Rotella in gas engines

During my time in the coal mineing industry I noticed all the mechanics in the field useing rotella in full size trucks and gas engines due to the fact the coal company’s would only buy rotella buy 55 gal drums during my work I noticed gm and ford trucks putting out a half a million miles on stock engines due to the fact that rotella is a high temp high velocity oil now they make a 10w 30 that I believe is ideal for older high mileage vehicles now am running it in a blazer 4.3 with a quater million miles with stock engine it’s best to use just give your vehicle 5 mins of warm up time in the winter before you raise the rpms rotella 12 dollars a gallon compared to 35 for mobile one you be the judge :slight_smile:

Tester

Rotella T4 is also commonly used in motorcycles. Unlike most automotive oil it won’t cause the wet clutch to slip.

I’ve run 3 motorcycles exclusively on automotive oils, mostly synthetic, and never, ever had any clutch slip that wasn’t instigated by me.

I’ve heard this old bikers tale just like I’ve heard you can’t use synthetics for the same reason.

I used Rotella T6 5w40 synthetic in the last bike before I sold it. It worked just fine.

And what do you have to actually prove that the clutch slips because of automotive oil ?
Me thinks that is not correct .

Changing from a thick oil i.e. 50W to a thinner weight can require adjusting the clutch on a Harley.

I’m sure if you use the correct grade Rotella your engine will last. Of course, it would have anyway with the correct grade ‘gas engine’ oil, with proper change intervals.

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The only proof that I have is that, of the three motorcycles I’ve owned, all three owner’s manuals and all three repair manuals warned that, if you use oil labeled with the “energy conserving” designation on the API logo in a motorcycle, it can make your clutch malfunction.

“Energy conserving” oil has friction modifiers in it that can make a motorcycle clutch slip. If your experience doesn’t reflect this being an issue, good for you.

If you want to use normal (made for a car engine) oil in a motorcycle, go for it, but I suggest you check the label to make sure you’re not using oil that has friction modifiers in it.

Not all motorcycles have wet clutches, BMW boxers for example. Friction modifiers used in most automotive oils do indeed cause wet clutches to slip. A little research will bare that out. As a motorcycle mechanic I’ve seen it many times.

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I have used almost nothing but Rotella T6 in my current motorcycle, a Kawasaki Ninja 300 which now has 55,000 miles on it. Absolutely no clutch slip problems.

If you read the label, you will see JASO-MA and JASO-MA2 on this oil.

JASO-MA is compatible with unit construction engine and transmission engines with a wet clutch.
JASO-MA2 is the same but also compatible with catalytic converters, which my Ninja 300 (still) has. I outgrew making my bike loud long ago.

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