Why you should change your oil

[Peacock]

and I see my point completely sailed over your head.

think outside the box.

if you have no oil pressure.. which your oil pressure gauge should be telling you that you are having issues... then you will be having injection issues soon to.

say you have a leak and are loosing oil.. most machines I've seen start showing lower oil pressure and fluctuations when you get to the point where the pickup is having troubling getting oil from the sump. around that time you should be having injection issues as well. IE.. everything's related.

If your engine oil fades even a little bit, as in from low oil level, the HEUI system won't have enough to even open the injectors.

Even foaming of the engine oil level will cause problems with the HEUI system. It's much more sensitive. A gauge would tell you what you already know.

 

[Diamondpilot]

If your engine oil fades even a little bit, as in from low oil level, the HEUI system won't have enough to even open the injectors.

Even foaming of the engine oil level will cause problems with the HEUI system. It's much more sensitive. A gauge would tell you what you already know.

That foaming oil, especially with Rotella and the VT365 (6.0L Powerstroke) caused lots of issues early on. Rotella finally got reformulated and this fixed that issue.

When I got my 04 F250 it actually came with a list of approved oils like Dello and Delvac but Rotella was not approved which did not hurt my feelings since its a product I try not to use unless my customers demand it.

Chris

 

[Peacock]

The Rotella was fine to use by '02 or so.

 

[Dmace]

I 'WANT' my wife to flip out when needle is not where it should be.

that's how you save a vehicle from overheating, or running without oil.

A "real" gauge would fluctuate so much it would cause unnecessary cause for concern. For example, when they leave the driveway on a cold morning and the coolant temp gauge reads low for miles or on a hot summer day in traffic when the gauge climbs slowly. It's still safe but most don't know that. Same for oil pressure, the oil pressure gauge on my turbo 4 cyl drag car never stays still. That would drive an average person batty!

I really like the idea of custom gauges through a touch screen setup. It's coming!

 

[94BULLITT]

Personnally I think it would be another under used toy for me.

Check Engine Diagnostics * not something my OBDII reader can't do.
Real-time gauges *could be nice IF there are more gauges then I already have if the dash.
Fuel Efficiency and MPG * Already in the info center
Engine Sensors * Would neat, not sure how usefull though
Customizable Dashboard *cool factor
Real-time Dyno
Data Logging

The data logging might be real nice to help diagnostics if you logged good mile, so you could refer to them when you have real problems.

Thanks for the links tho. I think I'll leave this item on "it might be nice to have" list.


GPS Track Mapping
Skid Pad
Video recording and data overlay

I guess I kind of gave up on it because I got the $20 ebay one but it didn't work and I did not want to spend $100 for one really.

 

[firemanmike69]

I have a 2001 ram 2500 diesel, it seems the gauges pretty closely follow the actual pressures and temperatures. I also have a performance programmer for the truck that can display live data from the ECM and I can see where that could become overwhelming to the uninformed

 

[crazyal]

I guess I kind of gave up on it because I got the $20 ebay one but it didn't work and I did not want to spend $100 for one really.

The adapters seam to be a cr^p shoot. The one I got off ebay works fine and with the Torque app I have connected up to numerous cars and trucks. Each brand has it's own amount of information, for example Mercedes will actually display each tire pressure fed to it by the TPSM. Plus they are always updating it. The problem is that they don't have access to the factory information so it requires someone to identify each signal the sensor is reading and figure out which sensor it is. The basic ones are generic but others are brand specific.

With a smart phone it works well. After reading a code it'll ask you if you want to search the net to better identify the code and possible fixes.

 

[94BULLITT]

The adapters seam to be a cr^p shoot. The one I got off ebay works fine and with the Torque app I have connected up to numerous cars and trucks. Each brand has it's own amount of information, for example Mercedes will actually display each tire pressure fed to it by the TPSM. Plus they are always updating it. The problem is that they don't have access to the factory information so it requires someone to identify each signal the sensor is reading and figure out which sensor it is. The basic ones are generic but others are brand specific.

With a smart phone it works well. After reading a code it'll ask you if you want to search the net to better identify the code and possible fixes.

It sounds cool.

 

[Soundguy]

just use a dampened gauge, so it isn't nervous.

also.. temp gauges usually have a white 'cold' zone, a green then yellow or just red.

the white zone is ok.. but cold.

as long as it's in green anywhere it is good. and if it stays in white and never moves.. that tells you something too.

A "real" gauge would fluctuate so much it would cause unnecessary cause for concern. For example, when they leave the driveway on a cold morning and the coolant temp gauge reads low for miles or on a hot summer day in traffic when the gauge climbs slowly. It's still safe but most don't know that. Same for oil pressure, the oil pressure gauge on my turbo 4 cyl drag car never stays still. That would drive an average person batty!

I really like the idea of custom gauges through a touch screen setup. It's coming!

 

[mbrule]

That foaming oil, especially with Rotella and the VT365 (6.0L Powerstroke) caused lots of issues early on. Rotella finally got reformulated and this fixed that issue.

When I got my 04 F250 it actually came with a list of approved oils like Dello and Delvac but Rotella was not approved which did not hurt my feelings since its a product I try not to use unless my customers demand it.

Chris

Chris, not to HiJack. But what oil do you use in your 6.0 PSD?

 

[mbrule]

Soundguy,

I think your customizable dash is a great idea!!!! Custom gauges with all available parameters and a couple of memory locations would be great!!!

However, as simple as it should be, my guess is it would be pricey. and prone to reliability issues......

 

[Soundguy]

Chris, not to HiJack. But what oil do you use in your 6.0 PSD?

i use valvoline premium blue full syn 5w40 ( I know you are asking Dp what he uses.. etc.. )

I use that oil in all my powerstrokes.

 

[Soundguy]

Soundguy,

I think your customizable dash is a great idea!!!! Custom gauges with all available parameters and a couple of memory locations would be great!!!

However, as simple as it should be, my guess is it would be pricey. and prone to reliability issues......

shouldn't be any more unreliable than the senders it gets data from, the ECU that uses that data anyway.. and current touch screen tablet technology that is , even at this stage... pretty robust...

 

[mbrule]

shouldn't be any more unreliable than the senders it gets data from, the ECU that uses that data anyway.. and current touch screen tablet technology that is , even at this stage... pretty robust...

Agreed, but a vehicle is a harsh environment with extreme temps and a lot of vibration. I totally agree that it is doable, I just don't think we will see it any time soon.

Thanks for the oil info, You have 7.3's though don't you? I am interested in what others use in their 6.0's......

 

[Diamondpilot]

Chris, not to HiJack. But what oil do you use in your 6.0 PSD?

Valvoline, Delvac, and Dello.

Chris

 

[crazyal]

Dashes are just starting to make the transformation from the analog gauges to LCD panels. There was quite a push back from the public when mfgs started going to numerical gauges, people didn't like them. They like the idea of needle in red is bad, that's all I need to know. With LCD displays comes the option (if they allow us) for the buyer to design the layout of their dash that suits them the best. Each driver could have their own dash. I think it'll be offset with the fear that some idiot will remove all the gauges that they really need and just have things like turbo boost pressure and destroy their engine. I expect the lawyers will have a field day with that one.

 

[aczlan]

Dashes are just starting to make the transformation from the analog gauges to LCD panels. There was quite a push back from the public when mfgs started going to numerical gauges, people didn't like them. They like the idea of needle in red is bad, that's all I need to know. With LCD displays comes the option (if they allow us) for the buyer to design the layout of their dash that suits them the best. Each driver could have their own dash. I think it'll be offset with the fear that some idiot will remove all the gauges that they really need and just have things like turbo boost pressure and destroy their engine. I expect the lawyers will have a field day with that one.

Could be fixed with required gauges (ie: speed), then have a popup when a hidden gauge passes "safe" (ie: transmission temp gets too high, the gauge is brought forward and starts blinking at you)
IMO, this could be built into the same computer that runs the entertainment system (like the Ford Sync), just have the dash be a 2nd display.

Aaron Z

 

[crazyal]

Could be fixed with required gauges (ie: speed), then have a popup when a hidden gauge passes "safe" (ie: transmission temp gets too high, the gauge is brought forward and starts blinking at you)
IMO, this could be built into the same computer that runs the entertainment system (like the Ford Sync), just have the dash be a 2nd display.

Aaron Z

I'm sure there are several ways that would work but it would be up to the corp lawyers to decide which way will work. The Lexus LFA has a very nice LCD dash. The only problem is that I could see people looking at it a little too much and not enough at where they are driving.

 

[TheGoose]

I use Rotella (I believe it's T-6) in my 6.0 PSD. I seem to remember that this particular oil comes pretty highly recommened on the PSD forums. Some people push synthetic pretty hard, and I never buy the synthetic oil hype for my vehicles. My reasoning there is that I am not running synthetic fuel, so why run synthetic oil?

The only exception to my rule would be with my PSD, as the oil does affect the injectors, and if the injectors stick or get clogged you're going to spend a lot of money. I opted not to use the synthetic on my PSD because the cost is just simply too high. I opted instead to use the highly-recommened rotella and change every 5K miles.

BTW: I have an "Edge Insight" set of dash gauges. It plugs into the OBD port and will tell you up to 8 parameters of your choosing, in either analog gauge form (on a video screen) or digital. I use it to watch my ECT/EOT temps (engine coolant/ engine oil). This is the most valuable parameter you need to know on a 6.0. When the ECT/EOT gets about 15+ degrees, it's time to change the oil cooler. Mine has been changed 2x. One on ford, one on me (at 120K miles). After the 2nd one I opted to go back with CAT ELC coolant with a coolant filter to try and extend the life of the oil cooler.

 

[Soundguy]

lots of cars have large built in message centers for the radio and gps. I see some that have flat panel lcd's the size of small tv's for gps and radio.


as for powerstrokes.. I have (2) 7.3's and (1) 6.0 I use the valvoline ultra blue premium 5w40 in all 3. previous to that. the 6.0 was getting motorcraft 15w40 dino 'powerstroke' oil. the f350 was getting 'whatever' I'm sure ( previous owner ).. and the f450 had got amsoil synthetic it's entire life.. and I swapped it to t he valvoline synthetic. All of them are full syn on everything I can find. rear end.. trans.. etc. power steering.. etc.

Agreed, but a vehicle is a harsh environment with extreme temps and a lot of vibration. I totally agree that it is doable, I just don't think we will see it any time soon.

Thanks for the oil info, You have 7.3's though don't you? I am interested in what others use in their 6.0's......