Rotella - 1st Impression @ 400 miles
Ramblin Fever
07-03-2005, 02:46 PM
with the 5w-40; in 100 degree weather at 60-70 mph average for 400 miles.
Highway flat-land gas mileage went from norm of 23-25 mpg :grinyes: with 10w-30, to 17-18mpg with the 5w-40 :eek7:
Mind you, I was carrying about 50# on the roof = two bins that I'm sure blocked a good amount of wind; irregardless, truck didn't have but maybe 300# inside and 50# on the roof.
I've carried over 2K# in/up and towing with 10w-30 and still managed 20-22mpg.
Obviously 5w-40 is NOT the ticket for this truck; but I will use it for 2 cycles to assist in cleaning things up. It will not be a regular weight of use for me.
Few things noticed:
Tick came back louder.
Took away some power; not a lot, but you don't have to take much away on an already heavy vehicle with a V6 in a mountainous state.
Did notice that the temp gauge stayed just a slight tad cooler. VERY slight tad, but, seems contradicting, as the truck had to work harder in general and seemed to lose umph on mild inclines.
In general, this oil will not be my staple. I'll run it for 1K or so, then switch to Havoline 10w-30 synthetic.
Highway flat-land gas mileage went from norm of 23-25 mpg :grinyes: with 10w-30, to 17-18mpg with the 5w-40 :eek7:
Mind you, I was carrying about 50# on the roof = two bins that I'm sure blocked a good amount of wind; irregardless, truck didn't have but maybe 300# inside and 50# on the roof.
I've carried over 2K# in/up and towing with 10w-30 and still managed 20-22mpg.
Obviously 5w-40 is NOT the ticket for this truck; but I will use it for 2 cycles to assist in cleaning things up. It will not be a regular weight of use for me.
Few things noticed:
Tick came back louder.
Took away some power; not a lot, but you don't have to take much away on an already heavy vehicle with a V6 in a mountainous state.
Did notice that the temp gauge stayed just a slight tad cooler. VERY slight tad, but, seems contradicting, as the truck had to work harder in general and seemed to lose umph on mild inclines.
In general, this oil will not be my staple. I'll run it for 1K or so, then switch to Havoline 10w-30 synthetic.
Ramblin Fever
07-05-2005, 07:34 PM
Up to 5-600 miles now - been driving this truck a lot this 4th of July weekend.
Tick in the last day has quieted down a lot; still noisey for the first 2-3 minutes then gets a lot softer.
May definitely run a good two cycles, while it's warm out. Color of oil is still honey-clear, insides may not be as gunky as originally thought - last oil filter, after 500 miles, was clean.
Will stay posted.
Tick in the last day has quieted down a lot; still noisey for the first 2-3 minutes then gets a lot softer.
May definitely run a good two cycles, while it's warm out. Color of oil is still honey-clear, insides may not be as gunky as originally thought - last oil filter, after 500 miles, was clean.
Will stay posted.
Ramblin Fever
07-09-2005, 09:30 AM
Up close to 800 miles now, gas mileage has appeared to pick up some, hitting 19 mpg half city/half highway.
Ticking has remained at startup, but is getting softer after 3-5 minutes.
Power with the 5w-40 was slightly diminished when oil was first put in, but now the truck seems normal.
Am going to change out the oil filter, just incase there's a lot of gunk in it. Oil from the dipstick is still honey-clear, not going to dump it yet.
Another thing I've noticed is the oil pressure gauge appears to be more active in movement; what I mean is when I used regular oil it would always be right at 75-80 under pressure, and 45-60 idling. With this Rotella, you can literally see the movements in the pressure all the time, for instance, when under load, say 3K rpm's, the truck goes to 80psi, then if I barely push a little harder on the throttle (for experiment purposes) the psi goes to 85.
With conventional oil, the gauge was never that "touchy", if you will. I don't recall it EVER going over 80 psi, even at 4K rpm's in the mountains.
Haven't taken the truck into the mountains with the Rotella yet, and I won't until I'm comfortable enough in the feeling that nothing's going to plug up the oil pick-up screen. Those mountains require a lot of 3-4,500 RPM's, and I don't want the engine working that hard until I get some of this gunk out that I didn't even know I had.
Ticking has remained at startup, but is getting softer after 3-5 minutes.
Power with the 5w-40 was slightly diminished when oil was first put in, but now the truck seems normal.
Am going to change out the oil filter, just incase there's a lot of gunk in it. Oil from the dipstick is still honey-clear, not going to dump it yet.
Another thing I've noticed is the oil pressure gauge appears to be more active in movement; what I mean is when I used regular oil it would always be right at 75-80 under pressure, and 45-60 idling. With this Rotella, you can literally see the movements in the pressure all the time, for instance, when under load, say 3K rpm's, the truck goes to 80psi, then if I barely push a little harder on the throttle (for experiment purposes) the psi goes to 85.
With conventional oil, the gauge was never that "touchy", if you will. I don't recall it EVER going over 80 psi, even at 4K rpm's in the mountains.
Haven't taken the truck into the mountains with the Rotella yet, and I won't until I'm comfortable enough in the feeling that nothing's going to plug up the oil pick-up screen. Those mountains require a lot of 3-4,500 RPM's, and I don't want the engine working that hard until I get some of this gunk out that I didn't even know I had.
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