Do biodiesel blends now affect our oil choices?

[Iceni John]

My engine is now rebuilt after it ate a camshaft last year, and we fired it up for the first time yesterday.   Yeah!   My mechanic (who I trust completely) and Clifford here both support using Delo 400 straight 40-weight oil in rebuilt older 2-strokes, even though its ash content is 1.5%.   Now that us Californicators are starting to use low-sulfur Biodiesel blend (either B10 or B20, I can't remember which) because pure dino-diesel is getting harder to find, at least here in Orange County, does this new fuel blend affect which oils we should now be using in older 2-strokes?   My mechanic says that Delo 100 is still OK for new 2-strokes, but he prefers 400 in rebuilds like mine;  are there even any 'new' 2-strokes still out there?

Do we have any fuel or oil chemists in our ranks here who can help explain these things for inquisitive newbies like me?

Please, let's not turn this thread into an endless "Delo 100 is better than Delo 400 Bla Bla Bla" rant!   Life's not always as simple as we want.

Thanks, John

[luvrbus]

John use Delvac 1240 it is a petroleum distillate base oil unlike the paraffin base Delo 100 lol are you sure about me recommending Delo 100  .Use the Delo 100 you have now and run a sample in 3000 miles if the TBN numbers are off you may need to use a higher ash content oil for the 20% bio fuel, I have a 12v92 generator I do work on at the gold mine I had to start using a higher ash limit oil (Delo 400  ) because of the heavy fuel they buy.Your manual section 13.3  tells it all lol just read past the ash content of oil.Your right on how different fuel will affect the type oil used in a 2 stroke, Glad you are up and running

[windtrader]

I don't recollect Clifford saying to use Delo 400 in our diesel engines. My recollection is he is still all in on the original formulation.

[Iceni John]

John use Delvac 1240 it is a petroleum distillate base oil unlike the paraffin base Delo 100 lol are you sure about me recommending Delo 100  .Use the Delo 100 you have now and run a sample in 3000 miles if the TBN numbers are off you may need to use a higher ash content oil for the 20% bio fuel, I have a 12v92 generator I do work on at the gold mine I had to start using a higher ash limit oil (Delo 400  ) because of the heavy fuel they buy.Your manual section 13.3  tells it all lol just read past the ash content of oil.Your right on how different fuel will affect the type oil used in a 2 stroke, Glad you are up and running

Do you mean Delo 400?   My engine now has Delo 400 in it:  curiously, a 5-gallon pail of it doesn't say to not use it in 2-strokes, but a 1-gallon jug does say so...   I was reading a thread from some years ago where you were using Delo 400 in your 8V92.   I'm also going to go with my mechanic's recommendation for now, even though the 400's ash is higher than I would normally like.   I'll definitely have a sample checked at 3000 miles, and the lab can then tell me what to do!

Maybe I'll start looking for some Delvac 1240 now.   I already have 9 gallons of Rotella T-1 which was on sale at NAPA , but I'll keep it only for emergencies on the road.

Thank you, as always.   Where would we be without your wisdom?!

John

[luvrbus]

Delo 400 was low ash oil years ago till it was reformulated.Delo 400 is not going to damage the engine, in your DD manual it will tell you a higher ash oil will show less wear on the engine, with today's fuel you may not have the carbon build up as we had in the past I don't know for sure,fuel has changed a lot in the last 20 years,I am not a fan of a wax base oil in a Detroit like Delo 

[RJ]

Maybe I'll start looking for some Delvac 1240 now. . .

John -

Summit Racing often has Mobil Delvac 1240 on sale - buying two cases (8 gallons) gets you free shipping, even when it's on sale. If they sell out, they'll back-order your order, and ship it when it comes in, still honoring the sale price - but it may take a while!

Detroit's Power Guard 40 is exactly the same as Delvac, just private labeled for Detroit. I have part numbers if you think you might need them.

Flyer's Energy in your neck of the woods is a Mobil Delvac distributor. They've got several warehouses between Sacratomato thru SoCA (main office) over to Phoenix, so you should be able to pick some up from one of their locations easily. 800-899-2376 is their order line, Jessie at extension 9139 is who helped me - if she's still working their, as this was before covid.

A personal experience: My MC-5C had Delo 100 in the engine, and a case of it in the bay when I picked up the coach. I noted that I was getting 850-950 miles on a gallon, which I understood to be pretty normal for a 71-series having 150,000+ miles on it.

After a couple of years (and oil changes), Clifford made a comment here on BCM about Mobil Delvac (and thus Detroit's) being the factory fill oil. Hmmm. . . 

So for my next oil change, I switched to the Delvac 1240, and the first thing I noticed was that my oil consumption went from averaging 900 miles per gallon of Delo 100, to roughly 1700 miles per gallon on Delvac. When I sold the coach, it was averaging 1850-1900 miles on a gallon - something I definitely didn't scoff at!

When I bought my Prevost in 2018, it had 65 miles on an out-of-frame rebuild of the 8V92T by W.W.Williams in Phoenix. Looking at the invoice, I noticed the Power Guard 40 in the parts description, so Delvac 1240 is the only oil this engine's ever had in it. Right now the engine's got about 7800 miles on it and so far has only used one gallon every 2500 miles (not counting the initial oil change at 5K.)  For a two-stroke, I can't complain!!

FWIW & HTH. . . 

RJ

[luvrbus]

Leave the good sounding Jake Brakes off, the spotting on the rear will go away and the oil consumption will be less  the Jakes suck the oil out on the 2 strokes with no intake valves but they sound good 

[windtrader]

Please, let's not turn this thread into an endless "Delo 100 is better than Delo 400 Bla Bla Bla" rant!   Life's not always as simple as we want.

ohn, quite the opposite it appears. I really am a bit flumoxed as I was under the impression until this thread that 100 was better. But now it seems the top choices are Delvac 1240 and Delo 400. My notebook now updated. lol

[luvrbus]

ohn, quite the opposite it appears. I really am a bit flumoxed as I was under the impression until this thread that 100 was better. But now it seems the top choices are Delvac 1240 and Delo 400. My notebook now updated. lol

No one said 400 was better but if you need oil it is not going to hurt your engine,yes I am a big Delvac 1240 fan and not much on Delo 100 or 400 but have had to use both 

[Iceni John]

John -

Summit Racing often has Mobil Delvac 1240 on sale - buying two cases (8 gallons) gets you free shipping, even when it's on sale. If they sell out, they'll back-order your order, and ship it when it comes in, still honoring the sale price - but it may take a while!

Summit has Delvac 1240 on sale now, with cases of 4 gallons for $63.96, and 2 cases plus shipping is $137.83 (no more free shipping, but it's only about $10).   I think that's an OK price, so I'll order 2 cases.   Thanks for the heads-up on it!

John

[David Anderson]

Summit has Delvac 1240 on sale now, with cases of 4 gallons for $63.96, and 2 cases plus shipping is $137.83 (no more free shipping, but it's only about $10).   I think that's an OK price, so I'll order 2 cases.   Thanks for the heads-up on it!

John

Hmm, I bought 2 cases 2 months ago and the shipping was free.  Inflation is still rising.

Just some anecdotal info.  I had to buy T1 Shell 40 wt for my last oil change because I couldn't find Delvac 1240 anywhere.  My oil consumption has gone up a bit.  When I switch back to 1240 on my next change I will post any improvement here on the board.  Probably won't be until late in the year though.
David