Hi Folks,

I have been running Mobile 1 5w/30 (high mileage formula) for as long as I have owned my D1. I am approaching 80K on the engine, which is pretty low for the years, but I have been reading a bit lately about some of your experiences using Shell Rotella or Royal Purple, and now I'm thinking I want to try one or the other.

I live in the Seattle area, so a temperate climate; cool (highs in the low 40s), occasionally below freezing in the morning and evening in the Winter; highs/lows in the 50s/40s in the spring and fall; lukewarm in the summer with highs in the upper 70s-low 80s, lows in the 50s-60s with the rare above 90 day or two sprinkled in.

With that, would using a Rotella T5 or T6 be appropriate, or would sticking with the Mobile 1 I mentioned above be the better choice?

What about Royal Purple? The local auto stores seem to carry this, but not the Rotella.

There is a Walmart nearby, but I haven't confirmed whether they carry Rotella or not.

Cheers and thanks in advance!

 

Shell Rotella in the 5W40 grade should work well for you. See attached page from RAVE, 10W30 really has a modest high temp range. W40 or W50 oils for Rover, IMHO, because ebngine is subject to higher heat issues by design, lack of fabulous cooling, and what Rover owners do. Wal MArt and just about any truck stop will carry Rotella, Advance Auto Parts and NAPA does near me. Rotella is widely avail;able and cheap, promoting frequent oil changes.

 

In the 50's, you should be perfectly fine with 10/40 or still, 15/40....I feel the LR v8's do like the 15/40. You should notice the the engine runs a bit smoother with thicker oil. Around my area, it has been around low 30's and 15/40 Rotella works perfectly fine. I do remind my wife to warm up the engine for a minute before taking off thou..

RP and other high end oils will all do the job perfectly fine. Continuing on with M1 is perfectly fine. We use Mobile 1 engine oil on all the other cars, except for the Disco.

On a side note.....

I've experimented and logged in over 100k miles with Walmart brand synthetic oil in four different Honda civics, with 10k oil change services. With temp well over the 100's to as low as the 30's. I've been surprised on how well the oil holds up. I found thru the bimmerforums that the Walmart brand is made by QUAKER STATE / PENNZOIL!. Once my PT Cruiser's cylinder head is buttoned up, I am going to switch it to the Walmart brand (from M1)....since it is now going be my daily.

 

Very helpful, thanks!

 

i use the 15-40 rotella in just about everything i own and havent had any issues. you can buy it in some pretty big containers as well to save some money...
im just a bit north of you and it gets a bit colder, havent had any issues even with cold starts down into the 20s

 

Based on that RAVE chart I'll try to locate some Rotella 5w/40 for the winter since the truck sleeps outdoors. In the summer it might get hot enough to switch to a 10 or15w/40.

Hopefully the local WM will have it.

I drove two civics to about 140k on regular oil changes/dealer service, and it still ran like a champ when I sold it.

Cheers!

 

I swear by Rotella, 5w-40 in the winter and 15w-40 in the summer.

 

The reason Rotella is so good is because of it being formulated for diesel engines, with the major thing I'm told being more detergents to keep everything inside the engine clean. Diesels tend to run hot and (before emissions and ULS Diesel) were very dirty.

Lets face it, LR engines aren't exactly precision technology...they run hot and are dirty.

Rotella is really some of the best oil on the market today.

 

A: I use to use royal purple, but after only 2500 miles (CLEAN ENGINE, NO SLUDGE) it was filthy black. Royal Purple on the other hand at 3000 miles was still clean.... I now use Royal Purple with a Mobile 1 301 filter. The filter is larger and helps flow.

 

OK, cool. That's good to know.

On a side note, have you explored any stretch of the Washington back road discovery route?

WABDR - Washington Backcountry Discovery Route

I have a sabbatical next summer and I have a rough plan to take a couple buddies with me and the Rover and run at least half of it.

Cheers!