Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Accessories Rotella T6

For those of us that use Shell Rotella T6 synthetic 5-W-40 oil and have an Advance Auto Parts location near you, they have a deal. The gallon jug rings at $22.99 ($5.00 off) and you can submit a rebate form online for a $5.00 debit card. Limit 2 rebates per email address. Valid through May 29th.

The local Meijer and Wal-mart where I live both sell it for around $19.95 on a regular basis.

Similar price at Wal Marts here. The Amsoil I use went up in price again, it's almost $13 a qt!

I've been using rotella 15/40. Cheaper yet and probably better the t6 in the heat.

40's 40

It's non-frictionally modified truck oil. It's made to withstand heat.

It's all state-of-the-arts and sciences now. And to lower emissions and increase mpg, we're about to see big fleet operations running as low as 20W viscosity oils in their rigs when that tiny fuel savings adds up to a lot more than the downtime risk of an engine failure and the expense to repair.

Yes, these high-tech oils are that good.

Get some!

40s 40? What are you talking about Blackwind? It was also difficult to tell whether you are for or against the rotella type oils.

He MAY not be either for OR against.

I'm certainly neither "for nor against" ANY one's choice of oil product.

That's sorta why I asked blackwind, erle. I just thought his post was a bit vague.

I have run the T6 a couple times but when I do the transmission just feels notchy. It takes more effort to change gears, just not as smooth as Amsoil for me, but on the other hand when I run Amsoil sometimes onder really hard acceleration it feels like the clutch slips a little once in a while. Maybe it is too slippery. I just changed the oil about 100 miles ago with T6 and changed it again the other night back to Amsoil, definitely shifts better with Amsoil.

There was some recent talk on the R3 Owners site regarding Shell Rotella and low zinc levels. Here's the original post:

So my Rocket went up to Carpenters for a checkup; was getting a tapping noise that was more pronounced this year. Bob and Eddie investigated and found that one of my cam lobes ate a tappet; and so my cams had to be pulled and sent out for rebuild, and the tappet has to be replaced.

All of my cam lobe surfaces did show varying degree's of wear; and after talking at length to Bob and doing some pretty intense investigation on my own part; have deduced the probability of this event to be caused by the Shell Rotella T6 that I have been using.

I found out that Shell lowered their Zinc content in the Synthetic T6 last year; as seemingly Mobil 1 had done with their synthetic as well (this is probably the reason why Triumph switched from Mobil 1 to Castrol synthetic...). Our engines are of a flat-tappet cam design, and the propensity for wear on the cam lobes and tappets are greatly increased; if the oil does not have sufficient zinc and phosphorous content.

Many common engine oils have reduced the zinc and phosphorous levels due to the damage they cause with catalytic converters and sensors; however other oils which are not commonly used such as racing, marine and diesel oils still have adequate amounts of the zinc and phosphorus to alleviate the wear that is more common with the flat-tappet cam engines.

If any of you Captains are running Shell Rotella T6 at this time; I would recommend that you seek another brand of oil with better zinc and phosphorous properties. Amsoil markets synthetic oil which contain higher amounts of zinc and phosphorous; Bob has recommended their 15W-40 Synthetic HeavyDuty Diesel and Marine Motor Oil, although I am going to discuss the Premium Protection 10W-40 Synthetic Motor Oil later with him.


http://www.amsoil.lube-direct.com/20...nc-oil-amsoil/

Or, you could just add a half pint of zinc and phosphorous additive, sold at ALL auto parts stores. I do this to the new (NOT remanufactured) small block I put in the Tahoe about a year ago. MOST agree that it's really only a concern during initial break-in.
Modern ('90's +) vehicles are getting over 100K without even a tune-up, and over a quarter million miles before failure.

Then continue to use your favorite oil.



In the America, mine is pure vegetable oil, with a half pint of Pam.

My bad. I "tuned out", I guess, normally checking only "active topics" here when I have time to...

What I mean't by "40's 40", was that a 40W viscosity oil should offer the protection properties of a 40W viscosity oil. That's all. It wouldn't matter if it were a 5W40, o a 10W40, or whatever. (My opinion.)

I did not know about the lower Zinc and Phosphorous levels in the Rotella T6, either. That's all I have ever used, though.

Now a story:

Last Summer I noticed a weird low-speed vibration after changing a rear tire. (See Weird Vibration thread...)

Long story short, after checking everything front to back, brakes, tires, chain, Cush drive, - even pulling out the clutch basket - at 90K miles, everything checked out, could not fault anything. I even replaced the rear tire again just to eliminate that, and it made little difference. The vibration was only at 28 mph, in 2nd gear, and with hindsight, I think it was only the heavier RK chain, but with nothing found wrong, I have ignored/forgot about it since, and rode the h*ll out her.

To be continued....

Okay, back to the story...

Keep in mind, that I have sent in an oil sample, from every oil change, since the bike was new. It took over 20K miles before lead readings finally dropped down into a normal range, and we (the Lab), decided that the engine was still just getting "broke in".

Now - when my local mechanic had the clutch basket out last summer, at 90K miles, and was admiring how clean and wear-free everything looked, (he really was amazed), he commented that a couple of the clutch plates appeared to him to be turned around. So he flipped the over. I don't know if they were spacers or friction plates, but he knows what he's doing. Working on primarily vintage Japanese bikes, he runs a busy (for he, another tech, and a helper) shop, and has a great reputation...I never questioned the "flipping" of the discs, and the bike runs fine.

When he put it all back together, he filled the crankcase with his usual Bel Ray EXL Mineral 4T engine oil, and spun on a Fram filter. Now I had just changed the oil and filter (I use the Bosch 3300), so the oil he dumped was good new oil. Spilt milk.

3300 miles later, I changed the oil, and put back in the T6, and spun on a Bosch filter, the headed to the Texas Hill Country to the Harvest Classic in Luckenbach. I rode 600 miles over 2 days, and my pickup coil gave out, and I had to trailer her home from the rally. My guardian angel, always looking after me, got me to the campground after the bike had quit on me several times, while I was still out in he sticks, so to speak, at night, that Friday night, but every time, after 10-15 minutes, she would start back up and go aways....

Saturday morning, I rode her up to get gas, and she barely got me back to Luckenbach, stopping on me twice within 20 miles, so I knew I was done, and needed to find a way to get her trucked home. Ken, my local mechanic, had gotten up at 4:30 Saturday morning, and brought out a very cool Yamaha Street Tracker he had fabbed at his shop, to put it in the show. He came alone, with the one bike, on a 3-bike trailer. So it was done. Of the several hundred people at the Classic, I doubt anyone there could have been a closer neighbor to me, and the bike had to get back to his shop, anyway! He placed 1st or 2nd with the Yamaha in that class, so a good day for him, too, but better yet for me, for the good fortune of his presence.

So, the coil was replaced, and out went the new T6, with 600 miles on it, and back in went more Bel Ray....

So I ran the Bel Ray, for 5K miles. When I drew the sample at the oil change, I realized (found), that I had never sent in the 3K mile sample of Bel Ray that I had drawn when I changed the oil before going to the Classic. (That was in late October.) So, for grins, I sent them both in.

Results? Not so good.

At Thanksgiving, I had gone to see my folks twice that weekend, each trip about 200 miles round. Riding home at night, I noticed my oil pressure light dimly flickering on my console. If course I was alarmed, but it was very dim, and flickering. The next day, I rode back to my folks place, and coming home that Sunday night, I noticed too, that the green Neutral light was also dimly flickering. Neither of these lights would be visible riding in daylight. So I have ignored them, passing it off as a poor connection, or maybe that a bulb had slipped from it's home in the console....and I have continued to ride the h*ll out of her.

On the 3300 mile sample, my Aluminum spiked up from what has always been had always been 8-15 ppm, to 162 ppm.

On the 5K mile sample, Aluminum spike to 232 ppm. Blackstone Labs called me mid-sample to ask me some questions, and tell me what they were seeing. Indeed, when I had dropped the 5K mile Bel Ray oil, I was a bit alarmed then, as it appeared to be a dark black-to-milky-gray color as it ran from the crankcase. Not the usual rich coffee color I normally see when I drop the T6 after 4-5K miles....

Anyway, it was suggested that I re-sample at 1K miles, on the Rotella T6, and see what that looks like.

Now I know it can not be the oil. Bel Ray is good motor oil. And I doubt it is the Rotella T6, regardless of what changes they may have made.

I should hear back on the 1K sample hopefully this week, and I do continue to ride the h*ll out her in the meantime, at 95,500 miles now.

I do have to wonder about those clutch plates, though, as they looked great, and obviously were not causing any problems pre-flip, but I don't even know how or if that could related to a spike in Aluminum wear metals.

I also have to determine if the oil pressure light has been trying to tell me something, or if it really is a bad sensor or connection, or loose bulb...

I figure once I get this sample back, I will take her in, and have Oil Pressure and Compression checked, as well as have that indicator sorted out.

Maybe it's 95K HARD MILES, and just time for something to give.

Could it be the oil pump or pump gears wearing out?

I'm really intrigued and excited about it, honestly, no matter what it ultimately winds up being. I'll fix it, and continue to ride her.

Friends all say it's time for a new bike. I know that would be a much harder decision to have to make....

I will keep you posted - I do think this is the ideal thread to post to, unless the consensus is otherwise here....

I ramble...get over it....