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Roxylass

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I suspect it is the use of oils with a lots of friction reducers in the additive pack.

 

When I left BT I was the head of the Power & Cooling Technical Services department, responsible for providing technical support to the field operatives.

 

At the time BT had over 6,500 diesel engines generator sets and most were lightly loaded. This was partly because of planners tendancy to be over cautious when specifying and partly because each new generation of telecomms equipment was more efficient than the last. Some generators were only 10% loaded.

 

BT always used Shell Rimula oils and had no cased of bore glazing. They did have a few exhaust fires, where years of fuel deposits caught light when I reinstated annual full load runs though!

Edited by cuthound
To unmangle the effects of autocorrect.
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1 hour ago, cuthound said:

I suspect it is the use of oils with a lots of friction reducers in the additive pack.

 

When I left BT I was the head of the Power & Cooling Technical Services department, responsible for providing technical support to the field operatives.

 

At the time BT had over 6,500 diesel engines generator sets and most were lightly loaded. This was partly because of planners tendancy to be over cautious when specifying and partly because each new generation of telecomms equipment was more efficient than the last. Some generators were only 10% loaded.

 

BT always used Shell Rimula oils and had no cased of bore glazing. They did have a few exhaust fires, where years of fuel deposits caught light when I reinstated annual full load runs though!

Thank you for the positive information based on actual experience. I have use Rimula before but its getting pricy now. Perhaps its best to stick to cheap recycled oil after all.

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52 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Thank you for the positive information based on actual experience. I have use Rimula before but its getting pricy now. Perhaps its best to stick to cheap recycled oil after all.

 

It is the posts based on experience we get on here that made me so cross with a certain poster from the south coast with his pushing high API spec oils.

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I recall the Dorman diesels.....even the biggies were the oiliest engines ever ,and would be regular callouts for muffler fires in the hospital standby units.......a muffler fire in a 12QCT would be spectacular ,a flame 20 ft long and a thick cloud of oilsmoke.

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I be been wasting my time then, I flushed my Isuzu when I got it, and started using Morris classic for marine, 15 40, it's expensive, so I ve usually been changing it every 250  hours instead of 200, I never have to top up. 

Is it better to use cheapo and go back to 200.

I m still not convinced any 15 40 oil will do, but I could be saving £20 per annum!

Edited by LadyG
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16 minutes ago, LadyG said:

I be been wasting my time then, I flushed my Isuzu when I got it, and started using Morris classic for marine, 15 40, it's expensive, so I ve usually been changing it every 250  hours instead of 200, I never have to top up. 

Is it better to use cheapo and go back to 200.

I m still not convinced any 15 40 oil will do, but I could be saving £20 per annum!

 

You are paying for the "classic", "marine", and the name "Morris", all of which all too often speaks of perceived quality to far too many people.

 

It is also a mistake to think about cost of oil when assessing its quality. Remember some blenders can afford TV adverts and that cost comes from somewhere. Likewise, some take half or full page adds in specialist magazines that also have to be paid for.

 

Lube oils have specifications that relate to how runny it is across a temper tare ranger (e.g. SAE 15W40) and how well it performs in a range of performance tests (e.g. API CC or ACEA and a number of engine manufacturer specific standards). What you need to be aware of in respect of oil quality is the performance tests so look up the recommendations for your engine and use that as a guide. My guess is that it will probably be something like API CD or CE. The higher up the alphabet the letter after the initial C is the higher the oil's performance. I would stick as close to the recommended spec as reasonably possible but as the years go by the harder this may become for lower spec oils like API CC. As long as the engine is well run in, you periodically give it a good hard run and when static charging you do it at the revs that maintain the highest  charge you can probably use an oil several letters higher than the recommended one. My Bukh said API CC or CD but I happily ran it with no apparent ill effects over 20 years on API CF and even CG if the price was correct.

 

So, forget marketing words like "marine" and probably "semisynthetic" and use the API spec to assess "quality". Also be aware that certain markets are far more cost sensitive than others. Marine and Classic car being some of the less price sensitive. Agriculture and wholesale tend to be more price sensitive so motor factors and farmers outlets are likely to be cheaper for the same API spec of oil. By all means buy the cheapest oil with an acceptable API spec and as long as the API spec is not fraudulent it will be fine.

 

Also remember the oil change intervals should be specified for a worst case scenario plus a safety margin. If the 250 hour oil change interval is probably perfectly safe unless you do a lot of off load running at idle. Even if it did cause more wear the wear rate would probably be so low the engine would still outlast you.

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When an engine manufacturer specifies the oil change intervals they are covering their liabilities by specifying more frequent changes assuming the worst possible conditions.

 

If you were to test the oil from your engine after 250 hours "normal" boat use I bet it would prove to be serviceable for another 250 hours.

 

The same with oil filters. There is the believe amongst some that one used for twice the normal time actually filters better with age.

 

I have seen engines and gearboxes many years old that have never had an oil or filter change in their lives, they are still running.

 

Consider cars. At one time a service included changing gearbox oils and rear diff oils. I know of no modern car that needs such regular oil changes in fact most never have a gear oil change in their lives as the makers no longer consider it necessary. 

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I have an impression that the engine had no tlc before I got it, judging by the small amount of black fluid in the gearbox, and yes, I would prefer to buy oil from an agricultural dealer, as I did with my Yanmar, on its annual change, its just about availability.

I know about Morris marketing, I just like the idea :), and I have got enough in stock for the next year, and at last year's prices, they delivered, so it was convenience this time as much as anything. 

The concern has been my lack of propulsion hours, so I've changed more frequently than I would otherwise.

I used to run the yacht's Yanmar engine in gear while tied to the pontoon, salty water marina, to keep things moving in winter, but I'm not keen on that idea on the cut.

It's the same with grease, there are plenty of heavy greases, but just not available in tiny pots!

In days gone by I did the oil changes on my 1949 Morris minor, it was Castrol, or Duckams, that was it.

Its a matter of reducing risk, I've little doubt the engine will outlast me either way, but I'm just happier doing a bit of maintenance, just in case.

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5 hours ago, john.k said:

I recall the Dorman diesels.....even the biggies were the oiliest engines ever ,and would be regular callouts for muffler fires in the hospital standby units.......a muffler fire in a 12QCT would be spectacular ,a flame 20 ft long and a thick cloud of oilsmoke.

 

I visited their factory at Stafford back in the 80's, just after the generator manufacturer Broadcrown bought them.

 

They showed me a V16 twin turbo rated at 2000kVA but whilst powerful, it didn't meet the 70% then 40% load acceptance figure that BT required. (All standby generators are required to run at 110% of rated load for 1 hour in every 12).

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