shell rotella? what say you/

[sparrow]

I know. I know. another oil question but here is the situation. My local home improvement store has shell rotella diesal 10w30 for $2.80 a quart. I have 4 cars that use 10w30. Two corvairs, a 1986 cavalier with a 2.8 v6 and a 2008 chrysler sebring with a 3.5v6. The corvairs and cavalier never get more than 1000 miles per year and i change the oil and filter yearly regardless. I change the chrslers oil and filter every 3000 miles. It is conventional oil but at that price i am thinking i should buy as much as i can get my hands on. I would like to know which cars you would use it one if any. Thanks guys.

[toms73novass]

Pandora's box open..........

I use it and Richard W. on the other site who is a oil specialist says it is ok. Just do not use it in an engine that has a catalytic converter the zinc in oil will clog the converter over time.

[Lane66Monza]

I try to keep 6 gallons of Shèll Rotella T4 10W30 diesel oil on hand at all times. It takes a gallon plus 3 cups to change oil every 3k. But with 2 engine rebuilds on one car in 2019 and 2022 (different reasons), I almost didn't have enough for the needed oil changes following the rebuilds when the shortages came about in 2020 and again in 2023. So now, I keep my eye out for specials as my 66 coupe's rebuilt engine will be coming to the starting line hopefully this year.

[kmart356]

Rotella T4 works for me in the turbo engine.

Rotella T4 10W-30.jpg (32.12 KiB) Viewed 867 times

[American Mel]

As Tom says, Richard Widman approves it in his white Paper, so that is what I use in my Corvairs, and My Cummins.
You can read Richard's paper here, https://www.widman.biz/uploads/Corvair_oil.pdf, if he doesn't post here.
I would take Richards advice over some know-it-all stranger on YouTube.

[69monza]

sparrow:
keep in mind your local climate (temperature delta) plays into the decision as it would for others forum users, to some degree (punny)
what type of Rotella is on sale at your local store is unqualified in your original post T1,T4,T5,T6? I would assume its T1 if its conventional? this is an assumption based on the cost you posted.
If T1 look at the classification on the back label of the product, as others have suggested already, and compare to the document American Mel posted for your corvair application. Is your corvair engine, old,worn,leaky? fresh, tight, new(er)? lots of different qualifiers to look at besides cost, opinions will vairy.
your corvair engine has different needs than your modern car selections; but this isn't to say you cant use the same oil in all your applications.
$2.80/quart is a good buy, can't complain about that. Beats out anything I've seen at local stores around here.
If you are changing oil that often, do you even have to? can you go to 4,000 miles on your dailys or every two years on your Corvairs? that effects cost to, if you ask me... meaning inexpensive oil and short intervals or better oils more cost and longer intervals. Its all subjective how you think about it.
I periodically send in my used oil in for analysis with Blackstone Laboratories and they make recommendations on my oil change intervals. For example, I use synthetic PennGrade on my dailys (2013-2019 model year cars/trucks 0w20 and 5w30) and I have stretched from 6,000 mile intervals to 10,000 mile intervals based on lab results and recommendations from Blackstone. Its top shelf (and top cost product) but I justify that cost against longer intervals. Right now, Blackstone is advising I head to 12k mile intervals based on my oil wear analysis. Its amazing to experience really, that modern oils and engines are pushing old norms to new heights.

[davemotohead]

I been using Rotella 10w-30 for years with never a problem and I beat my Corvairs to death. No oil related Problems I can report as of yet.

This video is very good and explains oil and viscosities and how they relate to the engine and temps! One point he makes that I agree with is using the manufactures suggested viscosities in your engine and he explains why. This guy has a lot of very good videos!

[sparrow]

I bought the t4 rotella and will use it in the corvairs. The other two cars have catalytic converters, so i will just use the cheapest oil of the right viscosity in those. Mr 69monza, I know todays oils are far superior and do not break down as fast as years ago but it is the oil filters i worry about . I don't trust them to last 5 to 7 thousand miles. When i change my oil I drill holes in the old filter and completely drain them and then compare how heavier they are to a new filter. The weight difference is amazing.Once the filter is plugged and it is bypassed, all that friction causing dirt is running through my engine. That is why my thought is to use the cheapest oil i can find but change the oil and filter more often. Like the saying goes, just because your paranoid doesn't mean there is no one after you! Mr. Motohead, (my hero) if shell rotella is good enough for you , it is good enough for me. Thank you all for your responses. I would have never been able to get my two corvairs in the condition they are in and the confidence i have in them without your help. I promise never to ask another oil question. May God bless you all
.

[sparrow]

Mr. motohead, I have not watched the video yet, but that guy looks like Jim Carey to me.

[69monza]

sparrow: fwiw i use the blue or black AC Delco oil filters on pretty much everything I own, and interestingly I do tell Blackstone this too, and their analysis has been, generally speaking, that these oil filters are doing a great job absorbing the contaminants, even at those longer intervals to which I referred to earlier. Good point you raise there on that, filters and all. I buy them from Rock Auto and use AC Rebates when offered.

[joelsplace]

Pay close attention to what he says about running a lower 1st number.
It is better since the oil is closer to the hot viscosity when it is cold. It will start pumping faster and get to the extremities of the engine faster for less startup wear. That's why I use 0W-40 Mobil1. I know it isn't ideal to use a 40 when the engine is designed for a 30 but if you look at the viscosity numbers the Mobil1 0W-40 is barely in the 40 range so it really isn't much thicker than a 30 that is at the high end of the range.
The biggest point that I liked in the video is that 0W40 oil is never thinner than a 40 is at operating temperature. It is much thinner at cold temperatures than a 10W is at the same cold temperature. The only reason that the engineers didn't spec 0W-30 for our Corvair is that it didn't exist. It is much better in all circumstances.

[Nashfan]

Pay close attention to what he says about running a lower 1st number.
It is better since the oil is closer to the hot viscosity when it is cold. It will start pumping faster and get to the extremities of the engine faster for less startup wear. That's why I use 0W-40 Mobil1. I know it isn't ideal to use a 40 when the engine is designed for a 30 but if you look at the viscosity numbers the Mobil1 0W-40 is barely in the 40 range so it really isn't much thicker than a 30 that is at the high end of the range.
The biggest point that I liked in the video is that 0W40 oil is never thinner than a 40 is at operating temperature. It is much thinner at cold temperatures than a 10W is at the same cold temperature. The only reason that the engineers didn't spec 0W-30 for our Corvair is that it didn't exist. It is much better in all circumstances.

Absolutely!! in one of my shop manuals, it recommended straight sae 20 when the outdoor air temperatures werent going to exceed 60 degrees. I think it also had a sae 10 recommendation but dont remember what the air temperature was. That was kind of the old way of handling the cold viscosity problem in the days before multiviscosity oils were common.

[davemotohead]

Here is what the shop manual says:

[Nashfan]

Oops! once again it has been demonstrated that my ever increasingly fragile memory is not to be trusted. The last part, under that spec is the interesting one... its not recommended to use SAE 10 above 60 degrees

[erco]

Many people still recommend Rotella for break in oil, saying its zinc content was still high. Various other sources say that used to be true, but in recent years the zinc content has also dropped. As others have said, so many Internet experts make it tough to know who's right.

[joelsplace]

If you want to know look up the data on the particular oil. That will tell you what they claim is in it. I've looked it up on the Mobil1 0w40 and it supposedly has over 1000ppm of zddp. I can't remember the exact amount.