is it my imagination

[banana]

the truck has been starting kinda slow, last oil change i did i used ( i think it was travelers brand) from tractor supply for diesel engines. usually i use rotella but they were out. So this time i used motorcraft oil with the appropriate rating etc... If i am not dreaming is it possible that the starting issues i was experiencing were caused by the cheap oil from tractor supply? it starts great now. the oil from tractor supply said it was rated for the truck. any one else ever had this happen?

 

[BJS]

haven't had it happen to me but yes cheap oil can and will cause problems in the PSD. Since the PSD uses the engine oil as a hydraulic oil to actuate the injectors the wear and tear on the oil is rather high. The "standard" oils like rotella & delo have significant antifoaming additives in them to keep air from being trapped in the oil which makes it harder for the engine oil pump to keep up and has an even bigger impact on the high pressure oil pump since the air in the oil will compress far more than the oil itself will.

An easy way to check for foaming is to drive your truck and then pull the dipstick out is there foam on the dipstick?

As much as I dislike the wal-mart experience they are a pretty good and inexpensive oil supplier.

 

[banana]

I knew that the oil quality was important, but i was under the impression that if it had the proper rating it was good to go. I will NOT use travelers again. Is it possible to use synthetics in the power strokes? diesel power mag praises amsoil but not sure if it is for all brands.

 

[trackspeeder]

Synthetics are fine for a PSD. I run Rotella 5-40 synthetic year round with no problems. I know people that run Amsoil with no problems too. Try it your engine might like it.

 

[banana]

thanks for the info. same interval on the oil change with synthetic?

 

[strokin'_tatsch]

2 years ago at our annual dyno even we did a test on synthetic vs. conventional oil on the dyno. ran once with clean Delo. stopped, changed the oil to royal purple synthetic. dyno'd again. picked up 13hp just off changing the oil to synthetic. if i knew my engine wouldn't just leak synthetic out of it i would use synthetic without thinking twice. if you have an oil leak and know it, fix the leak before going to the synthetic oil. synthetic will find leaks a lot easier than conventional. ppl think it causes leaks, but this is not true. it simply finds the leaks b/c synthetic gets in places that conventional oil does not get to.

 

[trackspeeder]

thanks for the info. same interval on the oil change with synthetic?

5k. is what I do.

 

[Crumm]

Is it possible to use synthetics in the power strokes?

I run Mobil Delvac 1 and have for quite some time. I find that the engine runs a little smoother and quieter.

same interval on the oil change with synthetic?

I go 5k but you can go extended with Synthetic. I personally don't like going over 5k as I want clean oil in my engine. Even though the synthetic does hold is lubricity I feel that there is still contamination.

 

[DaveBen]

I figure that I paid a bit north of $40,000 for my truck and I won't skimp on oil or the interval that I change the oil and filter. I run synthetic oil and change every 5K miles.

Dave

 

[ward cleaver]

Good call DB, 5k and synthetic will keep that truck around longer!