15W40 Vs. 10W40 Pro's/Con's, Which ones BETTER? - Page 4 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

trueog · #46 09-08-2006, 10:10 PM

Thanks for the feedback. That's quite an informative response you've provided us with. Thanks for explaining the universal use of 15W40, and its use around the globe.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Benzadmiral

Trueog,

Right now I use a 70/30 mix of Chevron Delo 15W-40 and Havoline 5W-30 in my '97 C230, which I believe is the same engine as yours. Havoline and Chevron are the same company, and all good modern oils are pretty much compatible anyway, so mixing is not a worry. I do it to thin out the 15W-40 a little to eke out as much gas mileage as I can. (It probably makes almost no difference, but it's fun to see what I can achieve.)

My climate in Da Swamp is nastily hot for 8 months of the year, and less hot to once-in-a-while cold for the remainder, so I don't have to worry about my oil being too thick at startup.

The important thing to remember about 15W-40 is that it's used all over the world as a "universal" oil, in heat and cold, in diesels and in gas engines (because it's rated for both, "S" as well as "C"). The Chevron Delo is considered a super-dino oil by many, and a bargain next to the synthetics if you don't need synthetic. Dino oils these days are so good that if you don't do extended drains or have other severe service issues (like a turbocharged engine), synthetic is a waste of money.

As far as price, there is Havoline, being sold in the States at about $2.00 USD a quart, and Conoco/Phillips's TropArtic synthetic blend, going at Evil_Marts for about $1.68. But neither offers a 15W-40, as far as I know.

All the major oil companies make really good oils. You don't have to $pend a lot to get good oil.
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trueog · #47 09-08-2006, 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tobybul

If it were my car, I would not put 15w40. I would stay with 10w40. I use 5w30 on my 96C220 year round... and actually on all my gas cars. I reserve the 15w40 to the diesel.

The higher the numbers, the heavier the weight of the oil (less viscous), the engine works a bit harder. The lower numbers generally are thinner oil.

I have used only 5w30 for many years now and cars have been fine.

As to brands, I don't get to hung up on them. All have to meet specs and standards. Pretty much all say they meet or exceed bla-bla-bla standards. I saw Tractor Supply Co this week have 15w40 on sale for under $7 for 4qt container and I picked a few.

I'm actually amazed that you have been able to use 5W30 to your car to your advantage. I was warned by mercedes to never consider using a non 40 weight oil and only to use 15W40. It seems as though oil is oil and anything will work fine as long as its clean and changed at reasonable intervals. Anybody else out there using 30 weight oil 10W30? 5W30?

Secret Squirrel · #48 09-08-2006, 10:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EricSilver

By the way, has anyone here used Castrol Tection? I have not yet opened them and if you all feel I should instead try the Rotella or Delvac, please let me know. (I am reading very good things about Tection so far, but it is mainly marketing material by Castrol/BP)

After reading stuff on bobistheoilguy.com for many moons, the 15W-40 HDEO's are generally viewed like this: Chevron Delo and Mobil Delvac 1300 Super are the two dino premiums. Shell Rotella is the gold standard that you can find at any truck stop or gas station while out on the road, therefore it has a huge following. Then you have all the other mfgs' 15W-40's nibbling at their piece of the market.

I personally run the Delvac 1300 15W-40 in my cars when it's warm out. Anything below 20 degrees F and startups get pretty chunky.

If you're looking to save some money I'd take back the Castrol and get the Rotella T 5W-40 group III synthetic. But in general, any of the modern 15W-40's are going to be such a high quality oil, you can run whatever you pick without worrying. The stuff is designed to be abused and sheared under the stress of working diesels hour after hour.

lee polowczuk · #49 09-09-2006, 10:56 AM

i have used all sorts of oils in our two 124's right now it's 20w-50 dino in the 300CE, until i can do the valve stem seals..

the 300E has had everything from shell rotella to dino to synthetic. I have settled on synthetic for it to stop a start up tick. i think it has 5w-30 in it right now.. i am going to switch over to a 40 weight due to the concerns of some members here.... it is running great...although it burns a quart at 3k with the 30 weight.

Our expedition runs 5w-30 synthetic these days...that's the prescribed weight.. i have run heavier dino's however.

i follow larry bible's addage... change it hot and often.

we buy whatever is on sale in advance... as a matter of fact the CE now has a mc parts brand in it...

EricSilver · #50 09-10-2006, 10:19 AM

I went ahead and used the Castrol.

These diesel oils offer the benefits of synthetics without the cost. I suspect the "longer oil change interval" benefit of synthetics is largely marketing hype, designed to justify their higher cost. While synthetics may hold their viscosity longer, thay cannot neutralize engine pollutants, which means your engine bathes in its own filth for 10,000 miles instead of just 3,000.

davestlouis · #51 09-10-2006, 11:23 AM

If nothing else, the Castrol Tection has a great easy-pour bottle...I use Delo as a rule but I've tried the Castrol, and Valvoline Blue with no ill effects.

waybomb · #52 09-11-2006, 10:03 PM

FWIW: ALL available standard gas engine lubrication oils are not the same as they were 5 years ago. ZDDP has been removed to a level of almost non-existence. ZDDP (essentially Zinc) has been removed because the EPA has decided the ZDDP was a cause of failed CATs.

The only way to get gas engine lubrication oil with a full complement of ZDDP is to by "Off Road Only Racing Oil". Regular old "Racing Oil" also has had ZDDP removed to the same level as regular oil.

This loss of ZDDP is not a problem to modern engines with roller camshafts. It is a BIG problem to those of us with flat tappet cams with higher spring pressures, such as in high horsepower engines. Many of us gearheads with flat tappet camshafts found out the hard way in the last few years by having our cam lobes go round, and lifters becoming short, with all that lost metal getting circulated in the engines. Some of us have been fortunate enough to build the engines using high performance oil filters, catching the errant metal particles before wiping out expensive steel cranks.

All flat tappet cam shaft manufacturers now recommend use of Delo, Delvac or Rotella in flat tappet gas engines, or, "Off Road Only Racing Oil", and specifically warn against using regular engine oil and oils labeled "Racing Oil".

After wiping out all three camshafts in Plain Vanilla (this gets expensive!) (It was weird - all three had round lobes within a few engine hours of each other, so I knew something unusual was in play) because I used premium grade gas engine "Racing Oil", and not knowing about the removal of ZDDP, and the effects of that removal, I now use 15w-40 Diesel Oil, Rotella T, in all my engines. Knock on wood, no problems yet. If I plug a CAT, well, I guess I'll install a test pipe to see if the CAT was plugged and simply forget about having installed the test pipe.

Benzadmiral · #53 09-12-2006, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trueog

I'm actually amazed that you have been able to use 5W30 to your car to your advantage. I was warned by mercedes to never consider using a non 40 weight oil and only to use 15W40. It seems as though oil is oil and anything will work fine as long as its clean and changed at reasonable intervals. Anybody else out there using 30 weight oil 10W30? 5W30?

I used Conoco/Phillips TropArtic syn blend in 10W-30 last fall for a 3600-mile OCI. It was on sale at Dollar Tree for (you guessed it) a buck a quart, and it's reported to be a great oil. Again, this was during the less-hot period of the year down here. I have six more quarts, and was going to run it for the same period this fall into winter. Does anyone know a serious reason why I shouldn't?
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trueog · #54 09-27-2006, 06:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Benzadmiral

I used Conoco/Phillips TropArtic syn blend in 10W-30 last fall for a 3600-mile OCI. It was on sale at Dollar Tree for (you guessed it) a buck a quart, and it's reported to be a great oil. Again, this was during the less-hot period of the year down here. I have six more quarts, and was going to run it for the same period this fall into winter. Does anyone know a serious reason why I shouldn't?
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I've just heard not to use a (urchoice)W30 oil in mercedes engines. I guess it'll do the trick, but their has to be an engineer at mercedes that looks after these tests and his only job is to do so. If it were the best thing since sliced bread considering its a cheap dino oil, I think mercedes would only be using a 5W30 or 10W30 as OEM specs. I dunno, what do you guys think?

I'm not a mechanic, I can't fix your car for you, but if you need computer help, give me a call...lol....

Secret Squirrel · #55 09-29-2006, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Benzadmiral

I used Conoco/Phillips TropArtic syn blend in 10W-30 last fall for a 3600-mile OCI. It was on sale at Dollar Tree for (you guessed it) a buck a quart, and it's reported to be a great oil. Again, this was during the less-hot period of the year down here. I have six more quarts, and was going to run it for the same period this fall into winter. Does anyone know a serious reason why I shouldn't?.

That is an excellent 30 weight oil, but I wouldn't trust its resistance to shearing for long term use in a MB engine. Where you live, I'd be running 15W-40 year round. It only starts to thicken up once the temp drops below 20F.

Benzadmiral · #56 09-29-2006, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by waybomb

This loss of ZDDP is not a problem to modern engines with roller camshafts. It is a BIG problem to those of us with flat tappet cams with higher spring pressures, such as in high horsepower engines. . . . All flat tappet cam shaft manufacturers now recommend use of Delo, Delvac or Rotella in flat tappet gas engines, or, "Off Road Only Racing Oil", and specifically warn against using regular engine oil and oils labeled "Racing Oil".

I don't know much about the anatomy of engines. Does the M111 4-cyl. have these flat tappet cams?
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Benzadmiral · #57 09-29-2006, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Secret Squirrel

That is an excellent 30 weight oil, but I wouldn't trust its resistance to shearing for long term use in a MB engine. Where you live, I'd be running 15W-40 year round. It only starts to thicken up once the temp drops below 20F.

You and trueog are about the fourth and fifth people to repeat this to me. Honestly, I'm not cheapening out; I'll put the good stuff in the Benz, of course. But is 4 months/3600 miles "long-term" use?

Besides, the 1997 oil visc/temp chart I finally found for the C230 indicates that 10W-30 *is* acceptable to MB if outside temps don't go above 90 . . . which will (generally) be true during the blink-and-you'll-miss-it NO winter. Not to mention that back then it specified "SJ" oil, and here we are up to SL/SM. Oils have only gotten better, right?
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lee polowczuk · #58 09-29-2006, 11:45 AM

fwiw.... i will put 10w-30 synthetic in my sons 1989 300e during the winter months... we will keep it in from november to february...in upstate south carolina.

trueog · #59 09-29-2006, 03:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Benzadmiral

You and trueog are about the fourth and fifth people to repeat this to me. Honestly, I'm not cheapening out; I'll put the good stuff in the Benz, of course. But is 4 months/3600 miles "long-term" use?

Besides, the 1997 oil visc/temp chart I finally found for the C230 indicates that 10W-30 *is* acceptable to MB if outside temps don't go above 90 . . . which will (generally) be true during the blink-and-you'll-miss-it NO winter. Not to mention that back then it specified "SJ" oil, and here we are up to SL/SM. Oils have only gotten better, right?
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I would be interested in seeing this C230 chart. If you could scan it or upload it in someway, I would definatly be interested in seeing it. Thanks.

Benzadmiral · #60 09-29-2006, 05:01 PM

Trueog,

I'll dig it out of my storage closet at home and scan it next week. As far as I know, I'm remembering this correctly -- that 10W-30 SJ oil was OK in the M111 up to 90 degrees F.

The chart was in a leatherette zipper case that I only just found this past spring under the trunk lining; I don't know how I missed it during the first 1.5 years I had the car! The owner's manual doesn't have anything but the instruction to 'ask the dealer" for oil recommendations.
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