3116 Caterpillars

[Bob_G]

Anyone out there know about engine oil?? Got an anomoly on the above, which I have installed in a Phantom 40- getting told to put sae 30 oil in when the original was 10/40 and is same as for the later 3126's. Been told the 30 oil reduces black smoke, but at what price? On cold days and start up... starved bearings, shortened engine life etc etc. Any views?

Thanks

 

[tr7v8]

I'd talk to Finnings who are Cat dist. for UK, also I'd have a word with say Castrol or DucKhams technical. IMHO very unusual for manufacturer who recommends a multigrade to go back to a monograde.
Normally they say something like Recommend SAE Cat CE or Cf, probably the later if Turbo'd.

Jim
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[Bob_G]

I agree very unusual but this advice came from Finnings who sent non Cat sae 30!

 

[tr7v8]

Ummm, tilt!
I'd still talk to the oil manufacturers, they deal with these sort of questions every day.

Also have look at:-
http://www.finning.ca/downloads/sos/Diesel_Engine_Oil_pehp8038.pdfhttp://www.finning.ca/downloads/sos/Diesel Engine (CG-4) Data Sheet _pehp7041.pdf

That seems to talk of Multigrades, the only series they recommend single grades for is the 3600 series.

Jim
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[tr7v8]

Ahhhh, just found:-

http://www.finning.ca/downloads/sos/Special Application Engine Oil_PEHP9516.pdf which sepeifically refers to 3166 MARINE Diesels!

Jim
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[mickshep]

don't know if a raggy can be much help but; I used to restore motorcycles for a living, certain engines hated running on multigrade oils, and I do not just mean the ones with bush type bearings, In winter we used mono grade sae 30, in summer we would up that to sae 40, the only thing was that the engine had to be allowed to warm up properly, (Common sense anyway). Oil starvation on starting up was not a problem as the oil used was of a none detergent type and seemed to "cling" to engine surfaces even when hot, An engine that had stood, even after a lengthy rest still had a layer of oil on all the internal parts, unlike modern engines which when opened up after a long lay up were dry, all the oil having drained into the sump. I was told that a 10/30 oil had the characteristics of a sae 10 when cold, but a sae 30 when hot, Despite using a top quality brand of 10/30 in my Harley the engine was smokey and rattley when warmed up, I changed back to sae 30 and noticed an immidiate improvement, Anyway I'm not an expert, can only relate own experience, hope it helps, Mick. (A Raggy)

 

[ArthurWood]

15/40 is normal innit?

 

[mtb]

I'm going to use Molislip, which will I'm sure help re viscosity start up problems.
Some long stroke engines can be slow to turn over when cold re the oil in the bores etc slowing every thing down. The way I've sorted this is to change the oil late September and again in December if needed. I used Texaco Havolene this winter and it really slowed my engine down when cold, Castrol GTX never seemed as slow .

You should use what's recommended by the people who made your engine , after all they designed it .
cheers
Mick

smile you'l be on your boat soon ;-)
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://homepage.ntlworld.com/boats/>http://homepage.ntlworld.com/boats/</A>

 

[Bob_G]

Yes, spoke to another Cat engineer in Eastbourne who agrees with you but said there may be some release from Caterpillar recommending 30 oil. I now have a suspicion that this recommendation may be driven by environmental concerns (less smoke) rather than the needs of the engines.
It worries me that on a cold morning with 30 oil, everything's going to get starved until the oil thoroughly warms up!

 

[Bob_G]

Many thanks, very interesting, particularly your comments on 30 against 10/30. On this basis, 30 in the engines would not do any harm- no advantage of the (apparantly) earlier recommendation from Cat of 15/40.

 

[Bob_G]

Excellant thanks. Strictly off the point, presumably you have a TR7 V8 lurking somewhere. So do I- part built....