Yet another engine oil question - Shell Rotella?

[scot850]

The reason I was asking was that like many things (well everything), engine oil up here has got really expensive. About a year go Canadian Tire sold Castrol Edge for around $50 CDN (about $37.50 US) regular price, it is not $75 for a 5 liter jug! The Rotella has been touted on MVS by many members for years, but we did not get it here until the last few years. I never bought it as it was sold as Diesel engine oil even though the correct viscosity for my engine. I did see they still advertise the Truck engine oil but it is not the preferred option for my engine in our climate as it is a 5W-30.

I did end up getting Castrol Edge 5W-40 at Costco for around $37.50 CDN for a 5 liter jug on sale. Even that price is up from a year ago when it was only around $32 CDN for 5 liter jug.

I do remember our good friend June and her explanations on how Euro Synthetic is made to a better standard than the NA 'synthetic oils'.

It explains how the European oil change intervals are way higher than ours. I mentioned it before that my brother in Sweden had a friend with a brand new BMW 5 series. It had an oil change light which did not come on until over 32,000km (20k miles) for the first change! Scary.

Neil.

[MoVolvos]

I think the Gas Truck Rotella got discontinued. It was quite expensive here, even when on clearance. I did get a 5-quart jug, but it's still sitting on my oil shelf.

Still available. For some reason the price rose but it was the same as T6 prevously. The T6 was not available for sometime and whatever was left rose to over double the price. Gas & Truck not as robust and you can feel it in the engine when pushed. The lower viscosity rating also contritutes to that. Probably not as much ZNNP also in order to pass newer API and other specs.

https://rotella.shell.com/en_us/product ... ci9lbl91cw

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[MoVolvos]

You can buy liquid Moly from FCP in CT and return it on warranty after your OCI, ISYN.

I believe the Liqui 0W40 is from FCP. Purchase 4 over time but haven't returned though they've sitting. Around $18 to return 2 jug from NC.

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[kallekula]

Costco sells Kirkland, cheap. Have you looked at the quality stamps on that to see if it is ok for your engine?

[MoVolvos]

Costco sells Kirkland, cheap. Have you looked at the quality stamps on that to see if it is ok for your engine?

I've tried 2 of the Costco Synthetics. Currently it's the 15W40 dino diesel with an SN so should work for all the car except one. Was trying to see if it could replace the Rotella T6 but it's not a fair comparison as the T6 is synthetic. In the 03 Odyssey the engine is not as smooth and roars a little. Roar as in high performance engine not the lower end groan when WOT. Feels more powerful but not as smooth as synthetic. Will not use Costco anymore as Rotella is back in stock.

I do like the Castro 5W50. Pickup 24 bottles when it was $5 per quart if I remember correctly. I've narrowed the oils down to the Swepco and then Rotella T6 as the 2 oils I'll stock. Swepco is outrageous in price but as the engines in two car are over 235K they will benefit greatly and I can extend the interval to 1 to 1.5 years. Have gone those intervals unintentionally with Swepco and the engines still ran smooth.

Swepco provides Lab Testing like Blackstone for their oils. The big rigs can go 100K change intervals and they keep track of the test for large corps.
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Kirkland 15W30.jpg (484.5 KiB) Viewed 1413 times

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[scot850]

I don't think we get the Costco Kirkland oils up here. Actually that is not correct. Not in stores but on line we do here. The 5W-30 Full synthetic is currently $65 CDN for 2 x 5 liter packs. Castrol Edge is $140 for 3 x 5 liter packs, but they are currently $30 off a pack so about the same price or just slightly more. Problem is they don't do the viscosity I use.

Neil.

[abscate]

I asked for an opinion on Kirkland oils and they said “ Damn it, I’m a Doctor , not a Tribble-Ologist “

[June]

The reason I was asking was that like many things (well everything), engine oil up here has got really expensive. About a year go Canadian Tire sold Castrol Edge for around $50 CDN (about $37.50 US) regular price, it is not $75 for a 5 liter jug! The Rotella has been touted on MVS by many members for years, but we did not get it here until the last few years. I never bought it as it was sold as Diesel engine oil even though the correct viscosity for my engine. I did see they still advertise the Truck engine oil but it is not the preferred option for my engine in our climate as it is a 5W-30.

I did end up getting Castrol Edge 5W-40 at Costco for around $37.50 CDN for a 5 liter jug on sale. Even that price is up from a year ago when it was only around $32 CDN for 5 liter jug.

I do remember our good friend June and her explanations on how Euro Synthetic is made to a better standard than the NA 'synthetic oils'.

It explains how the European oil change intervals are way higher than ours. I mentioned it before that my brother in Sweden had a friend with a brand new BMW 5 series. It had an oil change light which did not come on until over 32,000km (20k miles) for the first change! Scary.

Neil.

Here in NW Arkansas we have several discount stores that sell damaged freight, Amazon returns, and retail excess. Surprisingly all three get automotive supplies. For my 91 740 I picked up several cases of Texaco Havoline 5W30 simi-synthetic for $2 a quart. 2022 production dated. The 740 2.3L Turbo engine runs quietest on this oil of all the brands I have tried so far. Discount stores are worth checking periodically. It makes the filter more expensive than the oil! I bought it at A to Z BTW.

The Redline 5W30 went from $125 to $200 a case of 12 quarts on Amazon just this year. Gotta love Bidonomics!!! June

[scot850]

Unfortunately in our area we don't have stores like you seem to have, if only! Ouch on the Red-line.

I used to use Texaco Havoline oils many years ago in the UK. They were good oils.

Looked up Redline oil suppliers here. First it is in US gallons (3.8 liters) v's 4.5-5.0 liter containers we get here. A gallon at one supplier was about $80 US without shipping.

Liquid Moly is another brand that gets good reviews. At least we can get that around here!

Neil.

[Krons]

I had a great score earlier this month. Amazon had their 0w40 full synthetic for $5.40 a 5 qt jug. Snapped up the last 3.

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Given I change at 3000-5000 miles I don't care much about brand. I'd have no issues running a 5w40 diesel in colder weather, maybe even 15w40 in summer temps.