Welcome to Carver Yachts Owners Forum
We are a boating forum for owners of Carver Yachts to enthusiastically discuss all aspects of Carver Boat ownership. Whether you are looking for your first Carver or currently own one, you are sure to feel at home on CarverYachtOwners.com
You are currently viewing our board as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions, articles and access our other FREE features. By joining our free community you will have access to searching the forum topics, post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload your own photos and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today!
Rotella?
- edw
- Scurvy Dog
- Posts: 31
- Joined: September 20th, 2020, 1:53 am
- Vessel Info: 1983 3607
- Has thanked: 2 times
- Been thanked: 4 times
Rotella?
Ed
- pepmyster
- Admiral
- Posts: 961
- Joined: June 5th, 2018, 7:17 am
- Vessel Info: 2004 Carver 360 Sport Sedan
8.1 Volvo Penta
Fresh water boating - Location: Ottawa
- Has thanked: 433 times
- Been thanked: 187 times
Re: Rotella?
- SunsetSteve
- First Mate
- Posts: 114
- Joined: July 31st, 2016, 12:12 pm
- Vessel Info: 83 Carver Riviera 28
76 Albin 25 (outgoing) - Location: Gananoque
- Has thanked: 30 times
- Been thanked: 19 times
Re: Rotella?
[urhttps://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1986-11-05-8603080352-story.html][/url]
Many disagree with this, based on experience. It is difficult to get a definitive answer.
- bud37
- Admiral
- Posts: 4676
- Joined: April 23rd, 2015, 10:22 pm
- Has thanked: 547 times
- Been thanked: 1142 times
Re: Rotella?
edw wrote:Source of the post Elsewhere on the forum is a topic on oil, where, as I read it, some are advocating Rotella, an oil formulated for diesel engines, for their gassies. Why? What are the advantages of this over 'normal' oils?
Ed
There is a forum called BITOG ( bob is the oil guy ), there is endless amounts of lubrication info from oils to greases etc.....mucho reading..
Anyway for me this oil thing comes down to the type of engine you have, basically if it is a flat tappet cam build. Years ago, many years ago the oil I used for the boat and racing was Sae 40 kendall gt1...the green oil. It had the right additives to keep the cam from wiping. Due to environmental concerns the additive packages in oils began reducing the wear reducing zinc etc....this caused some problems. The quick fix at the time was racing oil ( read expensive ) or the diesel oils which were rated for gasoline engines at the time and had the package still there in the right numbers to protect the cams, especially if you had any kind of higher pressure springs.
So just a little history from my perspective, there is a lot more but I won't bore you with all that.....older engines like yours are my guess not roller cams so some protection will be still needed although not much as the cam will have been marinated over the years so to speak..
Diesel oils like rotella and mobil are fairly cheap and offer good protection....I mean once a year oil change for twins will be in the area of 12 to 14 US quarts total, maybe more if you run up the hours. So you can decide what your comfort zone is, but I still recommend bitog if you are interested in all the ins and outs of all the current day oils etc.
The newer roller cam engines don't need this level of protection IMO....just use what the engine maker recommends and all will be fine.
-
- CYO Supporter
- Posts: 5799
- Joined: July 10th, 2015, 9:58 pm
- Vessel Info: 1989 Carver 3807 Aft Cabin
- Location: Ontario, Canada
- Has thanked: 431 times
- Been thanked: 1586 times
Re: Rotella?
It's agreed that higher zinc content is desirable for break-in periods, racing applications, and older builds with flat tappet lifters, but the amount of zinc in the blend is critical for each application. There is a fine line, too much is not good. Not all zinc blends are the same either. The zinc blend used for diesel oils differs from that of automotive and marine because of combustion chamber pressures. The difference is the zinc blend burn rate which is not the same for diesel vs others and is a concern when using a diesel blend in a gasoline application.
Other additives in an oil blend also make a huge difference in an oil's performance. These also need to be taken into consideration when using diesel blends in a gasser as the two have different requirements. The blend and level of detergents for example differs, but detergents wash zinc away so there must be a happy balance. The diesel blend balance works fine in a diesel engine but is not in balance when used in a gasoline application, especially a marine one.
There was so much more but this is what really stood out to me. I also read a very interesting and informative paper on-line, just wish I kept it, can't seem to locate it now. Look, in the end, each is going to use what has worked for them over the years but that's not always the best thing to do as there may be things going on that we're not aware of hence the old saying "it's what you don't know that will come back to haunt you." Still, you have to be comfortable with your decision. There's too many factors/variables at play, so you may get through decades and engines with no ill effects of using diesel oil in a gasser, or you may not. For me, what I've learned was enough to reevaluate my thinking.
- SunsetSteve
- First Mate
- Posts: 114
- Joined: July 31st, 2016, 12:12 pm
- Vessel Info: 83 Carver Riviera 28
76 Albin 25 (outgoing) - Location: Gananoque
- Has thanked: 30 times
- Been thanked: 19 times
Re: Rotella?
- mjk1040
- Admiral
- Posts: 1506
- Joined: July 30th, 2015, 8:15 am
- Vessel Info: 1998 355 AC/MY "Deja Vu"
- Location: Savannah, NY
- Has thanked: 9 times
- Been thanked: 236 times
Re: Rotella?
I'd Rather Be Boating!
1989 Sea Ray Seville
1986 Carver Mariner 32'
1990's Thompson 22' Cuddy Cabin
1990's 4Winns 245 Vista Cruiser
1980's Thompson 19' Open Bow
- km1125
- Admiral
- Posts: 3338
- Joined: February 28th, 2017, 6:04 pm
- Has thanked: 56 times
- Been thanked: 965 times
Re: Rotella?
Return to “General Repairs & Maintenance”
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 109 guests