Had my '05' in for some service and had the oil changed. Asked the dealer to put in "Shell Rotella" and he said that they got a bulletin in from GM saying that they should not use Rotella. Can any one in shed some light on this, I'v been using Rotella for 15 years in all my diesels with no ill-effects. I had 430,000 miles on a Cummins and the only thing I ever did to that was put in a set of injectors. :(

I'd be interested to read that bulletin...

Well I just checked all the bulletins going back to June 2004 and there is no bulletin that i found that states to not use Rotella. I also did a keyword search using Rotella and again found nothing. Next time your at your dealer ask him to show you the bulletin or better yet just take the oil in yourself and ask them to put it in for you.

Your dealer is :lying: or :cookoo:

Your dealer is :lying: or :cookoo:

Or both...

Some dealers :( If they dont know they make it up as they go. That shows you the dealer is def incompetent and doesnt know what hes talking about.

Hard to beat Rottela, been using since first oil change, Oil analysis always looks great.

They probably just don't have it there.

There was a problem with rotella in the fords. It was foaming in the high pressure oil pump. It was only occuring when oil level was low.

There was a problem with rotella in the fords. It was foaming in the high pressure oil pump. It was only occuring when oil level was low.

I've heard the same thing which makes me wonder if his dealer also services Fords.

My dealer tried that mumbo jumbo bull crap on me. I had the shell rotella oil and let the dealer change it once. The service dept. said the rotella was good in the older dmaxs but was not too good in the 2006 LBZ. I thought that was a bunch of bull. I have run it for about 5000 miles and its done just fine. I think the dealers try to get people to use their oil so they can charge them out the yeng yang.

This dealer is a Ford and GM dealer, and if Ford is having a problem this may very well explain why he said that. I'll have to give him a call and see if this is the situation. It probably is a Ford Bulletin and he is assuming that would include all diesels. Thanks guys.

I have run rotella a few times and had no problems. I normally run dello 400 though. Both are very good oils either way you should be fine.

There was a problem with rotella in the fords. It was foaming in the high pressure oil pump. It was only occuring when oil level was low.

Ya, but wasn't that back in ~1997? The 7.3's sometimes required an additive to control foaming for the HEUI.

I've heard the same thing which makes me wonder if his dealer also services Fords.

In fact, he is a Ford GMC dealer. That may explain it.

I just got my first free oil change and my dealer used rotella

I've been using Rotella since the first oil change on my 05 and 06 with no problems either. Most stealers don't know what they are talking about, but their are a select few that do.

I know Cat does not reccommend it in there engines anymore either,

I was at the local Chevy Dealer last week buying some parts .. I happened to notice the shelves behind the counter were stocked with Rotella .. must be they didn't get the bulletin .. :rolleyes:

I know Cat does not reccommend it in there engines anymore either,
Since when, last time i picked a jug up(and not that long ago) it still had volvo, cat, mack, cummins,(and a few other) listed on them, same as delvac

Dealer did my first oil change and thats what they put in it, Rotella.

Foaming is really bad news for your engine. I'm sure if there was a problem, Shell fixed it with a better additive balance.

My friend was going through turbos on his 6.0 powersmoke and finally the dealer told him to run amsoil or the like and after the switch his truck was fine. I would stay away from the older rotella unless its going into a road tractor etc. The newer rotella is supposed to be good according to diesel power. Personaly I wouldnt run it in my dmax, but thats completly my opinion. I run Mobil 1 turbo diesel and it really doesnt cost much more in th long run.

There's two non-synthetic Rotella T's out there. Both are 15w40's too.

I wonder if this may be due to the NEW, CJ-4 rated oils? In the older diesel engines, not running ULSD, the NEW, CJ-4 doesn't appear to be as robust an oil as the older, CI-4+ formulation.

On the Diesel Truck Resource.com (DTR) web site, there is a thread pertaining to the CJ-4 oils. It's a long (150+ posts) thread but, some of the information is quite informative.

For instance, John Deere has recommended that CJ-4 NOT be used in any of their engines. Only CI-4, CI-4+ oils. Their own brand of oil is a CI-4+.

One of the guys posting built racing/pulling engines & both he & his friends started having engine related problems that were corrected by going back to CI-4+ oils. Since CJ-4 has been what is locally available at stores, that was what they had been using when problems started arising. Seems that cam lobes in the racing engines were wearing prematurely, along with other bearings.

Apparently, folks that normally run extended oil drain intervals are more susceptible to problems with the CJ-4, the recommendation is that you cut back on oil changes. If you have been changing at 10,000 mile intervals, it would be a good idea to start changing at about 5000 miles, now.

They are HIGHLY recommending trying to find CI-4+ for the older engines. Or, start using additives in the oil to make up for those additives that were taken out of the oils to meet the new CJ-4 ratings.

The Turbo Diesel Register.com (TDR) is doing quite a bit of oil testing, now, trying to find an answer to these new problems.

The fact that these new oils are 'supposed' to be "backwards compatible" doesn't appear to actually mean that they are as good, or better than the previous formulation.

It appears that all of us diesel engine owners, Duramax, Powerstroke & Cummins are going to have to be careful what we put into our engines & for how long, now.

Joe F.(Buffalo)

I wonder if this may be due to the NEW, CJ-4 rated oils? In the older diesel engines, not running ULSD, the NEW, CJ-4 doesn't appear to be as robust an oil as the older, CI-4+ formulation.

On the Diesel Truck Resource.com (DTR) web site, there is a thread pertaining to the CJ-4 oils. It's a long (150+ posts) thread but, some of the information is quite informative.

For instance, John Deere has recommended that CJ-4 NOT be used in any of their engines. Only CI-4, CI-4+ oils. Their own brand of oil is a CI-4+.

One of the guys posting built racing/pulling engines & both he & his friends started having engine related problems that were corrected by going back to CI-4+ oils. Since CJ-4 has been what is locally available at stores, that was what they had been using when problems started arising. Seems that cam lobes in the racing engines were wearing prematurely, along with other bearings.

Apparently, folks that normally run extended oil drain intervals are more susceptible to problems with the CJ-4, the recommendation is that you cut back on oil changes. If you have been changing at 10,000 mile intervals, it would be a good idea to start changing at about 5000 miles, now.

They are HIGHLY recommending trying to find CI-4+ for the older engines. Or, start using additives in the oil to make up for those additives that were taken out of the oils to meet the new CJ-4 ratings.

The Turbo Diesel Register.com (TDR) is doing quite a bit of oil testing, now, trying to find an answer to these new problems.

The fact that these new oils are 'supposed' to be "backwards compatible" doesn't appear to actually mean that they are as good, or better than the previous formulation.

It appears that all of us diesel engine owners, Duramax, Powerstroke & Cummins are going to have to be careful what we put into our engines & for how long, now.

Joe F.(Buffalo)

Not all CJ-4 oils are balanced properly. Some brands and oils within a particular brand are better than others. Here's a typical list that must be balanced:

Piston Deposits, Corrosion, Soot Thickening, Valve Train Wear, Elastomer Compatibility, Ring Liner Wear, Oil Consumption, Sludge, Filter Plugging, Used Oil Pumpability, Oxidation, HEUI Oil Aeration, Shear Stability ect.

Here's an example of poor balance: Oil may have great charateristics for Oil consumption, Sludge, HEUI Oil Aeration, Piston Deposits but falls short on Corrision, Soot Thickening, Valve Train Wear, Elastomer Compatibility, Ring Liner Wear, Filter plugging, Used Oil Pumpability and Oxidation.

A properly balanced oil will tend to be fairly high on all of the points. There are major name brands out there that fall way short of being balanced. I have not put any of this out there before and I guess I should have since some people seem to whack me when I recommend certail oils over others even when I'm putting out two or three recomentations but go against their favorite packaging color or brand their dad or best friend used for a many years without problems. It's just not that simple any more. Oil formulations have changed and the requirements and tolerances of the engines have changed. It's science not marketing that will keep your engine going to it's fullest potential. Sure some will get lucky, but many won't.

As far as the John Deere example goes. Of course they will say that because their not making a CJ-4 oil yet. In fact as of now they have someone else making their oil and soon hope to be blending their own oils. Deere oil has the Deere name on it, but in most cases is not of the higher quality that some others are. Deere now has some engines out there that must by law use CJ-4 oil. For those of you who don't know Deere also makes engines that go in buses and other on road applications that must adhere to the new guidelines. Their off road use engines are still exempt.