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Don M
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2001-11-23          33365

I have seen a name brand diesel oil that is synthetic or semi-synthetic, at 5W40. I am wondering if I could run it year round in my JD, here in Illinois. Operations would be in ambient temps of slightly above zero F up to maybe 100F. Can I combine the 5W30 and 15W40 temperature charts shown in my manual to arrive at the range for a 5W40?

-Wonderin'


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TomG
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2001-11-24          33374

The simple answer probably is that a 5W-40 would work year around if a 40 grade is recommend for the tractor in hot weather, but I'd check with a dealer. My dealer's service manager uses a NH 0W-30 year-around in his equipment, but I don't know if that constitutes a dealer recommendation or not. The dealer does recommend the 0W-30, and I did leave it in over the summer this year. However, I wondered if I was contributing to engine wear during engine warn-up. I think the answer is complex and depends on the exact multi-grade properties of the oil. I did warm the engine into its operating temperature range before moving the tractor.

I believe the thing to keep in mind is that there have been some changes in definitions and standards over the years as well as advancement in oil formulation. Many tractor manuals were written before current oils were developed, and manual recommendations may be somewhat dated. Dealers should be current on service bulletins that would cover recommendations for appropriate oils. My brother-in-law was spouting oil facts and figures about a year ago. He found a bunch of technical data on the web, but I suppose you'd need an engineering background to interpret the data in terms of engine operation. Guess I have to trust that oil formulators have created oils that have stable properties that cover the entire normal operating temperature range of a tractor. If that's true, then it's not going to make much difference whether it's a cool summer day or a real hot one. I believe that the way multi-grade oils work that the first number is the ‘base’ and mixing different bases always will produce cold temperature properties between the two bases.
....

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Peters
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2001-11-24          33376

SAE (Society of automotive engineers) rate oils at 2 temperatures 0 F and 210 F. Straight weight oil is measured only at 210 and has the designation SAE 30 etc. Oils measured at the lower temperature have the designation W therefore a 10W has a viscosity of 10 at 0 F.
For example a SAE 0W-40 oil has a viscosity rating of a 0 oil at 0 F and a visosity rating like a 40 oil at 210 F. For cold starts the lower the W rating the better. For hot weather the higher SAE number (second number) is desirable. If your machine is running hot then then you will get thinning of the oil and it may not provide correct protection.
Mixing of oils will not provide you the desired affect. You will tend to lower the second number more than the first. For example a 50/50 mix of 5W-30 and 15W-40 will probably provide you with something like a 10W-32.
My advice is to change the oils in the season unless you can find a synthethic with a 5W-40. You need to check the owners manual and see is the lower weight oil is recommended.
As for the use of 0W-30 year round, that would depend on how far north you are. I would not want 30 weight in my diesel engine in hot weather. When working the engine down here I have seen thinning of the hydralic oil.
I am the other extreme I run 15W-40 year round. We do not get 0C weather let alone 0F. I am more concerned with the second number.
For starting wear the first number is important and the lower the better. You want the oil to fill the bearings and journals as quickly as possible. ....

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Art White
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2001-11-24          33379

All this concern for the oil when often we here people here looking to save a dollar on an oil filter that often doesn't include an anti-drain back valve. I give up. I do appreciate those that do worry about there investment and how as a whole product protect it. ....

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TomG
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2001-11-25          33396

Pretty good responses. For myself, there are quite a few days here that are -30F or less and few that exceed 90F. My manual specs 15W-40 for use in 90+ weather. I don't really want to work when it's that hot so my 0W-30 oil may give me an excuse to avoid the few really hot days around here. Hot days and biting bugs in about six varieties go together around here as well as air pollution from the south. All in all, real hot weather is a good reason to stay off the tractor. It also rains a lot, and because I don't hay, I have the choice of sitting in the shade or fishing most times.

I've never tried to save a dollar on an oil filter and stick with NH factory filters. I've noticed it does take 10-15 seconds for the oil light to go off after the first start of the day. I have wondered if the pricey NH filters have an anti-drainback valve. Suppose I'll check now. Thanks for the comment.
....

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Peters
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2001-11-25          33402

Filter price and quality do not necessarily equate. Fram would not put a back drain valves in their filters for years claiming better performance. It is very difficult to determine the porosity of the filtermedia, but the number of pleats or amount of material used can be determined looking down the cartridge. All things being equal the amount of media will influence the dirt holding capacity (more = greater) and the back pressure of the filter (more = less).
More recently I have purchased filters at an autoparts store. They sold an OEM (Original equipment manufacturer) brand for my pickup and another brand that was an oil companies synthetic oil logo on it. Through close inspection it was not difficult to determine that they were the same exact filter, from the same supplier. The oil company branded filter was 40% more than the other. Neither company was a filter manufacture.
My decision to purchase a filter revolve around, back flow valve, the amount of media in the filter, and the type of media in the filter. It is not made on what colors it is painted. Like lead acid batteries few of the brand names represent the manufactures.
Some of the OEM tractor branded filters are inferior to other after market filters. MF comes to mind at lest for my MF65.
I'm sorry if I dissappoint some dealers, but I have used filters in critical industrial applications, designed filter systems and developed new filter type media. I guess I don't look at things from the normal prospective. Correct me if I am wrong. ....

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DRankin
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2001-11-25          33409

Back to the original question.......... From my perspective there is no comparison between the performance of petroleum based motor oils and synthetic based motor oils. I have done a bunch of reading and research on the subject and have come to the conclusion that a good synthetic is as close to an all season, all year around oil as you are going to get. According to Mobil 1 specs, for instance, their 10-30 will pour at more than -50 F and is thermally stable at +400 F. That far exceeds what any natural product can do. They also have documentation of running a BMW for one million miles using the manufacturers oil change intervals and found all the critical engine parts within new tolerances at the end of the million mile test. Yes, I do believe that you can find a synthetic that you can run all year that will do a better job than any conventional oil. Read the stuff on Mobil 1's web site or check out Redlineoil.com. By the way, I have replaced head gaskets on two higher mileage engines that were run on synthetic oils in Alaska. In both cases( a Datsun 710 with 97,000 miles and a Ford Van with a straight 6 at 77,000 miles) I found the factory hone marks clearly visible on all of the cylinder walls. And I did my oil changes once a year back then and paid no attention the the odometer. ....

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TomG
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2001-11-27          33457

Mark: That's the general impression I've formed as well. I seem to have a prejudice against synthetics and haven't switched. I really don't know why, since I certainly don't want to change oil more frequently than recommend intervals. Used oil has become difficult to dispose of. I end up having our car and truck serviced so the garage owner isn't too unhappy about taking our used tractor and small engine oil as well. I guess it's understandable that the owner doesn't appreciate people who change their own oil and then bring it to him for disposal.

The 0W-30 NH oil I use comes pretty close to an all-season oil for this area. It certainly works in the winter, and I guess I could check out the viscosity at summer temperatures. However, the oil may not be entirely a petro based multi-grade oil. NH F200 TX oil, which is a multi-season version of 134D, was described to me as a semi-synthetic--what ever that means. Guess there's a chance that I actually switched to a synthetic without knowing it. The only tangible reason I've heard for not using a synthetic is during the break-in period of a new tractor. Some people say that HST's run much cooler on synthetics using the summer, but I’ve got gears and probably will have gears forever.
....

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Peters
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2001-11-27          33464

Lubricating oil is not as clear as it seems. Penn. grade crude was good as it was high in paraphinic oils. On the Penn. oil stock ran out it was difficult to duplicate. A few years ago the oil companies started to hydrotreat there basestocks. Good hydrotreated oils are water white.
Incidently I tested on a few years ago. The flashpiont was over 500 F and there was no discoloration after ignition.
To the base stocks additives are mixed to prevent oxidation and increase detergive activity. These additives and base stocks are improving all the time. There is a letter code on the SAE oils this letter code indicates the next grade of oil. Older oils are not nearly as good as the most recent oils. Most of the improvement in engine life time can be attributed to the improvements in oils.
As with all base stocks there is some variation in the feed due to the differences in the oil produced from oil bearing structures around the world. These impurities can cause problems in the oils.
Synthetic oils take ethylene and oligomerize (create small oil chains) to form pure paraphinic oils. With controlled pure stock they can add the antioxidants to prevent prevent break down and increase cleaning action. I talked with the Royal Purple people a number of years ago, one of the makers of premium oils for aircraft and industry. The new hydrotreated base stocks from the newer plants are very good quality. I use the regular shell oil for my diesel applications. ....

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MarkS
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2001-11-27          33468

Shell Rotella (formulated for Diesel engines) has a synthetic 5W-40 that I just put in my tractor. Don't know if it is a good Idea or not, but I fell pretty confident that is will be a good year round oil for me. I live in southern IL near St. Louis MO where the temperatures range anywhere from 0F (but usually not much below 20) in the winter to 100F in the summer.
....

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MarkS
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2001-11-27          33469

As for synthetic oils, I can say they seem to lubricate very well. I own a 93 GMC pickup that had 125,000 on the 350 when I replaced a leaking head gasket. I had always used Mobil 1 in the truck and changed the oil at 7500 mile intervals. I decided to change both head gaskets when I had the first one off just knowing that if I didn't the other would fail soon. But to make a long story short the cross hatching was still very visible in the cylinders with no obvious scratches or scuffs. The oil pressure on the truck is as strong as the day I bouth it too. THis is usually a good sign of how well the bearings are wearing. ....

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Peters
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2001-11-27          33474

What is good for a gas engine in not neccessarily what is required for a Diesel. For my gas engines I use synthetic oils as lubrication is key and I can extend changes. On a Diesel soot in the oil is a factor and therefore I want to change the oil no matter how well it is lubricating. The oil will only have a specific capacity for the dirt in the oil after this the dirt will fall out of supension clogging the oil journals. This is why I use regular Shell Rottella. I change more frequently and the cost is the same. I also buy in large container to reduce the cost.
Oil stations normally get the company to remove their wast oil for free. Friends of mine set up a company to retrieve and truck the wast oil. The waste oil can be used as feed stock at a refinery or burn at a cement plant etc. Eventually they we paying the customers for their waste oil. Needless to say I don't take much static about emptying waste oil. ....

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DRankin
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2001-11-27          33478

Ok guys. Isn't the key to buy oil with the correct rating for the application? If a synthetic is rated at service CF then it would seem safe to use. My JD 4100 manual calls for a 10-30 CF or higher and Mobil 1 folks I e-mailed saw no problems with the application. I do agree that one should not try to extend the change interval with a diesel for the reasons Eric outlined. I feel better knowing the stuff will circulate as quickly as any oil can on a cold morning and it is worth the extra expense to get possible extended engine life. Even with synthetics maintenance is a heck of a lot cheaper than rebuilding an engine. ....

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TomG
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2001-11-28          33485

I've heard stories about fleet equipment where the oil is virtually never changed. The filters are changed at normal intervals, and oil samples are sent periodically for testing. Additives are used to replenish some characteristics--pH balance and detergents perhaps. It's my impression that this approach works well enough for diesel and gas engines. However, I believe that it only works if single weight oils are used. What I heard is that the long polymer chains that are used to create multi-grade oils physically break over time. If multi-weight oils are used too long, they start loosing their high temperature viscosity.

I find it an interesting story, but it would be good if somebody could verify its accuracy. Of course, the story is more interesting than useful since a single weight oil isn’t going to do much for all-weather use, unless the engine runs most of the time.

Something else I heard that is vaguely related is that detergents act as a water-dispersant. Detergent engine oils aren't good to use in oilcans--especially cans used to lubricate electric motor bearings. Detergent oils tend to retain moisture in the oil and around the bearings. High engine temperatures evaporate moisture in engine oils.
....

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MarkS
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2001-11-28          33488

The comment about the Long chain polymers it true TomG. These are what make the oils multi-grade. As the oil gets cold the long polymer chain coils up, thus making it more compact and easier to flow by other oil molecules etc. When they warm up the polymers stretch back out and therefor make the oil thicker as the long chians don't flow by one another as easily. But as time goes by theses long chain polymers do literally break. When this happens the oil losses its ability to maintain the higher viscosity at temperature. So no matter how good an oil its it eventually should be changed. A filter change alone isn't enough.

An yes tom it is not a good idea to add multi grade oil to electric motors as they do hold moisture and tend to pit the bearing. Working as a engineer for seveal years at the largest electric motor manufacturer in the world we saw all types of failures. And many were due to using the wrong oil in the bearings. The motors that you need to oil are geneally a sleeve bearing with a felt wick that litterally wicks oil onto the shaft in the bearing area. As you can imagine constant moisture is a bad idea on a bearing. ....

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Bird Senter
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2001-11-28          33490

I just recently quit repairing/rebuilding automotive air tools and a lot of them, particularly impact wrenches, have oil in the impact mechanism housing. A non-detergent single weight motor oil is what is recommended for them, too, presumably for the same reason. ....

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Peters
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2001-11-28          33492

Tom
I know some of the stationary engines (ie ships, train and power plants) do refurbish their oils. I don't know if truck fleets do the same. Analysis of the oils is quite extensive and look at metals dissolved in the oils etc. The analysis also dictates the engine repair. All engines oils will lose chain length over time. Refurbishing the oils also would add longer molecular weight material to the oil to replace the material lost. Straight weight vs multigrade is not a factor.
These engines run almost constantly and at near fixed rpms. The way that they handle oil and stress the oils in not the same as in smaller engines.
The oils are removed and recycled at the refinery also is the oil can not be made to meet the specs. My friends in the oil recovery business had a contract for the Navy pier in Seattle.
Detergents in oil will make the oil attract water. The polar nature is a function of detergent's molecular structure. This is on reason that the oil should be changed even if the car is just sitting. Straight oil is better for storage of cars.
High detergent oils are useful for cleaning. One old auto restore trick is to add transmission fluid to the oil to clean up the oil journals. Run the engine for a little and then drain the oil. The high detergent transmission fliud can not be left in the oil.
....

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MarkS
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2001-11-28          33495

Peters, You brought up a good point that I should have mentioned. All oils do have chain like molecuels that do break down overtime. Even straight weight oils. This is why even gear transmissions and rear ends need the oils changed periodically, even though they are not exposed to blowby from the motor etc. Eventually the oil just losses its ability to maintain a sufficient cushion layer between moving parts. ....

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TomG
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2001-11-29          33510

Thanks guys. The comments gave me my info fix for the day.

Most of my stories came from the @agriculture board when it was very active several years ago. I had the sense the comments were accurate, and I guess mostly they were. Glad to hear Mark talking about curling polymers, which was another story I heard.

On the @agriculture board several people who said they operated fleet talked about doing oil testing and replenishing, but I can't remember if the fleets were equipment or transports. Some individuals also did oil testing, and I seem to recall that several individuals used very long oil change intervals. However, I think the main reason for testing was to predict failing engine components. At any rate, the oil testing idea seems to be feasible for an individual tractor owner, but I wouldn't have a clue where or how to send an oil sample. An oil test might be a good idea every 1000 hours or so. The tests seem to be able to spot all sorts off failing parts and poor engine performance.

I might have guessed that the hydrocarbon chains in base oils would break similar to polymer additives--hadn't thought about it before. I'm fairly certain that one of the persons who was using extended change intervals was using single weight oil, but may have been just what he used and not part of the extended interval idea. I guess a question might be whether the HC chains in a 30-weight base are more durable than the polymer additives in a 10W-30 multi-grade. Don't know but somebody here almost certainly does.
If base HC’s are more durable, that might make a case for using single weights.
....

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Peters
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2001-11-29          33521

Tom;
I have gone as far as you can go in polymer chemistry and engineering. My final work was at the U of Waterloo. That does not mean everything I say is correct only and educated guess at times.

My experience with oil pertains to battery separators. Oil is used in the manufature of the lead acid battery separators.

Polymeric materials are log chain molecules. The units used to form the polymers are monomers. The repeating units in the polymer chain are called mers. Polymer means many mers. Monomer means one mer.

In reference to oil what is in and added to oil is oligomers (short polymer chaims). Paraphinic mineral oils are naturally occuring mineral oils which are high in oligomer ethylene chains. If the chain chains become too large/long then they will wax out in cold weather as we discussed concerning diesel fuel.

Oils are selected and mixed to provide the correct level of short and long chains. The solubility of these long chains in the bulk of the oil will change with temperature this affects the viscosity of the oil. If blended correctly the viscosity will be like a lower weight oil at lower temperatures and a higher weight oil at higher temperatures.

Extreme Exampleof the effect : Expensive oils in your clutch fan on your engine. The chains extend as the temperature increases increasing the viscosity of the oil and causing the fan to engage. As the clutch cools the chains curl decreasing the viscosity disengaging the clutch.
Natural oils have oligomeric chains, but these oligomeric chains may not all be olephinic as natural oils are created from a mixture of chemicals. These oligomeric chains will break down over time decreaing the viscosity of the oil. The longer chains will have the greatest affect on the visosity at higher temperatures. Straight weigh oils will break down overtime but the high temp. viscosity will not degrade as quickly as there are a greater number of these chains in the oils initially and the chains will be of narrower molecular weight distribution.

Synthetic oils start with pure paraphinic oils made from ethylene and other organic units. Better control can be obtained through designed synthesis of these chains to exact molecular weight ranges. The lack of the other mixed chemicals with in the oils slows the break down of the oils and extends use.
The only companies what I have heard of providing oil testing were Cat, Cummins, Detroit etc. These were for expensive marine and equipment engines such as the V16 and V8 diesels we had in off road trucks and tug boats. I am sure that private labs also do contract work for fleets but I am not sure who.

On these larger engines there is a base analysis data, to which certain problems will be revealed in analysis. I am not sure of the utility of testing a smaller engine unless the data is available from the manufacture. For example the composition of the bearing needs to be know and what the normal base line concentration of metals in the oils should be etc.

All of this is complicated information and not everyone what to understand more than the basics. I am sorry if this is not clear. Unfortunately to me this is the basics, but without a chemistry background it may be difficult to understand. Just ask more until you do, if you what. We are getting pretty deep here to go farther we may need hip waders.
....

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DRankin
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2001-11-29          33524

Ok. Many of the synthetic oil manufacturers state that their oils have a more uniform molecule size and are much more resistant to mechanical shearing (another facet of oil degradation that we have not yet discussed) than a comparable weight oil from natural base stocks. If I am reading between the lines correctly the information in the last posting would seem to bolster that claim. By the way, I don't know which weight oil Deere puts in at the factory, but there is a big difference in the cranking speed of my 4100 since I put the mobil 1 in its tiny little oil sump. The actual specs are on the link below if anyone is interested. ....


Link:   

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Peters
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2001-11-30          33545

Mark
You are correct concerning the distribution and its affect on stability, but the other factor is the chemical nature of the oil. The distribution part is as we discussed. In a multiweight oil the manufacturer blends many feed stocks together. He will select feed stocks with different ditillation ranges and from different oil well structures to provide the desired multigrade viscosities and lubrication. The higher molecular weight fractions prevent viscosity break down at the higher temperatures. As he added a mixture of high molecular weight chemicals some of these materials contribute to the viscosity but are not very stable to oxidation. As the fraction that he is adding has a large range of molecular weights much of what is added is like the lowerweight fractions in the blend. The other factor is the chemical linkages in the mix. Although he probably has hydrotreated stock the sulfur, oxygen and branched carbon chains all contribute to site at which oxidation (chain sission) occurs.
The synthetic oil chains are non branched, uniform sizes (ie 10, 12 22 carbons in length) and contain no other atoms unless desire for some other function in the oil. This allows the synthetic manufacturer to provide a greater protection range of viscosities and lower viscosity at lower temperatures. Nearly all the material in the synthetic oil is providing lubricative function. In a natural oil some of the chemicals are high molecular weight but cyclic or branched molecules which are not providing a lubricative function. This is like adding filler to the ice cream. ....

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TomG
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2001-11-30          33549

Thanks Peters: That's about the level of information that satisfies my curiosity. I do have something of a background in chemistry. However, it is limited to several years in a Forestry program at Colo St. I studied long enough to find out that I really didn't care what the difference between an aldehyde and a ketone is. That was about the same time I discovered that I couldn't connect all the time I spent memorizing Latin names for stuff like black bread mold to forestry work. Well, so much for the Forestry program for me--didn't pass the initiation I guess. So much for my chem background too. Regarding schools, Waterloo is almost my old neighbourhood when I was down south. Wonder how you found the local specialty of pigtails.

That’s a good comment about the oil testing and requiring a database to interpret the results. The way several people commented on @agriculture it seemed like it was common place to suck up some oil from the filter when it was changed and sent it off for testing. Perhaps there are companies that do that, but as you point out maybe the test results aren’t very interpretable.
....

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Peters
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2001-11-30          33555

Tom;
We did not eat the pigs tails but lunched a number of times on the knuckles. My wife has a Malaysian dish that she learned to prepare from a friend at the University.
My favorite was the fresh sausage, barbecued and on fresh Italian bread rolls. All from the farmers market naturally.
Undergrad work is more perseverance than aptitude. I can not say I enjoyed much of it. I think it takes a certain type of mind set which weeds out creativity or ingenuity. ....

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wyante
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2002-03-04          36084

Reads like you have a very knowledgeable group of people here. Let me say the synthetic
basestock oils out perform the petroleum in many factors , two of which are thermal
stability ( ASTM D5800) and wear prevention (ASTM D4172). Both of these
properties mean a constant viscosity over a wider temperature range, and protection
from wear for your engine. The manufacturing engineers set the viscosity requirements
based on bearing clearances and oil galley sizes. As you probably know the oil plays
an important part in carrying destructive heat away from mains and rods. There
has to be a minimum flow rate, or the bearings will overheat and fail prematurely. An oil
with an inferior thermal stability will boil away and become thicker. In some cases
a 40W can become a 60W. Thus flow rate slows and heat builds. Wear prevention
is especially critical considering the significant bearing loads caused by the 22:1
compression forces caused by the pistons. Synthetics beat the petroleum’s hands down.
I am biased, I sell synthetics and I’ve seen the independent oil analysis prove it over
millions of hours of engine operation hours. Let me know what your manufactures
requirements are for viscosity , and I’ll tell you my recommendations. ....

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Peters
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2002-03-04          36086

Oils do thicknen over time but the most destructive nature is the thinning of the oil. As the oil breaks down the longer carbon chains in the oil will crack thinning the oil. Some of the lighter species may be distilled off, but in practice little is.
The thickening of the oil and the discolouration of the oil are related. Over time is from suspended particles from combustion will contaminate the oil, increasing viscosity. Not all the cleaved chains will remain small, they are unstable and reactive. These chain can react with other oil compounds to form new larger molecules. An example of this is a sugar chain that carmelizes as it is heated. Motor oils will discolour like cooking oils if over heated. The dicoloration is a result of unsaturation created in the molecules. Note that mineral oil base stocks are hydrotreated to remove unsaturation. ....

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Chief
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2003-05-06          54405

Don,

JD also makes a 0W-40 Plus-50 synthetic for year round cold weather use. If you buy in bulk, it costs about $3.94 per quart.
....

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DRankin
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2003-05-06          54409

Is that Deere product a full or a semi-synthetic? ....

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2003-05-06          54410

I found it. I will try posting the link. ....


Link:   

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Chief
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2003-05-06          54411

It is full synthetic as far as I know Mark. ....

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2003-05-06          54413

Chief;
JD does not make an engine oil. It may blend an engine oil but as it does not have chemical production facilites it does not make an oil. Therefore they are branding someone elses oil.
That said the price of the oils at JD are generally competitive and good oils. I wish I new more about who supplies it.
The newer JD synthetic which they just started selling the last time I was in looks like an excellent alternative.
The lowest price I have seen for a full synthetic is for the Shell Rotella T synthetic at 3.22/qt.
Peters

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2003-05-07          54461

That reminds me.... I need to get to Wally World and see if we have a price reduction on Rotella T here. Thanks Eric. ....

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2003-05-12          54725

I quickly read thru these posts and of coarse it was good to see Bird here again. Who builds a diesel oil rated for constant full load like farm duty? Or mowing? ....

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2003-05-12          54728

Art, look back again, Bird's post was from November of 2001, it was not recent, unfortunately. ....

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2003-05-12          54733

Art, how can you tell if the oil is rated for heavy duty usage? Is there something besides the CD/CF type ratings to look for? ....

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2003-05-12          54736

The usage ratings given to any particular oil are merely benchmarks, standards for performance produced by a professional association like the APO ( American Petroluem Instute) or most commonly, SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers). Beyond those minimum standards the individual manufacturers are free to add anything they like (within reason and the laws of course). The result is that some manufacturers look for things to include as selling points, usually additives which clean better, last longer or reduce friction.

The true test of the 'heavy duty' properties of oil is how long and how well they do what they were designed to do, namely clean & lubricate something. Additives are the first thing to break down, next is viscosity. which reduces both the lubricity and it's ability to carry dirt to the filter.

The simplest way to protect a machine under 'severe service' is to change the oil & filter often and use first quality products.

Best of luck. ....

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2003-05-12          54750

Art is the costant full load the most difficult application for an oil? I never considered a marine application to be any more difficult than a automotive. Diesel electric application such as train engines are no particularly hard on oil. The most difficult technology diesel test are normally run on city busses. The most demanding application I can think of is the high lines for logging. The diesel speed typically cycles up and down one a minute.
I believe that the oils would advertise NY city taxi tests as being the most difficult.
All this makes sense if you look at the dynamics of oil. Under load the when spinning up and down the engine produces a lot more carbon, which dirties the oil a lot quicker. Even my truck has two different schedules based on highway and in town miles.
If you believe that the OEM labelled oils are any different than the standard heavy duty diesel oils good for you. I just would like to know why my 50K$ diesel marine engine does not require a OEM oil. It certainly required the Cat rep. there when it was first fired to hold my waranty. ....

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