now i know man recommend you use the mega expensive synthetic low saps stuff that lasts for a 100k or 12 months but surely it wouldnt harm to run a euro 3 motor on a good qaulity mineral like shell rimula but change it every 3 months… would it? any one run a tga on anything but the expensive stuff?
chaversdad:
now i know man recommend you use the mega expensive synthetic low saps stuff that lasts for a 100k or 12 months but surely it wouldnt harm to run a euro 3 motor on a good qaulity mineral like shell rimula but change it every 3 months… would it? any one run a tga on anything but the expensive stuff?
Transalliance definitely used two types, All the Hungarian motors used fully synthetic, The French and us used a normal oil as far as I remember.
cheers wheel nut, i know it sounds strange wanting to use an oil you change more but i can get an unlimited supply of …ahem…“cheap” shell mineral oil where as the synthetic is nearly £300 inc filters to change
chaversdad:
cheers wheel nut, i know it sounds strange wanting to use an oil you change more but i can get an unlimited supply of …ahem…“cheap” shell mineral oil where as the synthetic is nearly £300 inc filters to change
The drum in our yard seemed to be “cheapest available” at the time, except most of the blokes who used it left the jug in the rain so I avoided it as much as possible and tried to fill a can in France. If it helps, ours were on 56 plates.
I can understand your logic, because any oil was always cheaper than an engine 
I changed my Actros oil to 10w40,it need’s a service twice as often but the oil is half the price(or less). No problem’s so far,i’m told the engine will last longer because of the change…here’s hoping 
i did the same with my actros and it seemed to perform better if anything, its just when i mentioned it with the tga i got a sharp intake of breath and a shake of the head, followed by “but MAN only recommend you use low saps fully synthetic etc etc” so i just wondered wether there was a serious reason why or it was just them trying to make money
we run our 04 55 56 &n 57 plate on 15/40 semi synthetic engine oil on 4 month or 70k change. were in process of changing them to run on the same as what our daf’s are which is 10/40 fully synthetic & 100k changes. cant remember who we get oil off but it doesnt work out that much dearer than our regular 15/40 semi synth & in the long run is cheaper.
truckers boy:
cant remember who we get oil off but it doesnt work out that much dearer than our regular 15/40 semi synth & in the long run is cheaper.
but i can get the good mineral oil for free so there is a big saving on my part 
I would check the micron levels on the filters before running oil for those extended drain levels, oil never goes off, it just gets dirty, wear metals from normal wear and tear and soot from the combustion process will contaminate an oil, any other foreign substances that get in, like dust and cross contamination from other fluids (coolant and diesel) will just make them worse.
For my money I would put decent mineral oil (Rotella or Rimula) in it and drop it twice as often, especially if you can get it nudge nudge wink wink cheap 
chaversdad:
now i know man recommend you use the mega expensive synthetic low saps stuff that lasts for a 100k or 12 months but surely it wouldnt harm to run a euro 3 motor on a good qaulity mineral like shell rimula but change it every 3 months… would it? any one run a tga on anything but the expensive stuff?
my Euro 3 D28 480 has been run on the recommended 15/40 semi-synthetic at 95-100,000 mile changes for all of its 920,000 km
I drive a TGA with a d26 480 lump. It is meant to have that low saps fully synthetic oil in it but we run it on a good quality 10/40 semi synthetic. I change the oil every 6 months as the mileages we do are considerably lower than a general haulage motor but this is still cheaper than a single oil change with the recommended oil.
The truck has been running like that for 2 years now and is fine, but, and there is a but. I believe i’m right in saying it’s not the engine that you need to be concerned about, it’s the exhaust box which has a cat in it. Apparently not using the low saps or low ash oil, whatever you want to call it, can harm the particulate filters and block the cats. I have seen a blocked cat on a renault midlum which eventually just fell apart and disintegrated. It was a 58 plate so not very old, with 260,000 on the clock. Unfortunately it had been run on the incorrect oil and that’s what renault put it down to and threw the warranty out of the window.
If the motor is under warranty i’d run it on the correct oil as if anything goes wrong you’ll be facing a big bill because they can tell which type and grade of oils have been used in the engine
Rusty Nail:
If the motor is under warranty i’d run it on the correct oil as if anything goes wrong you’ll be facing a big bill because they can tell which type and grade of oils have been used in the engine
its 6 yrs old mate so the warranty was up quite a while ago 
Having had a total of 5 engine rebuilds in two Mercedes Actros units due to the use of synthetic engine oil,carbonisation I believe,I would not use synthetic engine oil if it was free.My own Maggi runs perfectly well on long life mineral oil.
We’re running a 9 year Euro 3 D26 460 remapped to 550bhp on mineral oil,changes every 50,000km…MAN original filters only used…“PM Kat” removed…engine sounds & performs superbly…pulls like a steam train…good on diesel as well as being ultra reliable…We have began using 20% Lucas oil stabiliser in all oil changes and we are currently extending the oil change times by around 50%…it currently has about 1,000,000km covered without any great problems
Why do you use the Lucas? It just thickens up the oil, useful for a worn engine so you get less blow by past the rings, is that the case with yours?
newmercman:
Why do you use the Lucas? It just thickens up the oil, useful for a worn engine so you get less blow by past the rings, is that the case with yours?
Hi Newmercman…no,the engine is very healthy,it’s just that I use Lucas as an aid to preventative maintenance…I definitely find an improvement in everything I put it in…especially gearboxes and rear axles…nicer changes,smoother running etc and it certainly extends the life of mechanical components,bearings etc…A small drop in the diesel tank once in a while does wonders for power delivery and fuel economy…I find it great in the smaller diesel engines especially those with common rail systems as you’ll find a definite improvement in the power delivery almost immediately. I also stripped an old tractor engine recently that I had added it to and I was impressed by the slippery protective coating Lucas had laid down on all the internal sufaces of the engine…and it is reasonably inexpensive to buy as well. Have you heard bad reports on the stuff on your side of the pond?
No I’ve not heard a bad word about any Lucas product, they do exactly what they say on the bottle, I run a gallon of their Upper Cylinder Lubricant through the tanks every couple of months, it’s something we do at my firm. We just put new injectors in my motor and it’s close to a million miles and 30% idle time, so they lasted well.
I don’t use Lucas in the engine though, for two reasons, we dump our oil every 15000miles and at the temperatures we get here in the winter the Lucas would turn to jelly, making it hard to start the engine, another downside is the increased internal drag from the thicker oil.
Although I will use it as soon as I have to add a gallon of make up oil at less than 5000mile intervals, my old girl will be getting a gallon of Lucas every oil change, that should prolong its life a while