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Old Oct 16, 2010 | 06:10 AM
  #1  
Skinamer's Avatar
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Rotella T6

Is this stuff really safe for gasoline engines? I have heard alot of good things about Rotella oil. The T6 is a fully syntheic 5w-40, wich I think is a good viscosity range for my area. Coldest temp in my area is in the teens and summers get in the upper 90's near 100's quite frequently. Would this weight be optimum for my area?

I also want to make sure this synthetic oil don't cause my truck to start leaking like other synthetic oils supposedly do.

Thanks for the input.

Last edited by Skinamer; Oct 16, 2010 at 06:12 AM.
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Old Oct 16, 2010 | 06:15 AM
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From: KY
what are you driving? i run rotella-t 15w40 in my 94 3.0. doesn't leak hardly at all when compared to the castrol 5w30 i was runnin. ive been runnin rotella for 2 years, and i have to honestly say that my engine has become significantly cleaner over this period.
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Old Oct 16, 2010 | 06:16 AM
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From: Wilkes-Barre, PA, USA
how many miles are on your engine and does it leak or burn oil now? if it leaks or burns oil then personally I would not use synthetic as the oil itself will do what it was meant to do and flow easier through parts that it wasn't really meant to flow through. Not to mention if you have leaks now adding synthetic to top it off between oil changes can be pricey.

Contrary to popular belief Synthetic oil will not and does not dry out seals etc etc.

The Rotella T6 is probably IMO the best synthetic Diesel oil out there. Followed closely by Valvoline's 5-40 and then the two respective 15-40 conventionals of the same brands.

I switch back and forth between rotella and valvoline 15-40 conventional in both my 22r and my BMW depending on what on sale at the time. I think my next oil change since I will be ready for synthetic in my rebuilt 22r I will be going with the rotella 5-40 especially now that I believe I got my oil pan leak fixed.
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Old Oct 16, 2010 | 06:17 AM
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From: Leadville Colorado
I have been running it since June and about 7K miles, changing it at 3K intervals and I love it. My truck didn't develop any leaks or oil burning issues after the switch. I like it because it's cheap and it's thin at start-up but acts as a 40 weight when hot. The perfect combo for me out here in the mountains. It also has ZDDP which is good for our flat tappet 22RE's if that's what you have.
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Old Oct 16, 2010 | 06:44 AM
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Its a 1989 4x4 with 22RE. The truck has 250k miles on it, but.... The guy I bought it from said he had the bottom end replaced and only had 30k on it. I had some head work done on it when i bought it and the mechanic that did the work said there was no ring or piston wear at all. So I think the guy i bought it from may have been telling the truth. If thats the case than there is only about 40k miles on it. Absolutely no smoke or oil leaks. The only reason i changed oil was to prevent engine wear and try to be sure it lasts for many years.
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Old Oct 16, 2010 | 06:44 AM
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From: Wilkes-Barre, PA, USA
you should be fine with running it then.
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Old Oct 16, 2010 | 06:48 AM
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From: Cheshire county, NH
I'm also a big fan of Rotella since I need it for my Powerstroke. Right now, Wal Mart has their T5 10W-30 for $11.50 a gallon. I've used 15W-40 and the 5W-40 in my vehicles. The 10W-30 has a lot of fans in the diesel community and is probably a good choice for our 22R motors as well.

The T6 is all I run during the cold months. Not once have I had to plug in-and I live in New Hampshire, where January sees single digits just about every night.
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Old Oct 16, 2010 | 08:36 AM
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From: Dixon, Ca
Cheshire, nice town been through there many times. I am going with Rotella my next oil change. That should be in about 10 years, I drive 6.2 miles a day, according to my years millage count. I am using Valvoline syn blend 5/30 now.
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Old Oct 16, 2010 | 08:40 AM
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From: Dixon, Ca
Man I remember the ice storm of 09, dang no electricity for a week. Snakes did not like that.
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Old Oct 16, 2010 | 06:43 PM
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From: Cheshire county, NH
I was without electricity for almost 3 weeks. It was like a war zone out here, my wife and I were in bed and it sounded like rifles were being shot all over the place outside. I'm actually in Fitzwilliam, which was hit about as hard as anywhere. Higher elevations got snow, the rain didn't freeze as well farther south. Anywhere on NH 119 got killed. Luckily, I spent the last 10 days of the cleanup honeymooning in Spain, so I didn't have to be here any longer. That was stressful, to say the least...
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Old Oct 16, 2010 | 07:14 PM
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From: Moyock,NC
Teuf is that a cat behind the snake? Is that your snake or something that crawled out of the wood works?
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Old Oct 16, 2010 | 07:28 PM
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From: Dixon, Ca
lol Its my Snake, and thats Harry my cat sniffing the safe end.
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Old Oct 16, 2010 | 08:20 PM
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From: Oceanside, CA.
I just put T6 in my new but broken in 22re today, it is my first adventure with synthetic engine oil.
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Old Oct 16, 2010 | 08:23 PM
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From: Dixon, Ca
Ah good luck, you will not be disappointed.
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Old Oct 16, 2010 | 08:36 PM
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From: Leadville Colorado
It's good stuff. Like I said, been running it since June in my 116K 22RE. The first thing I noticed is it starts a lot easier.
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Old Oct 16, 2010 | 08:45 PM
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Good to hear. I read a lot about all the different oils and ZDDP and decided a visit to WallyWorld was in order. $19.00 for a gallon and out the door I go.

Now if I could just figure out the never ending idle surging. Anyone know if the throttle body shaft seals are replaceable? When I spray brake cleaner there the idle goes up noticeably so there is a mad vacuum leak.
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Old Oct 16, 2010 | 08:59 PM
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From: Enterprise, AL
Teuf your burmese makes our rock/ball look tiny
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Think, I'll give the T6 a try next oil change, sounds good. Been using Castrol 5w-30.
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Old Oct 16, 2010 | 09:20 PM
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From: Connecticut
T6 is a Group III synthetic - the kind that is made from petroleum. Group IIIs are not considered "true synthetic", but they have many of the performance advantages of the true synthetic Group IV PAOs (like Amsoil) and Group V esters (like Red Line) but at much less cost. The other good thing about Group IIIs is that they usually won't cause oil leaks. Both the PAOs and esters do a remarkable job cleaning out sludge which may cause leaks if the sludge is plugging a gap. PAOs actually do dry out plastic seals and those oils used to cause leaks when they were first introduced, but almost all of the manufacturers now blend in plenty of seal-swelling esters to counteract the drying effect so they only cause leaks by cleaning out the sludge.

What makes an oil a "diesel" oil is mainly extra buffering/detergents (which gives it extra durability and longevity) and more zddp which is a great anti-wear additive for sliding parts like rings and cams. Diesel oils are fine to run in gasoline engines and in fact most carry gasoline engine API certifications as well as the diesel ones. T6 is SM certified:

http://www-static.shell.com/static/c...cants/1-52.pdf

5W-40 is a great viscosity range for our older vehicles, plus it's a synthetic so it flows at lower temps and it resists viscosity breakdown longer, meaning you can probably go 5k miles between oil changes. The extra ZDDP is great too, tho it may cause the catalytic converter to give out a little earlier. That's something to consider in California where the cats are more expensive.

T6 does look like a great oil. I've been running MaxLife 10W-40 this summer, but since I just replaced the front main seal I plan on switching to T6 for the winter.
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