lube oil for two cycle D.D.

[bostonhatteras]

I know there has been some concern among owners of 2 stroke detroits as to what will be available to use as lube oil with the industry rating of CF-2 being retired, so I thought I'd share what I found today. Having been caught up in the scare also I bought 30 gallons of delo 100 awhile back but now that its gone I went to N. E.Detroit Diesel/MTU and asked for oil for two cycles. They gave me 40W WITHOUT any classification symbols/starburst (whatever the symbol is called where the classification rating is found), however, instead of the symbol, it states all over the packaging and container labeling 'heavy-duty diesel engine oil for detroit diesel 2-cycle' also on packaging and label, without any symbol, it simply states 'api service CF'. Again, in product literature from MTU titled 'Detroit Diesel 2-cycle, Full support every step of the way', it states 'Powerguard sae 40 2-cycle engine oil. Features a low ash formula that adheres to the api CF-2 level of approval for on- and off-highway uses' oddly enough, on the 5 gallon pail it states 'api service CF/CF-2' but,on the single gallon it only states 'api service CF'. They are also still made by Mobil/Delvac. The cost was $17. Per gallon. So it looks like the proven oils are still available, just without the service classification we've come to look for. Just my $.02. Happy Fourth of July!
Russell

[J's Dream]

Go to Napa, its $56 a pail. Just did mine a couple weeks ago.

[TROUBLE]

I'm using exxon xd3-40.
happy fourth

Art

[shark 1007]

Same here with the Exxon

[Norm Mayer]

A while back, Detroit came out with a buletin saying NOT to use 15W40, to use straight 40 weight. Before that, I had switched to Synergen 15W40 and found it kept my engines far cleaner than traditional oils. Because of this, I have stayed with the 15W40 Synergen oil, and after in excess of 10,000 miles of travel (I have no idea how many hours/miles the engines already had on them) my last engine check showed I still had hone marks in the cylinder walls. You might say I am a believer, and won't change from what works!

Note: I would switch to straight 40 weight, except Synergen doesn't sell it!
I know I don't need the multigrade here in FL.

[MikeP]

I don't mean to muddy up the oil issue but there is a lot of oiling information now that pretty much contradicts what we used to think about oil and how it works in an engine, especially when applied to synthetics.

15W40 oil is better for engine startup than 40Wt oil and it provides the same hot viscosity. 0W40 is even better. The thinner the oil on startup, the quicker it gets where it needs to and the better the engine protection.

At operating temp, 40 wt, 15W40 wt, 0w40 wt are all the same.

THe reason it is more applicable to syns is that unlike multiweight dino oil, syn's base stock is the heavy side. IOW, a 15W40 dino oil is 15 weight oil with additives to increase viscosity to 40 when hot; syns are the opposite. A 15W40 syn's base stock is 40 with additives to make it 15 when cold. So that as an additive package wears out, the dino oil eventually becomes 15 all the time while the syn becomes 40 all the time.

That being said, I don't know how the DD oiling requirements fit into this regarding other issues so I'm not suggesting anyone should change to something other than DDs most recent recommendations - around 2000 was the last service item I have seen. Perhaps more research would make it clear but I have no real interest in doing it and, with the amount of use my DDs actually get, I can't see any value in it, even if changing oils would double engine life!