oil decision

[5030]

Someone just asked me about Nano-Borate and I don’t know anything about it.

Is there a link for the product you use?

Dure is, they have a .com site but it's out in the shop and I just got done raking hay (in the dark with the headlights on) But I'll get it for you tomorrow.

Company has been selling it for 10 years now and I don't see them selling out to any automaker, either that or their ask price is way too high.

They know they have a unique product that sells like hotcakes. Having said that, they sell it in gallons but I always buy it in pints because I can shake it up easier in the pint bottles than in a gallon and it does separate if left sitting around for a while (Nano-Borate) settles out of the mineral oil carrier and I don't use the entire bottle in anything but my Powerstroke Diesel because it was originally formulated for those engines and their High pressure electronic injection system but it works as well in any engine, I use it in everything now even the lawnmowers.

 

[DMW]

This Nano-Borate is interesting but not really relevant to a 3 quart engine oil change in a GC. In a 6.0 Powerstorke with 15 quarts of oil, and an issue with injector stiction, it may make sense, but here, not so much.

 

[goeduck]

I use Rotella T6 on all of my 6 diesels regardless of owner's manuals recommendations. Mind you that some are old enough that they recommended straight 30W, 20W in winter. They all do well on T6. As mentioned above, don't overthink it. Any name brand synthetic (or maybe a good dino) changed regularly will keep you out of trouble. I ended up on T6 because the engines ran quieter (in my opinion) and my pea brain relates that to being a good thing. Maybe yes or maybe no, but I have never had an oil related engine issue, so I must be doing something right.

 

[CaptPat]

An issue with the owners manual is that it is basically the same manual that was copy and pasted together in 2002. 0W engine oils were considered arctic service, 5W oils were pretty well nonexistent. Oils have come a long way in 20 years. Agco/MF did not spend a lot of money on technical writers to update the GC series manuals.

The issue with not updating the owner’s manual may be true, however, it doesn’t mean that if it were updated these newer weight oils would be recommended or preferred. One needs to be careful about willy-nilly using the latest and greatest oil, as an example a multigrade oil is exactly the wrong oil for a Detroit 2 cycle. Secondly, the benefits of newer weight oils over the “older” formulations are hard to quantify, for example

• Seldom hear of oil-related breakdowns. When they do occur it’s usually coupled with a lack of oil, neglecting oil changes, or some contaminant (e.g. antifreeze). Further, there doesn’t seem to be a link between breakdowns to the type of oil used.
• Most users on this forum don’t put high hours on their tractors, I suspect most oil changes are performed due to time rather than hours and thus any benefit from these newer formulations seems in the margins at best and usually is anecdotal.
• Claims that “lots of folks are using these oils with no issues” are not a persuasive argument for change. We don’t know who “lots” are, and we don’t know the circumstances of use or if there are no issues.

Folks can use the oil they like and I wish them luck. As for me, I’m content to use what the engine manufacturer recommends. Who am I to second guess the folks who designed, built, and warrantied the engine?

 

[ultrarunner]

It’s an interesting topic when engines are old to very old…

Some ORM products no longer exist and contemporary not even imagined for my 120 year old engine and similar for much later.

500 mile oil changes 40wt non detergent hard to come by lady I looked.

I’m still using water pump grease from 1940’s stock… boat trailer grease is reported to have issues.

 

[goeduck]

Oil compatibility is a cake-walk compared to grease.

• C when the mixture is compatible
• N for when it is not compatible, and
• ? when the combination is questionable. (This means it might be compatible, but needs to be tested.

 

[ray66v]

• Claims that “lots of folks are using these oils with no issues” are not a persuasive argument for change. We don’t know who “lots” are, and we don’t know the circumstances of use or if there are no issues.

Sorry, but for those of us who use this forum regularly, we do know who we are.

There are a substantial number of GC owners involved in this forum.

We regularly discuss maintenance, and how we perform it. And, also we discuss mechanical issues, to keep each other informed on problems, and how they were solved, as well as, what to look out for to avoid them.

We also regularly discuss aftermarket items, and oils.

No one is obligated to accept any advice here. You take what you like from it. Sorry, if things are not done in a matter that's scientific enough for you, but we do rely on each other in this forum. And, that's worked out well for all of us for a long time.