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Proper weight oil

Discussion in 'Technical Discussion' started by messickwayne, Sep 27, 2013.

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  1. messickwayne, Sep 27, 2013
    #1
    messickwayne

    messickwayne New Member

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    Tennessee & Gulf coast, Presently in Corpus Christ
    What weight oil is recommended in a Cat 3208 T marine engine with approx 2700 hours.
    Gulf coast temperature.

    Thanks
  2. Capt Ralph, Sep 27, 2013
    #2
    Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    Your looking for a good 15w40. The important thing to look for is the API rating. It must be at least CH-4. Shell Rotella is the most common.
    No not be cheap on the oil and use a gas car/truck that uses API Sx-x.
  3. dennismc, Sep 27, 2013
    #3
    dennismc

    dennismc Senior Member

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    Read the manual...
  4. Capt Ralph, Sep 27, 2013
    #4
    Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    Do Not be cheap


    Spellcheck does not check for fat fingers.
  5. CatTech, Sep 27, 2013
    #5
    CatTech

    CatTech New Member

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    good answer rcrapps
  6. Capt J, Sep 28, 2013
    #6
    Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    Good straight 40W. Although it wouldn't hurt to use 15w40, Caterpillar oil is reasonably priced, so you might as well use theirs.
  7. Old Phart, Sep 28, 2013
    #7
    Old Phart

    Old Phart Senior Member

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    I dunno
    CAT always recommended Shell.
  8. Fishtigua, Sep 28, 2013
    #8
    Fishtigua

    Fishtigua Senior Member

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    CAT in the UK recommends a straight 40 for the 3208. They send us an oil from Exol, which I think is from Siberia. I guess Texas and Scotland don't have the right kind of oil.:D
  9. Capt J, Sep 28, 2013
    #9
    Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    From what I've seen the Rotella at least here in the US is not as good as it used to be. One MTU/DD dealer told me on long term engines they've done majors on they've seen a lot of ring wear. I've also seen it start getting thin on the dipstick at about the 70 hour mark and very drippy when you pull dipsticks out. I used to really like the URSA heavy duty oil (which dropped off the market in the US a while back), the chevron HD oil is good as well in 40w.

    CAT sells their own branded 15w-40 here in the US and it too is good oil. I think they have CAT branded 40w as well .
  10. messickwayne, Sep 28, 2013
    #10
    messickwayne

    messickwayne New Member

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    Smart answer, If I had one I would read it.
  11. Capt Ralph, Sep 28, 2013
    #11
    Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    Not quite sure what that means. Did we try to answer your question? Is there a spec your looking for?
    Our members are from all over the world and all try to help.
    PLUS many years of use and experience at no extra charge.

    ,Ralph
  12. CaptGDunz, Sep 29, 2013
    #12
    CaptGDunz

    CaptGDunz Member

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    Shell Rotella 15w 40 for 4 stroke engines or switch to a Mobil 5w 40 synthetic .
  13. MBevins, Sep 29, 2013
    #13
    MBevins

    MBevins Senior Member

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    I believe the OP was referring to the suggestion he read his owners manual.
  14. Capt Ralph, Sep 29, 2013
    #14
    Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    Yes, I see (read) that now.
    Sorry about that. I was a little jumpy I guess.
    ,rc
  15. dennismc, Sep 29, 2013
    #15
    dennismc

    dennismc Senior Member

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    am surprised but, have been surprised before, 40 w in 4 strokes was a no no, so Detroit diesel states, maybe Cats are that different, live and learn.
  16. Capt J, Sep 30, 2013
    #16
    Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    In marine engines of the age of the 3208 most of the manufacturer's would recommend a straight 30w or 40w. Multigrades didn't become popular as a recommendation until late 90's or so. Personally I don't think a straight 40W would hurt anything in a warm climate over using a 15w-40.
  17. K1W1, Sep 30, 2013
    #17
    K1W1

    K1W1 Senior Member

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    Hi,

    A good quality 40W Oil, I have used Exxon XD3 40 Extra in high output 3306's and found this reduced the oil consumption.
  18. Capt Ralph, Sep 30, 2013
    #18
    Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    15/40 is suppose to make itself near 40w when it comes up to temperature. A straight 40w does not allow for that easy to start and faster flow of a thinner oil.
    Take notice when you start up cold now; Hear any bearing noise? blue exhaust smoke?
    When you change the weight of oil, take notice of any cold start changes; more/less bearing noise, more/less blue smoke? more/less time for the oil alarms to go out, sound of the engine spinning over.
    When that oil is thin (cold), it may get past those piston rings a bit easier, down the valve guides faster but don't curse the consumption to fast, think of it as evidence that oil is flowing faster and some blue smoke in the morning could be a good sign. Just not to much.
    At temperature, 15/40 & 40w should be flowing about the same while running down the river.
    With the typical remote oil filters and lines, an old and complicated oil galley pattern in the 3208T, for pleasure duty I'd stay with a good 15w40, API CH-4.
  19. K1W1, Sep 30, 2013
    #19
    K1W1

    K1W1 Senior Member

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    Hi,

    The guy shows he is in Corpus Christi and runs in Gulf waters so the temp should not be an issue for the boating season.

    The 3306's I used it in were Gensets rated at 170 ekW at 1500 rpm, this was pretty close to the max these old girls could crank out.

    These and the hi output 1800 rpm machines were known to burn 5 lts of Oil a day. Changing ours to a single weight Exxon Oil dropped it to 2 lts and the sludge in our SOS Samples dropped by 75%, the back pressure build up in our particle filters slowed way down and oh yes they each did at least another 7000 hrs till they were rebuilt at 12000 hrs and never had the heads off in between times.

    If you want to stick to multi grade look for Mobil Delvac Super 1300 15w 40, they make it for Cat and the price is usually a lot better.

    I used to Exxon Oil in my Cats as I had used the same oil in MTU 16V 396 TB94 Engines with a similar reduction in L.O. Consumption.
  20. dennismc, Sep 30, 2013
    #20
    dennismc

    dennismc Senior Member

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    O.K. so, why not then use 15/40 in DD two strokes on cooler climates ??
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