For Those Of You Smart Enough To Use Synthetic Oil

[Aufgeblassen]

Obviously you must not have been very good at it if now you're a truck driver.

Actually, the Titan IV had a finite end date (i.e. very last launch scheduled) & for at least the last two years of the program, they gave all employees a "retention bonus" which amounted to 1 week of pay for every month we chose to stay on until the very end of the program. I accumulated quite a bonus!

When the Titan program ended, I could have stayed on for at least two more months to "wind down" the program, but I CHOSE not to. I was tired of working behind a desk, and stupid office politics. In fact, the very next day after the last launch, is when I flew to Jackson , MS to buy my 1st truck.

Furthermore, for several months prior to last launch, I worked part-time for a FedEx Ground contractor pulling doubles; sometimes as a team, sometimes solo. I would work weekends, holiday, and I'd even take vacation time from engineering to work FedEx.

I was all set to run a team operation when I left the Cape, that was two trips to Champaign, IL & back per week, which meant I worked Mon. - Thurs., and had three day weekends, every single weekend, and still make $900+ per week. But on one trip with this old guy on team operation, I kept hearing & feeling the other driver running over the Interstate bump strips on the highway shoulder (which meant he was falling asleep!!!), while I was trying to sleep in the sleeper. This spooked me, and I decided to become a solo O/O instead.

[Copperhead]

OK, you agree that wear metals do not cause your engine to wear, why change your oil then, if other parameters are fine?

The whole point of engine oil is to prevent engine wear. The whole point of changing your oil is to prevent engine wear! NO other reason.

Wear metals are a sign of an ENGINE problem, not an OIL problem. Wear metals are telling you something is going wrong with some engine part. But not which one, so knowing is useless, unless it causes you panic and trade-in your truck for another.

BTW: I have an engineering degree from UCF, so I too took several college level science courses too. Prior to becoming an O/O in '05, I worked for Lockheed Martin seven (7) years at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, launching both Atlas & Titan rockets w/ billion dollar payloads. So I too, am not some moron just blabbering.

Somehow you must have done poorly in literature. Reread my posts to find out why I was changing my oil at the intervals I do.

Oh... if we are jocking for position (I can't believe I am falling for this), Degrees in Mathematics, Computer Science, and Theology. University of Alaska, which has the only NASA approved rocket launching facility not in NASA control. Worked for 13 years for Feds. Guess what.... it all means squat.

Try someone else. Brick wall time has arrived.

[Aufgeblassen]

Theology

This explains why you are superstitious!

[Copperhead]

This explains why you are superstitious!

Of what?

[Rev.]

Wow, this thread lost some posts.

EDIT: My bad. That was another thread. These Aufgeblassen threads are so hard to tell apart.

[YerDaddy]

Real truckers do their own oil and grease.

[Musicman]

Oh boy.

You know, there really is no harm in changing your oil more frequently than is indicated by oil analysis. It really is a matter of taste in my opinion. I prefer to sample my oil and change it when the analysis results indicate I should do so, but that is simply what I like to do. It DOES save money. It does not save a whole lot of time.

For years I ran Delvac dino oil and then switched to Rotella T dino a couple years back and had great results with both. Both would actually go over 60k miles in my ’03 C15 before analysis would indicate TBN was getting close to the cutoff point. Wear results between the two were very similar. Recently (30k miles ago) I switched to Valvoline Premium Blue Extreme full synthetic because my local distributor was offering a great promo price. Amazingly, my fuel economy shot up from a lifetime average of about 6.8 mpg to nearly 7.3 mpg over the last 30k miles. The funny thing is that the biggest increase has seemed to be with the heavier loads. Obviously I haven’t pulled many samples yet, but the two I have pulled look pretty good and the increase in fuel economy has made a diehard fan out of me.

And by the way, for any of you looking for more deductions… just send me the cash and I’ll send you all the receipts you want. I’m always here to help!

[RostyC]

For years I ran Delvac dino oil and then switched to Rotella T dino a couple years back and had great results with both. Both would actually go over 60k miles in my ’03 C15 before analysis would indicate TBN was getting close to the cutoff point.

Are you running some kind of bypass filter?

[Musicman]

Are you running some kind of bypass filter?

Nope and never have. Not that I’m against them, it just seems that you’re spending money on an extra filtration system and then tossing a lot of oil when you change out the bypass filter(s)… almost 2 gallons with some makes, right? I really don’t want to debate whether they are worth the money or not, for those who use them and are itching to argue that point. I simply haven’t found them to be worth the time, labor and money for ME in my operation.

I just pull regular samples, starting at 20k miles (because I've never been close to needing new oil sooner than that). With my '06 ISX, soot levels were so high that I initially had to drop the oil by 30k miles, but after unplugging the EGR last year, I can go as long on the dino oil as I did with my old CAT. Keep in mind that my idle time is very close to zero, so that may make a difference.

It'll be interesting to see how the synthetic does. So far it looks great, but even if I had to change the oil every 30k miles, it’d be worth it because of the increased fuel economy. What is so ironic to me is that I've tried a lot of things to improve my fuel economy over the years, but trying a new oil wasn’t one of them. I just figured I might be able to greatly extend my change intervals or maybe lower my wear rates a fraction. Who would've thought that my economy would jump half a mile per gallon? Certainly not me.

[Aufgeblassen]

but even if I had to change the oil every 30k miles, it’d be worth it because of the increased fuel economy.

30K miles??? That's squat. I've gone as far as 150,000 miles on my synthetic oil, WITHOUT any additional bypass filters!

[solo379]

These Aufgeblassen threads are so hard to tell apart.

He reminds me somebody....

[Musicman]

30K miles??? That's squat. I've gone as far as 150,000 miles on my synthetic oil, WITHOUT any additional bypass filters!

I didn't say that would be the change interval with the synthetic. I’ve only had the synthetic in for 30k miles and can therefore only comment on what I've seen so far. I expect to be able to go far beyond what I had been with dino oil (50k to 60k miles), but to reiterate what I said in my previous post, if I DID have to change the synthetic at 30k miles, the money it has been saving in fuel would still make it worth running.