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Diesel Oil in Bikes (the auzzie thread)

17K views 13 replies 9 participants last post by  Steve TLS 
#1 ·
Ok i know we are all sick of oil threads so lets keep this fairly specific. a lot of US guys use Shell Rotella Full Synthetic Diesel oil in their TL's and im thinking of doing the same. ive done some searching and have found a couple of threads in other auzzie forums. one guy asked Shell Australia and their reply was....

Thanks for the opportunity to respond to your inquiry, and thanks for your interest in Shell products. (and my apologies for the delay in responding)

ROTELLA T SAE 15W-40 and ROTELLA T Synthetic SAE 5W-40 are universal oils, meeting needs of many 4-stroke gasoline as well as most diesel engines. They have performance credentials (API Service Categories SL and CI-4 & CI-4 PLUS) for lubricating both kinds of engines. Consequently, ROTELLA T can be a good choice for four-stroke motorcycle/ATV engines.

It's best to consult your owner's manual for recommended oil quality. If your engine manufacturer recommends oil meeting any of these API Service Categories; CF-4, CG-4, CH-4, CI-4 & CI-4 PLUS, and/or SH, SJ, and SL, or any earlier but obsolete category, then ROTELLA T may be a good choice.

ROTELLA T does not contain friction modifiers that are added to many passenger-car-only-oils, and it does not comply with all requirements of ILSAC GF-1, GF-2 and GF-3 (the ILSAC oil specifications are often recommended by many gasoline passenger car engine manufacturers). That can be good for motorcycle/ATV use. Friction modifiers can upset wet clutch operation. And the ILSAC requirements limit phosphorus content. Diesel engines and other engines with highly loaded valve trains, as well as transmissions, need extra (compared to passenger car engines) extreme pressure wear protection, which is provided by an additive that contains phosphorus.

One negative might be where the engine manufacturer recommends oil meeting JASO requirements. Part of the JASO requirement limits ash content to 1.2%. Ash content of ROTELLA T exceeds this limit. Oil ash contributes to combustion chamber and spark plug deposits.


Best Regards,

Greg Raley
Tel: +1 281 544 8621
Email: Gregory.Raley@shell.com
Internet: www.shell.com
The questions ive got are;
1. is this ash going to be a problem?
2. do we use the same oil rating i.e. 10W40?

but pipe up with whatever oil related thoughts are on you mind
 
#3 ·
1. Probably not (you're not going to leave it in the engine for as long as it's left in a truck)
2. 10W/40 - but the full synthetic is 5W/40 according to that, but it'll be ok.

(My $0.02 worth)...


------------------------------------------


But a long time ago I couldn't dig up any Rotella stuff on the AU shell site. It was all called Rimula here. How old was that post?

I downloaded the spec sheets for the American Rotella and Synthetic Rotella and compared it to the AU spec sheets for the Rimula and the formula / composition was different, it seemed the Rimula might have been formulated to meet the ILSAC standard? :dunno Too long ago now and I don't have the data anymore.

Because it was a different oil to what the US guys were talking about I didn't bother sourcing it or trying it and stuck with motorcycle specific oil.

Do a quick check with Shell now and see if we do actually get Rotella. I don't think we do. :no
 
#4 ·
No Rotella on www.shell.com.au it's Rimula and that's just got some name changes in June too.

Old - New
Shell Rimula Signia 10W-40 = Shell Rimula R6 LM 10W-40
Shell Rimula Ultra XT = Shell Rimula R6 LM 10W-40
Shell Rimula Ultra 10W-40 = Shell Rimula R6 10W-40
Shell Rimula Super 15W-40 (CI-4 Plus) = Shell Rimula R4 L 15W-40 (CJ-4)
Shell Rimula X 15W-40 = Shell Rimula R3 X 15W-40
Shell Rimula MV 15W-40 = Shell Rimula R3 MV 15W-40
Shell Rimula X 40 = Shell Rimula R3+ X 40
Shell Rimula X 30 = Shell Rimula R3+ X 30
Shell Rimula X 10W = Shell Rimula R3 X 10W
 
#5 ·
the viscosity rating would be the same worldwide.

10 w 40 means that it is a 10 weight oil at room temperature.

at a test temperature ( not sure what it is ) it will have the same viscosity as a 40 weight oil at the same temperature.

motorcycle oils are designed with the added needs of a wet clutch and a gearbox in mind.

gears effectively chop up the strands of polymers added to oil to improve its characteristics.

the clutch needs to operate without slippage and with effective take-up.

the modern motorcyle also revs to about twice the number of revs of a car engine so its shear properties have to be designed for low friction and high adhesion.

modern rings, bore finish and valve stem seals and tight tolerances would make the issue of ash from oil film burn off a thing of the past.
 
#6 ·
the viscosity rating would be the same worldwide.

10 w 40 means that it is a 10 weight oil at room temperature.

at a test temperature ( not sure what it is ) it will have the same viscosity as a 40 weight oil at the same temperature..
:thumbup

Multigrade oil...

Lower number behaves like that weight oil @ 0C
Higher number behaves like that weight would at 100C (It's viscosity is still a 0C number)



So the oil doesn't actually get thicker, it gets thinner when hot, but behaves like the thicker oil would when hot. It just flows a lot better when cold.
 
#7 ·
:stupid
wot I was trying to say
 
#10 ·
ill ive run is rotella, sam can tell you what my gears looked like after 65K miles using this great (and inexpensive) oil. :hail
 
#13 ·
15W-40 dino style, this is after 500-ish passes at the strip, 100K km...





 
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