Chevron Delo 400LE

[skipcurt]

Delo is still one of the best oils I've used.
Valvoline Premium Blue is the Cummins house brand oil, and Cummins will extend the OCI an additional 5,000 miles under warranty in their vehicles with this oil.
That, and the UOA's I've done on it speaks volumes of how good it is.
And its always on sale around me.

Well? Which one is it of the pics attached above? Or is it something else?

 

[Walleye]

I'm thinkin he's sayin either. I cannot even begin to imagine what those poor bastards who invented the internal combustion engine were attempting to use for lubrication. If they had a proper lubricant many of them may not have thrown in the towel, just wonderin. The squirrels in my back yard come to my walnut tree every year, I bet if they new about that pecan tree a third of mile away they would go there. My little aussie/rat terrier has killed all the moles and rabbits, nothin left but squirrels and they keep scurryin up the tree, he'll figure em out. I've got enough T 6 to get me into the next season, thanks for the info Larry I will try one of those 2 then.

 

[Al st1100]

After almost a year of testing just about every oil on the market, the dust has settled and I've found THE one :bow1:
I've tried dino oil by Honda, yamaha, golden spectro, valvoline and castrol.
And HDEO or "Diesel oils" if you wish, from Rotella T, Valvoline Premium blue,
Mobil Delvac, and Delo 400.
I've tried synthetic from Mobil 1 4T, Rotella T6, Redline, Amsol etc.
I've sent too many samples to Blackstone Labs to count.
The Mobil 1 synthetic did well, as expected. It was just getting way too expensive, and I didn't like the rattle and noise or notchy shifting at 3K.
None of the service rated dino oils fared well, as expected. Most thinned down to about 10-15 to 10-20 by the time it reached 4K.
The HDEO's did very well with the exception of Delvac 1300, which surprised me. The Delvac oil made ALOT of unexplained clattering in the engine at idle, like the engine was laboring.
The Rotella T, did very well in the begining, but again, got notchy around 3K
The Valvoline Premium blue was Fantastic from the get go! The clutch grab was great.
Almost felt like a new bike. Shifting was smooth through the entire OCI, and came out still looking clean. Several lab reports said keep running the HDEO's. Base TBN ended up higher than the mobil 1.
As much as I want to like synthetic oil, I just can't justify the extra cost, nor accept the rattle and notchy shifting that comes with it on this bike.
The Winner, my old standby! Chevron Delo 400LE. Now I know several of you that read all the stuff at Bob's the oil guy, will start crying about Moly!, but while the old formula was probably better than the LE version, this LE version smoked just about every other oil I tested, with the exception of the Valvoline Premium blue, up to and including several synthetics. It didn't "beat" Amsoil or Mobil one, but it did Match Mobil one, almost to the letter, and ended up with a higher TBN when drained. It not only stood toe to toe with the very expensive synthetics, but beat some of them as well.
I used to use the Delo 400 in all my bikes for years before they changed the formula. For some unknown reason, I made the mistake of never trying the new formual. My bad.
Next time you do an oil change, give this stuff a try, you may never go back to whatever you were using before.
Just sharing.
IGOFAR

Update: I just came back from a 371 mile ride through the mountains. The bike has never shifted Soooooo Smoooooth before! The Valvoline was close, but this delo is the cats meow !

http://www.pqiamerica.com/June 2014/chevrondelo1510.htm It only has a bit of molly... numbers are low . I was reading somewhere that calcium or magnesium was causing pre ignition in some the the newer engines, how much it didn't say . I just finished 4k trip with 15/40 rotella and have not had any issues but next oil change I will surely try your recommendation...

 

[bstig60]

After almost a year of testing just about every oil on the market, the dust has settled and I've found THE one :bow1:
I've tried dino oil by Honda, yamaha, golden spectro, valvoline and castrol.
And HDEO or "Diesel oils" if you wish, from Rotella T, Valvoline Premium blue,
Mobil Delvac, and Delo 400.
I've tried synthetic from Mobil 1 4T, Rotella T6, Redline, Amsol etc.
I've sent too many samples to Blackstone Labs to count.
The Mobil 1 synthetic did well, as expected. It was just getting way too expensive, and I didn't like the rattle and noise or notchy shifting at 3K.
None of the service rated dino oils fared well, as expected. Most thinned down to about 10-15 to 10-20 by the time it reached 4K.
The HDEO's did very well with the exception of Delvac 1300, which surprised me. The Delvac oil made ALOT of unexplained clattering in the engine at idle, like the engine was laboring.
The Rotella T, did very well in the begining, but again, got notchy around 3K
The Valvoline Premium blue was Fantastic from the get go! The clutch grab was great.
Almost felt like a new bike. Shifting was smooth through the entire OCI, and came out still looking clean. Several lab reports said keep running the HDEO's. Base TBN ended up higher than the mobil 1.
As much as I want to like synthetic oil, I just can't justify the extra cost, nor accept the rattle and notchy shifting that comes with it on this bike.
The Winner, my old standby! Chevron Delo 400LE. Now I know several of you that read all the stuff at Bob's the oil guy, will start crying about Moly!, but while the old formula was probably better than the LE version, this LE version smoked just about every other oil I tested, with the exception of the Valvoline Premium blue, up to and including several synthetics. It didn't "beat" Amsoil or Mobil one, but it did Match Mobil one, almost to the letter, and ended up with a higher TBN when drained. It not only stood toe to toe with the very expensive synthetics, but beat some of them as well.
I used to use the Delo 400 in all my bikes for years before they changed the formula. For some unknown reason, I made the mistake of never trying the new formual. My bad.
Next time you do an oil change, give this stuff a try, you may never go back to whatever you were using before.
Just sharing.
IGOFAR

Update: I just came back from a 371 mile ride through the mountains. The bike has never shifted Soooooo Smoooooth before! The Valvoline was close, but this delo is the cats meow !

How many miles before you change it? I used to run Delo in my old Dodge PU. Currently I am running T4 in the ST and Mobile 1 in the Goldwing. I change both about every 5000 miles or so.

 

[Igofar]

Both your pictures are correct.
How's the bike doing?

Well? Which one is it of the pics attached above? Or is it something else?

 

[skipcurt]

Both your pictures are correct.
How's the bike doing?

Great! Put new front/rear suspension on in August and just flipped over the 100k mark while up in Vermont in September.

 

[beemerphile]

Great! Put new front/rear suspension on in August and just flipped over the 100k mark while up in Vermont in September.

When are you bringing it to beemerville for a new CT?

 

[BakerBoy]

 

[Pete in PA]

SQUIRREL!

 

[Igofar]

Speaking of squirrels, whatever happened to squirrel hunter? I have not seen or heard from him in over a year.

 

[skipcurt]

When are you bringing it to beemerville for a new CT?

Not sure Lee but it won't be too much longer especially for the front. Both of these have 29,845 miles and 3 years on them. Not bad huh?

Skip

 

[Pete in PA]

Glad to hear the new stuff is still good. Like to have options.

I don't like paying extra for "MC" oil when by all probability it's a worse oil than other cheaper oils out there.

 

[ToyFan1]

but, but , but are these oils approved for a wet clutch application?????

 

[SupraSabre]

but, but , but are these oils approved for a wet clutch application?????

And just who are you looking for to approve these? They are approved by us, what more do you need?

 

[ToyFan1]

Im finna change my oil to the Delo stuff but all I'm finding is the 400 SDE. is there much of a difference over the 400LE?

 

[T_C]

Im finna change my oil to the Delo stuff but all I'm finding is the 400 SDE. is there much of a difference over the 400LE?

SDE is newer version, meeting latest specs. Delo 400 SDE is API CK-4, LE is CJ-4.

Reportedly "newer oil formulations have reduced the ZDDP Zinc and Phosphorus content that are anti-ware additive to lubricate parts better. "

No confirmation.

 

[ToyFan1]

SDE is newer version, meeting latest specs. Delo 400 SDE is API CK-4, LE is CJ-4.

Reportedly "newer oil formulations have reduced the ZDDP Zinc and Phosphorus content that are anti-ware additive to lubricate parts better. "

No confirmation.

IS THAT A GOOD OR BAD THING?

 

[STinAZ]

But the ck oils have more boron, which is what they are turning to instead of zinc and phosphorus. Is it better, idk.

 

[beemerphile]

This is where you diesel oil aficionados are making it difficult on yourselves. The diesel oil add pack, which constitutes up to a third of the product, is designed to solve problems inherent in diesel engines. As the diesel engine fuels change and emission and efficiency technologies become more sophisticated, they adapt the add pack to address the new challenges. Sometimes as in the case with the CK-4 rating, they claim backward compatibility. Other times, as with the FA-4 rating, they do not. Even when the do claim backward compatibility, unless it also carries an "S" rating, they are not testing it on gasoline engines. The Delo 400 SDE is CK-4 and SN rated, so chances are it will work so long as an SN oil will work. When Honda said the ST could use "SG or later" oils, were they able to see into the future regarding what characteristics an SN rated oil might have? I think probably not.

So, it is a total crap shoot as to whether what has so far been is what will always be, or said differently, whether the past will continue to predict the future. Yes, it has worked in the past - very well it seems. It may work in the future. You can make all this anxiety and/or uncertainty go away by making the boring choice of using an oil designed for gasoline engines where the add pack is optimized for and tested on your engine and not something totally different. And if you want to be REALLY REALLY STUPID boring, you can use one designed for gasoline MOTORCYCLE engines.

But how much fun is that?

 

[Al st1100]

What is the record for the longest running oil thread??? Ya think Joe can figure that one out ?? Oil thread of the decade award