ladies and gentlemen, ive decided to jump off the Rotella band wagon, despite being a big proponent for going on 10 years now....

In another post, someone linked a blog written by a mechanical engineer, describing in depth the science of engine oil and the wear protection (among other specs) of many common oils available to the public.

After reading, in its entirety, this mans "oil bible", and doing some research of my own on some of his higher ranking oils, ive come to the conclusion that Rotella diesel oil is no longer the best option for engines in general, but solid tappet engines as well.

furthermore, i believe that my 2004 Disco (which does not have an oil cooler yet), experiences momentary oil temps that exceed the coverage of Rotella's additive package. leading to rapid oil degradation and subsequent valve train issues, including the dreaded "rover tick".... which everyone knows sounds more like a "rover WTF!?? DONKEY KONG IS GOING BERZERK INSIDE MY CRANK CASE!"

As an experiment, ive decided to use one of this man's higher ranked oils (Mobil 1 "FS" european formula in 0w40), with a bottle of rislone for 200 miles or so. Will report further as i put some miles on.

obviously the topic of oil is a gnarly can of worms. BUT, i invite a technical discussion on the issue IF everyone is willing to cite any sources used and not "well ive used this forever" or "but the guys at my rover shop know best"

 

Can you post some links??

i am curious about my beloved red line products

 

https://540ratblog.wordpress.com/

That's the link to the blog. It's a loooong read, but you can skip to his ranking list. I recommend that you sit down and read the bulk of it though. There's a lot of "duh" info that every gear head should know, but the bulk of it is good technical info.

The guy makes some claims that I have no way to substantiate (like having Nascar teams come to him for oil analysis), but in general I think he's a strait shooter that just wants to set the record strait.

 

Any product or Looney tunes liberal cause can get a bunch of "scientists" to write a paper on anything

I am going to point at global warming now

https://youtu.be/tivRM1lQUKU

My apologies to anyone in california

 

This guy doesn't strike me as the libtard type, and doesn't appear to make any claims that would suggest that. He does make an argument against additive packages that are heavy on zinc, but only because there are oils with superior wear protection (even on solid tappet engines).

 

Also, his entire write up is predicated on the assumption that no one in the oil industry is doing objective testing and reporting on said testing. He doesn't appear to pushing an agenda, just doing what he considers to be a well rounded analysis on the factors in modern oil that are actually detrimental to engine health.

 

I'm not going to let any 0/whatever weight oil near my LR's. Sorry the 1960's Buick 215 V8 was born in the days of straight 30/40/50w oil. A 0/whatever in an older LR is like removing the drain plug and then adding your 6 quarts. I honestly used to use nothing but 20/50w oil in my RRC and my 97 D1 back in the day. Then I found the 15/40w to be the perfect weight for Texas. Now if I could find a regular dino oil in 15/40w I'd probably just use that, but Rotella is very common and easy to find. I used it in my old 4.0L Straight 6 Jeep's with great results and now in my LR's without any issues. Is it the absolute best oil on the market, umm heck no, but for a 1960's no thrills V8 it's fine. I use Mobil1 Full Synthetic in my LR3, but the 4.4L is a much more modern engine with DOHC vs the Buick 215 Based V8.

 

The 215 Buick was also born in the Era of 30-40k full engine overhauls.

After reading this guy's article and doing a little research of my own, it would seem that it doesn't matter one bit what Era an engine is from, and that anything will last longer if you choose wisely.

Are you familiar with how multi-viscocity oils work?

 

Funny you should mention 0 cold weight though. I would never put 50 warm weight in mine, far too thick at operating temp.

 

Fuel dilution was the leading cause of engine failure...back then...when engines were carburetored. And that is why, in part, manufacturers started out with heavier blends. It took longer to get fuel dilution issues and you had to change your oil every 3K as another measure of protection. Once fuel injection was introduced to the combustion engine...that is when mileage increased tremendously. Oil has really had little affect on mileage increases.

In my 40 years of being a mechanic and sitting through several oil seminars over the years...the biggest protection is just changing your oil regularly and keeping the air cleaner fresh....and changing your oil if you've had an overheating event. Can't remember the exact data, but one seminar dealt with heat issue on oil breaking down, and for every three degrees the engine got over 210, it was amazing how much faster it broke down.

And that is why...if you've overheated your engine...and you don't change the oil and filter immediately afterwards...you're basically driving around with the equivalent of water in your crankcase.

Brian.