What oil do you use in your engine?

[IDBoating]

Don't worry about "gasoline" vs. "diesel" on the label. The oil does not "know" what fuel you're using in the engine. In a properly operating 4 stroke engine the oil and fuel never mix. What they're trying to convey is that some oils are more suited for "heavy duty" applications, and a wakeboat engine DEFINITELY qualifies as a heavy duty application. As Dom Forte once said to me, "It's like asking the engine to pull a truck uphill ALL the time".

If the oil has the proper rating (often 15W40 in our engines) and the proper certifications (GF numbers and such), it's fine.

[JohnnieMo]

It appears to have the diesel certifications, but not the certification PCM is requesting: GF-4/SM.

IMG_9856.jpg

I wish I had the bottle from last year to compare. However I know it said gasoline on it. There are pictures all over the internet of it. So perhaps it's exactly the same oil, just with different packaging.

[JohnnieMo]

Here is a pic of the oil I used last fall. Although you can't easily tell, it says "For Diesel & Gasoline Engines"

IMG_4558.jpg

[IDBoating]

There's a lot of overlap in oil ratings.

"CK-4 with no spark rating (SM, SN) will still have the phosphorus rating of the older spec CJ-4. In other words, aside from some formula tweaking, it should be very similar in performance and protection for those of you sold on it and currently running it in gas engines. Dual rated oils, such as CK-4/SN, have to conform to the lower phosphorus limits of the spark engine designation. If you think this is confusing, head on over to the Chevron website where the choices for diesel applications are now in the double digits. Add in Ford's hot mess of WSS-M2C171-F1, and usually pretty quiet Powerstroke guys (in comparison to the Cummins crowd anyway) are now circling the room, muttering to themselves, and looking for a Valium."

In the specific case of Rotella T4 (which I use in our PCM EX343), its certs are on the last page of this document:

https://rotella.shell.com/en_us/prod.../t4-15w-40.pdf

...which includes JASO MA/MA2. To get that JASO rating, it must at least meet API SM, which is a rating for spark-plug equipped gasoline engines. So while it may say "Diesel" on the label, its ratings include those for gasoline engines too (implicitly, if not explicitly).

Oil ratings are a deep dark rabbit hole. There are countless threads online where people get all wound up about this-or-that rating, or whether that rating even matters, or whether having a catalytic converter changes everything (or not), etc. ad infinitum. If you have some spare days and want to really get into it, stock up on food and drink and visit the forums at https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forum.../forum_summary.

Speaking personally, I've dug deep enough to satisfy myself that Rotella T4 (pure liquid dinosaurs, not synthetic nor a blend) is compatible with my EX343, so that's what I use. I also change the oil and filter religiously every 50 hours and again immediately before winter storage so long term breakdown effects are avoided. YMMV, check your engine manual and any labeling on the engine itself for what weight and ratings they specify. For example, I believe my engine's oil cap specifies different cert's than the engine manual (boat is already in storage so I can't run out and check right now). IIRC, the cap specifies both CJ-4 (diesel) and GF-4 (gasoline) ratings so I suspect PCM considers either rating to be acceptable in the EX343. This would also explain why some oil containers say both "diesel" and "gasoline"... it's entirely possible for them to meet both sets of specs, and if you dig into how the specs overlap a "non-gasoline" oil may in fact meet gasoline specs.

Have fun!

[BCRider]

I was out picking up all my winterizing supplies today and thought of this thread. I've typically used the Rotella as well but stopped short today as when reading it did just say "diesel". It is what i've used other years but also didn't realize all of these differences in oils. I'll go out tomorrow and pick up the same stuff.

The other thing I noticed today was the difference in RV Antifreeze. I got the same Winter Proof stuff as JohnnieMo has above but I see some are rated for only plastic pipes and others are only metal or safe for both....being the Winter Proof. It's also been hard to find this year. Usually all the parts places have it. Ended up getting it at Home Depot of all places.

[JohnnieMo]

I was out picking up all my winterizing supplies today and thought of this thread. I've typically used the Rotella as well but stopped short today as when reading it did just say "diesel". It is what i've used other years but also didn't realize all of these differences in oils. I'll go out tomorrow and pick up the same stuff.

The other thing I noticed today was the difference in RV Antifreeze. I got the same Winter Proof stuff as JohnnieMo has above but I see some are rated for only plastic pipes and others are only metal or safe for both....being the Winter Proof. It's also been hard to find this year. Usually all the parts places have it. Ended up getting it at Home Depot of all places.

I took note of this RV antifreeze thing as well. Some say plastic, and some say metal and plastic. The stuff I got says both. I assume that would be best. I think leaving the impeller in this goo all winter is a good thing. I change it in the spring anyhow, so at most it will just keep it from crumbling. Whatever. I also bought that winter proof stuff at HD, and I bought it in May. They were blowing it out for 67 cents a gallon!! I bought every jug they had.

I'm still waiting for a reply from PCM. I'd like to start running Castrol Edge 5W40 instead of the Royal Purple 15W40.... but they have never replied. By the ratings it is fine.

[freeheel4life]

Just out of curiosity, why the want for a 5w40?? Are you getting out early in the spring and staying out late in the fall??

[JohnnieMo]

Just out of curiosity, why the want for a 5w40?? Are you getting out early in the spring and staying out late in the fall??

Simple answer is yes. I don't always get out early or late, but I DO always run the boat in those temps, even if just for servicing. After seeing how that 15W oil poured into the boat this fall, it had me thinking what startups must be like. Same deal for my Duramax, which also asks for 15W. It would only be necessary for a few starts per year in the boat, but they always say that startup is when damage occurs.

[97tige]

I have been using 30 w for my 1997 21I with Marina Power v8. its getting harder to find straight 30w so I am thinking of just using 10-30w. Thoughts.

[The Ny Dad]

Hi folks, I'm new here, I realize this thread has been dead awhile but, I have a question for IDBoating, In this thread you stated that Deborah from PCM had contacted you (which is a miracle in itself, I've tried to message them 4 times, even reminded them who kept the lights on at PCM) and was going to get back to you about GM setting the oil spec of 15W-40 GF-4/SM on the 5.7 ex-343. Did you ever hear back from her on this.

I can't believe this has been going on since 2010 and not been resolved. As you stated 15W-40 with a GF-4/SM rating does not exist and GM or PCM who ever set the spec should have corrected it by now.

Our family recently bought a 2015 Ski Nautique 200 with the 5.7 EX343 engine and one of the neighbors at the lake had told my son in law that PCM had issued a Service Advisory on recommended oil in some of their engines. Of course my son in law didn't get the details so I started looking into it. Sent a message to PCM to find out about it, got no reply, tried 3 times. Tried the 4th time and let them know how I felt about big companies that can't be bothered to reply to their end users.

I tried 2 PCM dealers in my area and neither one had heard about the service advisory, I posted on Planet Nautique and no, one even the administrator had heard of a service advisory on oil recommendations. About 2 weeks later the administrator replied that he was able to find the advisory but the 5.7 wasn't one of the engines included in the change recommendation and still recommended the 15W-40 GF-4/SM oil spec. In case you are interested the service advisory is #SAP2019-01 issued in July 2019. So thats how I got involved in this search. I'll see if I can find out how to contact GM marine engine division and ask them about the spec and the fact that the oil does not exist as far as several people including myself, the administrator on planet nautique, IDBoating have found been able to find. Thanks for any help you can provide.

[IDBoating]

I have a question for IDBoating, In this thread you stated that Deborah from PCM had contacted you (which is a miracle in itself, I've tried to message them 4 times, even reminded them who kept the lights on at PCM) and was going to get back to you about GM setting the oil spec of 15W-40 GF-4/SM on the 5.7 ex-343. Did you ever hear back from her on this.

Wow, is this a blast from the past! I spoke with PCM about this almost NINE years ago.

No, I don't recall ever receiving a followup call from them. However, I can tell you that I religiously change the oil in our engine every 50 hours plus at winterization, and every single change has been with Rotella T (and then T6 when they changed the designation) 15W-40. We've got over 500 hours on our engine now, and haven't had any engine issues at all. Still runs super strong, burns no measurable oil, etc. The oil comes out looking almost as clean as it goes in... still translucent, not blackened like in lots of other engines.

I intend to continue using Rotella T6 (pure liquid dinosaurs, not synthetic nor blend). I may not be able to find the magic sequence of letters on the one gallon jugs, but it's delivering great performance in my engine.

[The Ny Dad]

Thanks for the quick reply, I'll probably go with the t6 also. I looked into contacting GM Marine, no direct way to contact them, I had to go through regular GM contact. I wound up having to type a letter and mail it so we'll see if they reply. I asked them if the spec for 15w-40 GF-4/SM had been set by them, or if it was set by PCM and Indmar. I told them I felt it was a mistake on someones, part because ILSAC GF-4 only applied to 0w-20, 0w-30, 5w-20, 5w-30, and 10w-30 oils. I asked them to please supply a company name and complete product name of any oils that meet that spec if they indeed set it. I will let you know what I find out.

[JohnnieMo]

Just as a matter of record keeping for future readers of this thread - I contacted PCM last year and again this year with no response (top notch service!). I also contacted Royal Purple directly and had an immediate and helpful reply. Here is what they said:


The Royal Purple Duralec Super 15W-40 (part #01154, quart bottle) is appropriate for use in gasoline engines, but it does not carry the gasoline API SN license. The Duralec Super 15W-40 does carry the current API CK-4 diesel license.

API changed the rules on diesel engine oil products so that now even mentioning gasoline on the bottle is no longer allowed, unless the product meets the chemistry restrictions of that gasoline license. Since we wanted to retain the higher levels of wear protection we opted not to do that new restrictive API CK-4/SN diesel and gasoline licensed combination.

The API rule change happened whenever the API CK-4 license was released around at the end of 2016. The Duralec Super 15W-40 did receive a formulation improvement whenever we switched from the API CJ-4/SN license to the current API CK-4 license, but the product’s compatibility and usage in gasoline engines did not change.

The bottle that you have installed in your PCM EX 343 GM 5.7L is appropriate for use in there. That bottle that you have has our Canadian dual language label for the 15W-40 CK-4 oil, but the oil formulation itself is the exact same as the Duralec Super 15W-40.

[TigeFamily]

On 15/40 oil....I found an oil at Wal-Mart actually that has some of the ratings on it they called for.
Delco 400 SDE - 15W-40 HD diesel engine oil, has CK-4/SN rating

I personally switched to the Mobile 1, Dexos 2 - 5w/30 synthetic in August of this year due to the PCM Service Advisory referenced above that came out in July of this year. My engine is the 6.0 tho. They did say the 5.7 is not included in the Service Advisory

[JohnnieMo]

On 15/40 oil....I found an oil at Wal-Mart actually that has some of the ratings on it they called for.
Delco 400 SDE - 15W-40 HD diesel engine oil, has CK-4/SN rating

I personally switched to the Mobile 1, Dexos 2 - 5w/30 synthetic in August of this year due to the PCM Service Advisory referenced above that came out in July of this year. My engine is the 6.0 tho. They did say the 5.7 is not included in the Service Advisory

What was the service advisory for?

I wish I could run a 5W40 or a 5W30. There are an assortment of high quality oils for half the price I'm paying for Royal Purple. AND it would work in other vehicles I have. I hate having to run a unicorn oil in each vehicle.