I tried to search and found nothing close to what I am looking for. So here it goes. I would like to know what are the change intervals on Shell Rottela Syn oil. Is it higher or lower than the dino oil. I usally run a Hasting filter so the filter is nothing fancy. I currently have been changing oil at 5000 miles. I do have a 9000 lb 5er I pull several times a year, when I do pull it is usally a long distance. ( About 400 to 800 miles round trip ) about 4 times a year and then a few shorter trips.

I run 5000 miles with it or M1 too. I have seen several sued oil analysis over on bob is the oil guy. Many run it for 7,500 miles with real good wear numbers. I am going to stick to 5,000 myself.

I run it until my remaining oil life indicator reads about 30%. That works out to about 7000 miles.

I change mine according to the GM Oil Life System.

I run Shell Rotella-T Synthetic 5W-40 and change it when the Oil Life reads 5%. Last oil change was after 8,800 mlies. the used oil analysis from Blackstone Labs said that I still had quite a bit of life left in the oil.

I am comfortable with letting the OLS tell me when to change it.

The best way to know for sure is to perfrom an oil anaylsis at least the first time. Run the analysis at the mileage that you would normally changeyour dino oil. From the results, you will be able to see where your oil is as far ad it's additive package, TBN and if there's any wear metals in it.

Now I'm curious as to why you choose Rotella Syn over the other Syn's on the market? Rotella uses a Class III base stock to create their Syns which is a fake, cheap and deceptive run at the synthetic market place. Shell is a big name oil and the standard Rotella T is everything it's cracked up to be, but the Syn is bogus.

Don't want to be a jerk towards you all that are running it, but if your paying the price for a synthetic, I would get a full synthetic such as the Mobil 1 which used a pure PAO class IV base stock.

FYI... I have now switched to synthetic after hitting the 10K mile mark. My last dino oil was put in at 1,000 miles and I got a little over 9000 miles on the change and changed when the DIC was at 1%. Did an anaylsis and still had some life in the oil. Now I have a pure synthetic 5w40 and should hit the 15,000 - 17000 mark as long as the anaylsis comes out okay. I run mostly freeway and do very little towing.

Now I'm curious as to why you choose Rotella Syn over the other Syn's on the market? Rotella uses a Class III base stock to create their Syns which is a fake, cheap and deceptive run at the synthetic market place. Shell is a big name oil and the standard Rotella T is everything it's cracked up to be, but the Syn is bogus.




Because it's a very good oil for the price......

This is a good read.

http://motorcycleinfo.calsci.com/Oils1.html

Looks to me like Rotella Syn is the best choice!

Now I'm curious as to why you choose Rotella Syn over the other Syn's on the market? Rotella uses a Class III base stock to create their Syns which is a fake, cheap and deceptive run at the synthetic market place. Shell is a big name oil and the standard Rotella T is everything it's cracked up to be, but the Syn is bogus.

Because it's a very good oil for the price......

:exactly:

It is also more readily available than Mobil-1 synthetic in many geographical areas and a lot less expensive.

If you can easily find the Mobil-1 synthetic in your area and you are willing to pay the much higher price for it, then that is entirely your prerogative. But calling the Shell synthetic oil "bogus" shows that you don't know much about these oils.

Shell Rotella-T 5W-40 Synthetic is VERY GOOD OIL. My used oil analysis results tell me that it is. And it is fully certified to meet the engine manufacturers' required API standards for these diesel engines. A lot of members here have been using it for a long time with excellent results.

Although my diesel is not a Duramax, it has 193,000 miles and doesn't use any oil between changes. I change at 5,000 and have a Blackstone kit waiting for the next change and hope to get 7,500 or more next time.
Redbowtie, that was a very informative article and only reenforced what I suspected about Rotella Syn.
I want to get a Dmax before the change in 2010, hopefully an 08 model just before the 09's come out.
I enjoy this forum.

:exactly:



It is also more readily available than Mobil-1 synthetic in many geographical areas and a lot less expensive.

If you can easily find the Mobil-1 synthetic in your area and you are willing to pay the much higher price for it, then that is entirely your prerogative. But calling the Shell synthetic oil "bogus" shows that you don't know much about these oils.

Shell Rotella-T 5W-40 Synthetic is VERY GOOD OIL. My used oil analysis results tell me that it is. And it is fully certified to meet the engine manufacturers' required API standards for these diesel engines. A lot of members here have been using it for a long time with excellent results.

I know plenty about these oils. My point is if it's a price issue you might as well buy Shell Rotella T. You will absolutly get the same result with a proven and even yet less expensive oil. Shell Rotella T is great. In my investigations with many trucking companies such as Kenworth, Peterbuilt, International and the likes whether it's a CAT, Detroit, Cummins, Volvo or what ever, when the rebuilt the engine is surprisenly clean. Granted most of these trucks are maintained very well and see mostly open highway.

Back to my point. Why by a fluid claiming to be a synthetic blend or using a Class III. Funny how that article doesn't go into much detail of Class IV and the value of true PAO's. I was origionally pointing out that most people assume that they're getting a proper synthetic when they're really not. I still call that bogus marketing. As you can see I'm not bashing the Shell line as I back the Rotella T, but not the syn line of it.

All reading. The main thing is chang your oil as needed. What ever brand or version of it you choose, make sure you maximize it's usage and don't over run a lesser oil assuming it's up to the task.

Call it what you want. The courts have already decided that the term "synthetic" is a marketing term and the majority of manufacturers have agreed that Group-III base oils can be called synthetic. To a great degree, they ARE "synthesized" to a more refined state that closely approximates the properties of the traditional synthetic oils.

I have always maintained that Shell Rotella-T is an excellent Group-II mineral base oil; I have used it in many diesel engines for many years.

Shell Rotella-T (Group-III) Synthetic oil does give better protection than their Rotella-T (Group-II) oil if the truck is driven in very cold climates or in very hot high demand conditions, or if extended oil change intervals are desired.

Group-IV (PAO) and Group-V (PolyEster) base synthetic oils have the most desirable properties and are also the most expensive oils to produce. Consequently, they are the most expensive oils to buy.

However, if Group-IV and Group-V oils are not easily available in your area, or if one feels that he cannot justify the significantly higher cost for the "traditional" synthetic oils, but wants to use a higher quality oil for better protection and possibly some fuel economy improvements, the modern Group-III base oils have properties that very closely approximate those of the higher priced synthetics at a much lower price and would be an excellent choice, unless the truck is being used in racing or pulling competition on a regular basis or if very long extended oil change intervals (25K+) are planned, in which case the Group‑IV or Group‑V oils may be more desirable.

For very long, extended oil change intervals, a good bypass oil filter should be used, no matter what oil is in the crank case.

The chart below contains oil properties for three different oils obtained from their respective manufacturers. After viewing this information, one can decide for himself how much protection he wants to get and how much he wants to pay for it. (Note that Shell's Group-III Rotella-T Synthetic oil has better flow characteristics and higher Viscosity Index and TBN than their Group-II Rotella-T oil.)

There are other excellent Group-II, III, IV and V oils available from the major manufacturers. This chart only covers limited information on three of them. A search at each manufacturer's website can reveal a wealth of information about their oils.

Great Information.

Great Information.Thanks for prompting me to go back & look up this info again and helping me re-evaluate & confirm my choices. :)

Cheers !!! :Handshake

Whew... Ray, Jason... You guys had me worried for a while there! Thought there was gonna be some fisticuffs ;) . Good info from both and thanks guys. 15w40 dino Rotella always for me but might go syn or semi one day.

That's why I love this site. Put it out there and take it for what it is. If anything it prompts people to think and consult before making hasty decisions.

i run rotella 5w40syn and change it at 10K, but change the oil filter at 5K

i run rotella 5w40syn and change it at 10K, but change the oil filter at 5K

Has anyone tried the synthetic filters? Mobil has one they push pretty hard. If I was working in dirty conditions, I would be changing my filter mid way too. It would be hard for me mentally to push that one filter more than 10K without a bypass or secondary filter.

Has anyone tried the synthetic filters? Mobil has one they push pretty hard. If I was working in dirty conditions, I would be changing my filter mid way too. It would be hard for me mentally to push that one filter more than 10K without a bypass or secondary filter.

The syn filters have an advantage of a more "consistent" media than paper. Like air filters, a paper media has large portions of the media surface that is essentially blocked by dense media. Syn filters have a better, more consistent structure that is both tighter(better micron rating) and capable of holding more contaminants before clogging(longer filter life).

Mobil1 is a great filter. However, from my investigations I have found Oilguard.com sells a filter under their own name for the Duramax called the 6600. It is made AT CHAMPION LABS (same company making the Mobil1 filter) and has the same micron rating as Mobil1 using a synthetic blend media. You do the math, it is a Mobil1 filter renamed, and they are $8 ea. Great deal.

I recently bought filters from AMSOIL. Their new EaO filters are fully synthetic fiber and use the "nanofiber" technology. These filters are guaranteed for 1 year or 25,000 miles, and are rated at 15 micron absolute. These are great filters but around $13 ea. I think this is an excellent choice if you use a bypass filter and plan on very long intervals (1 year and up to 25,000 miles).

With this said, I have been running my oil for 1 year(about 20,000 miles) using the Oilguard full flow (6600) filter and the Oilguard bypass(a 1 micron bypass that filters about 1 quart per minute). My oil analysis (using Mobil1 syn) has shown the oil to be super clean at 1 year and 20,000 miles. So clean I could probably go another 20,000 miles.

This brings up another point. Syn oil, if bypass filtered, is good for a REALLY long time. Over the road trucks will run this stuff for 100,000 miles. If we use a bypass, we could too. SPICER

Totally agree, Spicer.

i am also new to the "diesel truck world", have the same concerns of oil filters and what mileage to do it. where are you guys finding the data on the make up of the synthetic oils. also can someone give some lab addresses or sites to send a oil analysis. thanks

Polaris Labs is the one I've used latly. Signum provided by Mobil/Exxon

I am also new to the "diesel truck world", have the same concerns of oil filters and what mileage to do it. where are you guys finding the data on the make up of the synthetic oils. also can someone give some lab addresses or sites to send a oil analysis. thanksI've been using Blackstone Labs. You can order their oil collection kit HERE (http://www.blackstone-labs.com/free_test_kit.html). It will cost $20 for the regular oil analysis. If you are thinking about extending your oil change intervals, you can also request a TBN analysis for an additional $10.

They are very knowledgeable, have a very quick turn around and will go over your test results over the phone with you if you call them with any questions.

I am very satisfied with their service.

Schaeffer has a nice SOS kit for I believe $6--get the results back in a week if everything is OK,immediately if something is amiss.