oil and coolant made for diesel engines

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01-16-2008, 07:35 PM

PANTYEATR

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oil and coolant made for diesel engines

i have a question about using the coolant and engine oil made for diesel engines.

i have been using shell's rotella 15w40 for my oil changes in my race car and my volvo. i have been told that the oil made for diesel engines has zinc in it which is good for valves.i think that the diesel oil has better detergents to keep the engine and oilcleaner and fightcontaminants better.

i'm currently looking at using the detroit diesel 50/50% coolant, but i'm not sure if all of the extra additives and all those chemicals that are good for iron diesel blocks are just as good for aluminum heads and blocks.

i think the detroit coolant can be better than just regular green coolant.

what do you think?

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01-16-2008, 09:02 PM

RedTurbo850

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RE: oil and coolant made for diesel engines

Hey Kajuan,

I don't know much about coolant, and I'm not sure I completely believe the benefits of using a better coolant, but that's just me.

But regarding the motor oil, I recommend instead of the disel, switch to a full synthetic. It is better for your turbocharged car as it can withstand higher temperatures. You will have more benefits using this than using a disel oil imo.

Also, I did a little searching and this may be of use.
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/oildefinitions.html

Quote:

% zinc is the amount of zinc used as an extreme pressure, anti- wear additive. The zinc is only used when there is actual metal to metal contact in the engine. Hopefully the oil will do its job and this will rarely occur, but if it does, the zinc compounds react with the metal to prevent scuffing and wear. A level of .11% is enough to protect an automobile engine for the extended oil drain interval, under normal use. Those of you with high revving, air cooled motorcycles or turbo charged cars or bikes might want to look at the oils with the higher zinc content. More doesn't give you better protection, it gives you longer protection if the rate of metal to metal contact is abnormally high. High zinc content can lead to deposit formation and plug fouling.

Hope this helps.

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01-17-2008, 12:22 AM

Typhoon

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RE: oil and coolant made for diesel engines

Zinc additives are great for non roller cam engines (like um, redblock Volvos?).
I have used diesel oils for some time now in almost everything I own, including motorcycles. No ill effects. That .11% zinc is not found in current grade automotive oils, so go teh diesel oils. However, watch out for teh current rating in diesel oils, the zinc is WAY down. Use the older heavy duty oils.
I just can't justify synthetic oils in a car with 250+ k kms on it. The new car runs synthetic exclusively, and that will be an interesting experiment to finish off in 10 years or so.

Regards, Andrew.

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