The plural of anecdote is not data.

While I happen to agree that Rotella 15w-40 is a good choice for a Disco, it's not because a handful of wildly different motors from different manufacturers that I happened to be around ran seemingly well on it for a while.

From your "data", one could draw the conclusion that other fluids that ran well in those motors would also work well on a 4.0/4.6 Disco. Like diesel.

 

I don't believe you could draw that conclusion. The difference between brands/weights of oil isn't the same as the difference between gasoline and diesel.

 

All I'm trying to relay is my personal experience with these two particular motor oils.
The 2001 Mitsubishi Montero that I bought brand new I used Castrol Syntec 20w-50, Fram oil filters and changed it every 5,000 miles.
When I got rid of the truck it had 100,000 miles on it, it had never had a single repair and looking inside the oil fill at the cam and valves it was as clean as the day I brought it home.
Again, personal experience.
Which oil is better?
Cant say for 100%.
Which oil do I use?
Shell Rotella.
I'm just pervading my personal experience, everyone can do whatever they want.

 

You can say for sure what has the proper additives for the style of motor. That's data. And that's my point. In this case, Rotella happens to be a correct choice.

I have a 4.6 F150 that has 220,000 miles on it. I've treated it like a bitch since it was brand new, but always changed the oil pretty much on time with....something. Whatever was around and cheap. And it's still a great running truck with plenty of power. I have an Explorer with 110k on it that is the same. Does that mean running crappy chain store house brand oil with cheap filters is the way to go? Extrapolating on that "data" would lead one to believe so. My point is that experience like that isn't data.

 

Point taken.

 

Well, the body was straight with good paint, and the interior was immaculate. The oil was barely reading on the stick, and the filler cap wouldn't budge. Jiffy Lube sticker in the window. I wouldn't be surprised if they drained it, and didn't fill it.

 

Thanks spike, I appreciate your input - I personally believe that anyone can buy into marketing hype and end up with potentially crap oil in their pride-and-joy vehicles, sometimes with catastrophic results. Stories like yours mean more than reading a label on the back of a jug in wal mart =)

..that reminds me about the M1 15-50. After my low oil pres light with that oil, I went online and discovered that a bunch of the Lotus Autocross guys were blowing up engines on that oil as well, right when Mobil switched from the standard 15-50 to the "gold cap" extended performance type. It was always a group IV hydrocracked (mineral oil based) oil, but the new stuff really sucked with the extra additives and (apparently) thinner base stock.

I switched to a German Lubro Moly Voll-Synthese 5-40 (TRUE Group V full synthetic) and I was blown away. My 11 year old I6 M3 with 120k miles on it revved up to 7k and idled with ZERO valve tick, no VANOS variable valve timing chain chatter.. nothing. Totally silent. Never saw another low oil pressure light ever, it was like something out of a lame infomercial, the stuff was magic lol.

Unfortunately it's tough to find and very expensive, $60 for 5 liters. At first I thought the rover had totally different requirements and needs so I didn't even really contemplate it, but I'm thinking about using this oil again for peace of mind.

 

Check out "Motor Oil University" on "Bob Is The Oil Guy"s website.
Motor Oil 101 -Bob is the Oil Guy
there are 10 chapters but it's a quick read with good info.
Cheers, Thomas

 

I know that noise, That noise is NOT the regular noisy LR engine noise, That is a clogged/too small/POS filter causing the bypass valve in the timing cover to open and shut like a hammer. I have run into it before. BUY 10 LR filters from rovers north, ONLY use those, you will notice the filters are 3x bigger then the tiny ones they say are for the truck.

OR: your oil pump is about to explode and blow a hole in your timing cover.

Don't listen to these guys with the diesel oil in the car stuff, the only thing the added zinc/lead/phosphorous in diesel oil does is ruin your cats and oxygen sensors. (your truck burns a quart every 1000 miles right? so where does all the heavy metals in the oil go?)

I got 2 range rovers, one with 190k that you cant hear running if you lean on it, and one with 120k that was overheated 1,325 times before I bought it and brought it back to life, both have been getting the BIGGEST CHEAPO (size matters NOT quality) filters I can find and 10/30 pepboys brand .99c a quart oil and I have never had a problem, these engines are built with such sloppy tolerances you could put vegetable oil in it and it would run the same as Torco Full syn...

 

This sounds like my 210k mile pickup.

Yeah, a lot of the oil stuff can be taken much too seriously. But I still find it interesting.