353 DETRIOT OIL

[lumberjack48]

I ran Detroit 20 yrs, they call for straight 30, low ash content , series 2 oil , year round, no multi grade oils.
 If there leaking oil, there's a reason

[captain_crunch]

Yea I know but in my case it is called worn out I think I may well own the most beat up 404 TJ in existance

[poor farmer/logger]

These old engines were desinged to run on straight grade oil like others have mentioned. Problems can be had with some of the newer oils as well with higher detergants in them. Flushing out a old engine isn't allways the best.

We run straight 30 oil in ours year round. There's times in the winter when I wish we had 10wt oil in it but for the most part it gets the job done. We were running shell but since it's gone up to over 800 dollars for a 55us gal drum we've switched to our local coop brand. right in at 600 with all the taxes in. Shells was plus everything else.

Ryan

[barbender]

I'm not arguing whether these straight grade oils are what's better for a Detroit, but I don't understand why they are. What's the mechanical issue? Higher exhaust valve temps? There must be something different in these two stroke engines that is different as far as the stresses they put on the oil. So far this has not been explained in a way I can understand. I can still get straight grade shell around here, but it's a pain when I run 15w-40 in all the other diesel engines. Bottom line, does it really make a difference or is this splitting hairs. If I am shortening engine life by running 15-40, I would definately use straight 40wt.

[Wintergreen Mountain]

Actually the new multi-visc oils (15 - 40 ) will work fine in the detroits. I have used it and recomended it to my customers for 20 years with no problems. Just remember in cold weather, +20* to -25*  drop down to a 0 - 20 visc oil to save the bearings and give  easier cranking in cold starts.
   The old single visc oils 10, 20, 30 with high ash, would deposit ash and carbon on the vave stems and actually bind them in the guides enough to break the rocker arms or valves. Because of the blowers high volume of scavenging air, the valves would run cooler than the head and cause this build up. The blowers high volume of air is 70 percent of the engines cooling.
   The new multi visc oils will not build on the valves. It will work fine.

LEON

[Jamie_C]

Of the multitude of older 353's i have run we always put 15-40 in them and they always ran like a top. In our neck of the woods single weight oils were virtually impossible to find on a good day.

[Maine372]

i was reading the manual that came with the TJ240 at work. it does call for 15-40. it was listed as an option alongside 30wt.  have you considered contacting a detriot engine serviceing dealer?