NEW to CRD - What oils to use

DocB · **Posted:** Sat Aug 11, 2007 9:45 pm

I hear you about choices. :?:

The primary recommendation though (per Jeep) for oil is a fully syn. 0W-40, if not available, a 5W-40 for the VM.
I was thinking about these for summer and winter to keep it in the Mobil family. (?)
Mobil 1 0W-40: VI=187 one of the best I've seen, but this oil doesn't seem to handle soot too well. Although I like the thin oil at start up due to the tight tolerances on our engines. And MrMopar64 states that they use this oil in engine tests.
Mobil 1 TDT 5W-40: designed for TDTrucks, good additive package, but a VI=151. I thought this might be better in the summer. Splitting hairs?
And now I read that some of you guys think that a 10W-40 or a 15W-40 might be OK.
Do you think the 0W is a little too thin for our diesels? And it's not really a diesel oil?

BTW Shell Rotella T 5W-40 Syn is not a Synthetic oil. It's a Group III IIRC Base Stock, but I don't want to go into this again.

Cowpie1 · **Posted:** Sun Aug 12, 2007 9:24 am

Your Mobil 1 Choices:

Mobil 1 0w40 only meets the specs of a CF rated diesel oil. I would not trust it to handle the soot like a CI-4+ or CJ-4 rated oil.

Mobil 1 TDT 5w40 is a CI-4+ rated oil and would be your best choice YEAR ROUND.

Generally speaking, Just because an oil has a high amount of viscosity improvers like Mobil 1 0w40 does not make it a better oil. That only means it is having to overcome some weakness in the base stock viscosity. I would much prefer a Class 4 synthetic that has a great basestock and therefore does not need a high level of VI to make it perform. There are many areas of the oil spec like TBN, flash point, pour point, cSt at 100C, etc to determine overall performance.

Unless you are running your CRD in the Antarctic during the dead of winter, I cannot see why you would need any winter oil below a 5w40. Like I stated before, even the class 4 10w40 or 15w40 would flow at temps we have in all 48 states. If you are worried about winter flowing, get an oil pan heater pad and plug it in. Doing that you would even be able to use a 15w40 conventional oil at -50F comfortably (we did in Alaska).

If you are looking for just economy, I would think that the HDD 5w30 CI-4+ Amsoil would be the better choice.

Look... the Mobi 1 TDT is a pretty good oil. It gets down to a nit picky game at that point. The Amsoil's will perform great and even beat the Mobil 1's. But unless you are going for extreme oil change intervals I wouldn't worry. You would want to do oil analysis anyway. At that point, with the cost, just change the Mobil 1 at normal intervals and forget the picking over details. I ran a 1996 Cummins to 1.4 million miles using 30K oil changes with Kendall 15w40 conventional oil and had NO major problems. The truck is still running today with another company and still has not had an overhaul.

Check out www.bobistheoilguy.com forums if you want to see the results others are having with various oils. You will get overloaded with details there. Just don't try to sharpshoot those guys there unless you a certified oil wizard.... They are some real knowledgable people, but they are very friendly to questions.

Have fun! Stick with the Mobil 1 TDT if your heart wants to.

Now you can start getting picking about oil filters! They are equally as important as what oil you are using. But that is another discussion that will start a stampede! :lol:

DocB · **Posted:** Mon Aug 13, 2007 1:24 am

Interesting. But I got a load of M1 0W-40 to use up.
?Maybe I'll add the M1 TDT 5W-40 to it?
BTW- I do 5K OCI religiously. (Don't worry, I'm not wasting oil, it then gets used as heating fuel.)
Call me old school, but I just don't like dirty oil.
This might change though when I install the single bypass filter.
I have been doing OA, so we'll see how it compares.

nix · **Posted:** Mon Aug 13, 2007 12:41 pm

Cowpie1 wrote:

Mobil 1 0w40 only meets the specs of a CF rated diesel oil. I would not trust it to handle the soot like a CI-4+ or CJ-4 rated oil.

I changed my oil to Mobil 1 0w40 about 4500 miles ago and checked it the other day. The oil was very 'gray' and I assume this is the soot? What is the benefit of having an oil that can 'handle the soot' better?

Cowpie1 · **Posted:** Tue Aug 14, 2007 9:50 pm

"handling the soot better" means that it is better able to keep the soot from bonding and creating larger particulates in the oil, therefore more wear. That is the main reason for the CI-4+ and CJ-4 oils being developed. Since EGR was introduced in diesel engines in '02 the demand for soot control became apparent. CI-4+ oils were developed for the pre 2007 engines and CJ-4 was developed for the '07 and on (at least until 2010 when the newest EPA requirements on diesels kick in).

USNA · **Posted:** Thu Aug 16, 2007 11:15 am

Mercedes’ 229.5 rating is the equal to API CG-4

According to this information:

http://www.whnet.com/4x4/oil.html

They also list the rational behind the progression of Mercedes oil requirements.
Just more information to extrapolate into the quest for the perfect oil.

brew1 · **Posted:** Sat Sep 22, 2007 9:55 pm

Cowpie1 wrote:

DocB wrote:

Isn't the Amsoil AME 15W-40 a little heavy for the CRD?
I just got some for the Powerstroke, but waiting what you hear what you have to say.

In a word... No. A true synthetic's basestock is the high number, 40. The oil must flow in winter (hence the "w") to a certain temp, that is where the 15 comes in.

That being said. A 15w40 class 4 synthetic such as Amsoil, Royal Purple, etc will actually flow quite well down to -45F and in essence out perform a typical 5w40. This is due to the molecular structure of the class 4 synthetic.

In relation to a convential oil that is typically a lower viscosity than the high number and uses viscosity improvers to reach a "40" number, a synthetic will start with a "40" that has the molecular characteristics to flow at lower temps.

In a nutshell, a 15w40 will work just fine in the CRD, that is, if it is a high quality synthetic. The flow characteristics are well within the parameters of a lower quality 5w40.

Just remember... the lower number of any oil is the winter characteristics and NOT the viscosity characteristics of the oil in operation. Unless you are in extremely cold temps (below -30F) consistently, you should experience no problems with a high quality 15w40 synthetic.

Oh.... there is a good 10w40 that amsoil has that has a 12+TBN. It is primarily listed as an oil for gas engines, but it meets diesel CI-4+ specs and will flow to -43F. It is the AMO 10w40 in their product list. Just in case you want to split the difference between a 5w40 and a 15w40.

Man... don't you just love having so many choices!

I'm considering using the Amsoil 15W40 HDD & Marine at the next oil change because I want the superior protection it offers and longer oil change intervals.

Is this what your using in your CRD? What change intervals have you been using and what type of Oil Analysis are you seeing at 10,000 mile interval? I'm looking for an oil I can go 10,000 - 15,000 miles while using the Aimsoil EA oil filter and EGR disabled.

Thanks - Mark

NEW to CRD - What oils to use

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