tractors, plus you can buy it by the 55 gallon drum for about $7 bucks a gallon. I've got about 13k on it now & plan on changing it every 15k. Filters, I run Carquest, which is really a Fleetguard (or at least that was what I was told). The truck did use a little more oil (2 quarts) with the Rotella in it but that could be because it idled a lot due to the heat, I dunno. Extended oil drains are great but I'm a firm believer breaking in a new motor with dino oil then changing to synthetic somewhere between 10 & 50k. I never put full synthetic in a motor that has a lot of miles on it as I have experienced excessive oil consumption doing this (hence the semi-syn). If I had a new truck they I would break it in on dino oil then switch to full syn. but being that my truck is older I'll just run the dino oil as I think full syn would start an oil burn issue.

[haulin rv]

On my current Dodge I have either ran Rotella or Mobile Delvac and a Napa gold filter (Wix) and change about 10k. On my Dmax I did the same then switched to Amsoil and used one or there bank fiber filters and went 20-25k.

[LBZ]

I did a lot of reading & asking questions before I ever switched over to synthetic on the Dmax & felt very comfortable with the end result.

What has thrown me for a loop is that talking to several diesel mechanics in which all have said synthetic is a waste of money & just dump in Rotella as it is the easiest to find anywhere. One thing I do remember the Schaeffer rep telling me is that when the new oil designation came out for the DPF motors that Rotella did not do a thing to the base oil to compensate for what was taken out by the EPA regs.

I may check to see what Schaeffers price is on a 55 gal. barrel, they deliver for free on orders over $300 or $350, so may be worth it.

Also need to cross reference the filter numbers to see what I can get through Fleetfilter.com, which is where I am assuming you are getting your NAPA filters.

Appreciate all the info guys!

[Buster]

Coop, Sorry it took me so long. Been on the road. Iv had 4 oil analysis done on this truck. 2 with EGR connected and 2 with it disconnected. The 2 with it connected were done at 10k and they came back as lubricity OK but soot fouled. The other 2 came back lubricity OK and MUCH less soot. The analysis says the lubricity would be safe to 40k to 50k but the soot would clog the filters. If I was running a dual filter setup, I would not hesitate to go to 40k or more.

[LBZ]

So you guys running Amsoil are probably running their filter systems too correct? I know they had an extended drain oil filter rated for 18,000 miles... well was told that by a guy that switched his Dmax over.

Anyone know of any major filter differences among the rest of the companies~Fleetguard, WIX, Baldwin, Donaldson etc.? I used to be able to dig up stuff for the Dmax, but with this C12 it is harder to find info posted around that isn't company sponsored.

[Buster]

I am not using there filters. I use a Mobile 1. I have a place locally that carries Amsoil in stock but not there filters and I get a 20% discount. Amsoils filters are expensive. There extended filters are OK for most apps but I don't like them for the 6.7. The EGR crap on that motor just screws up oil no matter what filter you use. I have 1 of Amsoil's dual filter systems for a 5.9 cumins sitting on a shelf in the garage. I had it on my old truck for about 75k miles. Took it off. Didn't like it. Expensive mistake.
I'm a fan of Wix and Donaldson filters.

[LBZ]

Damn, now I am on the fence. Can get a full p.m. done at Speedco near St. Louis for $242.96 plus another $18 for oil analyses w/results on the spot or spend $170 ish for Schaeffer oil with another $60-$70 for filters. So a wash, you just get the synthetic for doing it yourself. Hmmm.

[LBZ]

You have to consider the source, but still some pretty good comparison information about filters attached via PDF below.

[LBZ]

Went ahead & got the CAT filters for it & now have the cross reference sheet for all makes of filters for the motor(can forward it to anyone who needs it for a C12). CAT also has an oil sample deal for $11, just mail it in & they e-mail you the results directly. They also have a coolant analyses for $33(not test strips.) Would imagine you could test any motor.

[LBZ]

Dealing with Altorfer CAT with the oil sample deal & they are good. As mentioned-$11 & mail in the sample, provided all the info(including serial number on motor) & got the previous results for testing they had done. So now have results dating back to July '09, just mailed off the coolant analyses on Monday so curious to see what that says.