New Rotella Product?

[SacramentoMike]

Guess it's new anyway. I went for a gallon of the usual Rotella T I've been using and see only Rotella "T4." Did a little 'net search on my phone and it seemed like Shell just replaced the "T" product line with "T4," but to be careful I called the toll-free no. on the jug and they assured me it was an even replacement (though claiming the new stuff is better somehow, which it may be. I wouldn't know.)

But my bigger question was could I mix the new product with the one-quart cans I still have on the shelf for my next oil change. They said no problem.

You may well know this already, but I thought I'd put it out here. The final question is how long before it's consigned to "NEPRT?"

 

[harper]

Hey, Mike. Let me know if your clutch slips. I don't think the Rotella T4 has any friction modifiers.

I've had trouble finding Rotella T lately. Last week it was on sale at Advanced Auto Parts for $15 per gallon. I bought three. I wonder if they're closing it out. Home Depot and Walmart no longer stock it.

 

[puppychow]

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/4219278/Shell_Rotella_T4_15W40_and_T5_

 

[SacramentoMike]

Hey, Mike. Let me know if your clutch slips. I don't think the Rotella T4 has any friction modifiers.
I've had trouble finding Rotella T lately. Last week it was on sale at Advanced Auto Parts for $15 per gallon. I bought three. I wonder if they're closing it out. Home Depot and Walmart no longer stock it.

The word they used on the Shell tech line was "rebranded." I don't think they'll put out any more Rotella T, if I was hearing right.

Since I only bought this jug to replace the jug of "T"-type I used this weekend, I won't have a test to report on for a few thousand more miles.

 

[C&C]

I think they just made their naming fall in line with T-4, T-5, and T-6: dino, syn-blend and full syn.

 

[John d]

The important part is, is that it is still JASO MA rated.

 

[eflyguy]

It's still slippery when wet.. good to go!

 

[bergmen]

The important part is, is that it is still JASO MA rated.

This is most important to me. Also that it is about $13/gallon which is what I used to pay per quart of the Yamalube.

Dan

 

[mjlovstrom]

I switched to T6 and made a nice difference in the engine running a little quieter. I have 82000 miles on my 2004 ( ticker ), and the T6 actually quieted down the noise noticably. Didn't believe it would work, but did.

 

[rvnmaniac]

T6 works for me the last 3 years,,,

 

[DennisJ]

Haven't checked recently but I hope Rotella T-6 Synthetic is still available as that is all I have used for the last several years in my '09. Inexpensive compared to "Motorcyle" oils and Raven runs well and shifts nicely. I guess I will find out shortly as I need to change the oil and bleed the hydraulics before knee surgery in a couple of weeks.

 

[Bill Lumberg]

I may take the leap and move from yamalube. So many use the (now) T4 it can't be bad. Not that I'm paying that much per gallon for yamalube.

 

[RossKean]

I may take the leap and move from yamalube. So many use the (now) T4 it can't be bad. Not that I'm paying that much per gallon for yamalube.

I think I might call it more of a short sideways hop than a leap.

 

[Viper Pilot]

I've been using T6 exclusively since my bike was new. I swear by that product and buying it at Wally World it's very affordable.

 

[Powershouse]

I've been using T6 in all of my bikes for a number of years. Buy several gallons whenever I see a sale or rebate coupons. I still have enough in stock to get me through this year while you guys test T4.

 

[HotRodZilla]

Just bought 1.25 gallons of T4 at Walmart yesterday. I knew T4 wasn't right. So, it used to be T5. Cool. It'll do what I need.

 

[bigjohnsd]

$5 per gallon rebate on T6 currently.

 

[Viper Pilot]

GREAT! Thanks.

 

[OldernYZer]

As far as I know, Rotella was always clutch friendly. But the earlier Rotella products did have a fault that rendered them undesirable, at least to me and many other folks, mostly after sending out a used oil sample for analysis. The trouble was they couldn't take the shear created in the transmission, and they would fall out of their rated viscosity grade in a very short time.

This has to do with the way multi-grade oils are created. The oil starts with a base oil of the "winter", or W viscosity, and additives that improve the viscosity index are added. In other words, a 10w-40 starts with a 10 weight oil, then adds in a bulky, long chain polymer that expands when heated by unwinding from a spiral form. this keeps the oil from thinning out as much as it normally would, and allows the 10 weight base oil to be heated to 200 degrees Fahrenheit and still be as thick as an unmodified 40 weight.

The trouble is that the version of these additives that is intended for engine oils isn't tough enough to survive being a gear oil, so any unit sharing the engine oil with a gearbox would shred the additives almost right away, leaving you with something more like a 10w-25 instead of 10w-40.

The cure was to use the viscosity index improver additive made for gear oils, which were quite a bit more expensive in the past, and most engine oil blenders had no reason to upgrade for their target market. The new Rotella appears to have stepped up, based on oil tests run by people I've spoken to, and the oil will hold its grade much better now than it used to.