We went to COSTCO and I saw Kirkland 15/40 synthetic blend oil in a three gallon pack for under $40. It says on the box made by Chevron in the US. Anybody using this?
I use the Kirkland synthetic oil in my Yukon, RV, snowblower, yeah everything when I think about it.
I use it for our 2003 U-320 also.
Just changed oil today, probably about the 15th time with this coach. Tried the Kirkland brand some years back, engine seemed to use more than usual. With Chevron Delo 400 15/40 if oil level is near the add mark it's at oil change interval for my 8.3 Cummins, no savings for me.
What year is your Yukon? Does it require the DEXOS spec or a low viscosity oil? Does that oil have that spec?
Dennis,
I have a 1994 Yukon, it's a 2 door with a 350 throttle body. Doesn't get more basic than that with 170k miles.
If oil has the CK rating it meets all the new standards. Different brands are not a concern of mine. I am probably in the minority on my opinion but have not had an oil related engine failure on diesels in 55 years of experience.
I've used Shell Rotella and Valvoline Blue sometimes synthetic but mostly not. This forum has convinced me that there is no real disadvantage to conventional oil. I would have no hesitation with any of the big name oils nor would I have any reservation about the Kirkland since you've identified it as a repackaged brand name product and I think that Costco has a good reputation.
But the big savings is in turbo life. The synthetic oil does not coke so when you shut down after a grade or hard pulling, the oil in the turbo won't coke, the biggest reason for turbo failure. Synthetic oil also cuts way down on bore wear, also the biggest reason diesel engines become harder to start over time.
I use Kirkland synthetic oil in almost everything we own. It's pretty inexpensive at Costco. Mercedes come with a Mobil 1 sticker under the hood and have for quite a while.
Pierce
My manual says CJ rating?
Only the inexperienced would shut down a diesel engine with out idling it after running hard.
Chuck, you would think so with the experience and knowledge most of the members here on the forum have but I expect the vast majority of diesel RV owners not only don't have a forum like this one to rely on but are clueless when it comes to diesel engine operation. One only has to watch the YouTube RV horror stories to see how blindly so many owners were going into an RV selection. When you say "Only the inexperienced", that's exactly the knowledge and guidance this forum gives so no one is a "newbie."
Never underestimate the fragility of the male ego that "knows it all."
Pierce
That was a long time ago!
I have 2 22 Sierra 1500 Denali. Still having trouble pouring 0w-20 oil into a high-performance truck engine. I learned to wrench on straight 30 and 40 moving to 20W-50 working on VWs. Started using Mobil 1 15w-50 in the early 80's. Progress!
When I first started wrenching on diesels in '70 the only oil available was series III, and 30 wt. was Caterpillars recommendation for the engine and transmission in their heavy equipment.
Autozone has the Mobil Delvac 1, Extreme performance on sale, and an extra $5.00 per gallon off.
$23.88/Gallon in store.
https://www.autozone.com/motor-oil-and-transmission-fluid/engine-oil/p/mobil-delvac-1300-super-full-synthetic-diesel-engine-oil-15w-40-1-gallon/1394246_0_0?searchText=delvac+1
I'm of the same mindset. It amazes me how much energy people put into the oil debate in general.
I wouldn't be surprised to find out that the Kirkland 15/40 Diesel oil wasn't the exact same oil as Chevron Delo 15/40.
You might ask, why would a company put their product in another label and sell it cheaper? Simple answer is Sales Volume. With Costco, the suppliers have access to over 125 Million exclusive members just in the U.S. alone. Costco shoppers are very loyal and know they get a quality product with the Kirkland Brand. Some of the products may have minor tweaks, but not anything to affect the quality or use of the product.
From my experience most engine failures are the result of fluid or support system failure. Yes, there are some exceptions such as valve train failures and sometimes a major part just may break. During the 70's and 80's engine overhauls were routine on anything that didn't rust out. Most mechanics were familiar with the Black Death. Oil is the life blood of an engine and us old timers that have rebuilt them know the difference a good oil and proper maintenance can make. Even when they do need to be opened up, there is a pleasure to opening a 300K motor that still looks clean inside.
Well, the only negative experience I've had with switching brands was on our Corvette.
Oil Can Henry's convinced me years ago to try their store brand instead of Mobil 1 so I ran it for a few changes and it developed a lifter rattle which was disturbing. So I switched back and not long after the engine was quiet again. So their must be a difference.
My 2 cents worth,have rebuilt many turbos and many natural gas engines,and as Pierce said,the main destryer of a turbo is
coke plugging the oil passages.If you research many things that Cosco sells cheaper then anyone else you'll find it is a lesser
quality the the home company,their continental tires have less belts then a comparable discount tire tire,the list goes on and on.
As for synthetic oil some of you know I am a Amsoil user,all synthetics are not the same,I have gone 20k miles using Amsoil
15w40 on a 8.3 with over 200k miles,this is my thinking,why not use the best oil out there with a bypass filter on a coach
worth 50,70,or over $100,000 instead of trying to save a few bucks by using the cheapest made oil money can buy,yes it will
work but better oil will work better,have heard all the negativeness for many years,the 2 worse ones are,"my mechanic don't like it",but he has never used it,duh,and "I ve had good luck without synthetic"another gem,he also had good luck with those
innertubes and the wooden spokes.
I have to say that I'm also a big fan of Amsoil synthetic oil. Back in 1972 or so, I bought a Kawasaki H1, a 3 cylinder 500cc bike with incredible power. All my friends had Honda 750 bikes so we were constantly racing against each other. My problem was the petro oil that I used in the fuel caused the engine to load up, misfire and smoke until I was on the highway for a couple of mlles. The Hondas were faster until I could clean out the engine on the highway. I changed to Amsoil and the difference was incredible. No loading up at all and the misfire was totally gone. The Hondas and Nortons were easy targets and there was zero smoke out the three exhausts. The only thing then I had to worry about then was keeping the front end down as 2 cycle engines turn the opposite way from most 4 cycle motorcycle engines so the front of the bike naturally rises off the ground with hard acceleration. This is also one of the reasons why 2 cycle dirt bikes are so much more fun to ride in the desert. For the difference between Amsoil and other synthetics can be seen here: Learn about 100% Synthetic vs Full Synthetic motor oil - Base Oil Groups... (https://myoilbuddy.com/base-oil-groups/)
Pierce
And the oil debate rages on.
And will never have an end.
Kind like tire air pressure :D
You could say it is a slippery slope.
Ford vs Chevy.
The oil debate is like beating a dead horse! But I do have a story to tell. Years ago I was in a machine shop in Las Vegas getting some work done on a 454. The shop owner was a nice guy and asked me if I wanted to tour his shop. It looked very nice and I obliged. During the tour he started talking about how they were building some engines for John Force at the time and they were having some failures. He stated after exhaustive searching for the problems he called Castrol oil and they told him not to use their oil in John's engine's use only Mobil 1. Their problems went away. I took that to heart. Just a interesting story. Jim.
Since Mobile 1 oil has been brought up. I have a good friend that's job is to figure out why million+$$ motors fail. He said that Mobile 1 was the only oil company that would stand behind their oil when they showed them that there was a problem with their oil and it was the cause of the engine failure. Needless to say, after that, they only recommend Mobile 1 oil.
I looked up John Force Racing and none of their sponsors are a oil company besides VP Racing fuels.
Hope this is not a repeat message: Costco has their oil on sale till next month.
Would love to pick the friends brain,and find out more info,just think for a moment,if you have any oil that is causing engines to
fail it would be doing it to every engine it's in,many of these failures are improper use of the oil such as,using the wrong weight,going way past the change interval,only buying the minimum amount for your oil burning engine and then adding dino
oil then blaming the synthetic,another one to think on,any major oil maker where it is actually shown and proved that somehow
their oil caused a problem would have to stand behind it or go broke.
I'd be real interested in seeing a break down of the additive packages on all these oils that we are talking about. Both Dino and Synthetic, that's where the rubber meets the road. How often are you guys that do the extended oil drain change the oil filter?
On the coach with the 8.3 I went 20k miles and that was with the bypass filter that went down to 1 micron and it also added
about 3 qts.On my cars I go once a year on oil and filter but only put on a few thousand miles.
Coach is once a year. Other vehicles never more than 5K. Oil is cheap especially if you have a 5 liter sump.
Pierce