Rotella t6 alternatives

[Jetta SS]

So oil change time is coming up. I've been trying to find Rotella 5w40 that I've always used and it's been out of stock for a month. I've been regularly checking quite a few stores - wal-mart, tractor supply, and auto parts stores. The guy at Advance auto showed me some Fram 5w40 diesel oil they had in stock. Would this suffice?

 

[Abacus]

Does it have a diesel rating?

 

[CleverUserName]

T6 is available at some of the Home Depot stores around me, saw it recently actually.

Delvac ESP 5w40 is usually at TSC in 2.5 gallons jugs for $55 and also at NAPA. I’d use that before T6 or the Fram mystery oil.

 

[Tdijarhead]

I just bought a 5 gallon pail of Rotella T6 5-40 from Napa on line and had it delivered to my local Napa store where I picked it up.

 

[Jetta SS]

Does it have a diesel rating?

Apparently it's only sold at Advance Auto Parts.

Service Category:
API: CK-4, CJ-4, CI-4 Plus, CI-4, CH-4 SN, SM, SL, SJ

Has the same api rating as the Rotella T6 anyway, but not finding any other documentation.

 

[TDeanI]

Rotella T6 has been unobtanium around here for over a month and absent on Amazon. You can walk into the local Walmart stores or Autozones here and they have almost no diesel engine oil, except the low grade stuff. IDK why synthetic diesel oil is in shortage around here. It's bad enough I have to pay $5.30 per gallon for diesel.

I will check out Home Depot.

 

[oilhammer]

We've never had an issue getting Pentosin HP2, while we buy it in a 210 liter drum, it is also available in 1, 5, and sometimes 20L jugs. I do have to make sure and order ahead for the big drums now, never used to have to do that. But we service quite a few Sprinters here, so we go through it pretty quickly.

 

[garciapiano]

Delvac appears to still be obtainable at many outlets. Perfectly good diesel oil.

 

[denismccar]

There is a large supply chain shortage in the industry of critical additives needed for Diesel Engine Lubricants: It's been going on for months and getting worse and where supply and demand are imbalanced, prices will change and in this case up very substantially over last two years. I work for a lubricant company (admin role) and we've stopped taking new customers for diesel engine oil to preserve supply for existing customers. We also promote and encourage in service oil analysis to safely extend extend drain intervals for customers (primarily Farming/Trucking Users). I'm told retailers are on the hunt to secure supply anywhere they can of anything they can get their hands on. Hopefully this additive supply chain problem sorts itself out soon.

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[tdidieselbobny]

I saw 3 gallons of the 5w-40 T6 on the shelf for first time in months at a certain store yesterday, shoulda grabbed it. Just over $23/gallon...

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

I've been using Total Quartz Energy 9000 in my ALH since it was 2 or 3 years old. Still readily available. We haven't seen T6 since the fall, and haven't been able to get Mobil 1 ESP 5w30 (another popular oil for Mercedes diesels) since August.

I'm grateful that the additive shortage has had less impact on oils refined and packaged in Europe. We've got a 40 ft container of Rowe oil on the water now. Without that we'd be struggling to fill orders.

I spoke to our Mobil distributor today. He said he doesn't see an end to the shortage anytime soon.

 

[turbocharged798]

Problem is I like the heavy zinc packages that our american CJ4/CK4 truck oils give us.

Technically you can buy T6 from amazon but you are paying $50 a gallon.

https://www.amazon.com/Shell-Rotella-Synthetic-Diesel-1-Gallon/dp/B01LG3Q6LQ/ref=pd_di_sccai_cn_sccl_2/141-6027796-2975204?pd_rd_w=0ayR5&pf_rd_p=1ed8df3a-0df8-4988-98b9-252e4c99c568&pf_rd_r=9S1JVRMN90BZGVT3BHW5&pd_rd_r=34bcf5b8-d426-4e6a-abe5-8d55c73132d6&pd_rd_wg=dNUr5&pd_rd_i=B01LG3Q6LQ&psc=1

Shows how desperate people are for this stuff.

 

[Drewser]

I just did the last T6 oil change on our Excursion. Bought 4 gallons back in December to get ready for it and then my son put a hole in one from the spark of his welder. Saved most of it but needed to find another gallon and went to every parts store in the area last week with no luck. Was ready to just top off with another 5W-40 full syn when my son stumbled across a pallet at Car Quest. Will be using something different going forward. Use Mobile 1 TDT for the TDI's.

Edit: posted wrong mobile 1 that I use

 

[FluffySmooth]

I have ran t4 in my Jetta since I got it, no problems with it. Although, T4 has been super difficult to get too...

 

[Drewser]

My son runs T4 in his 6.0 F350, no issues. A 5 gallon bucket just arrived at our house yesterday, though not sure what he paid. Do others run T4 in their TDI's?

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

When TDIs were launched in '96 VW didn't specify synthetic oil. However, they soon discovered that, because of the proximity of the pistons to the combustion event (different from pre-chamber diesels) they were experiencing coking and jamming of the piston rings, leading to oil consumption. So they switch the spec to synthetic.

Why people don't run the correct oil in these cars has always mystified me.

 

[oilhammer]

Technically they don't specify "synthetic".... it even says so on the stickers. It says the oil must expressly comply to 50X.XX, and that "most" are "synthetic", but I've never known any 502.00, 505.00, 505.01, 508.00, 509.00, etc. that wasn't labeled as synthetic but evidently there are some sold in Europe that are.

I think people hold too much stock in that word.... and the whole Mobil v. BP/Castrol deal some years back probably is why.

Now we deal with the same issue with essentially every other brand. When a Honda Accord requires the ILSAC spec xxx at 0W20, people will ask "is that synthetic?" and I've just about worn my eye muscles out rolling them.

In the USA, any oil that says:

ANY VAG spec

ANY MB spec

ANY BMW spec

ANY Dexos

ANY ChryCo MS126-33

Or is any of the following weights:

0w16

0w20

0w30

0w40

5w40

5w50

10w60

... will ALL have the word "synthetic" on the bottle.

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

I was using synthetic generically, contrasting it with T4 which is, in some ways, other than synthetic. To clarify, ALHs should run on oil that has the VW 505.00 certification. T4 certainly does not, and I don't think T6 does, either. My point: run the oil that's correct for your engine. Simple enough.

 

[oilhammer]

Yeah, I agree. It is pretty simple... but lots of people do a lot of hand-wringing over it.

 

[hey_allen]

For lack of availability of more appropriate oils, I was looking to see what I could find locally when my last oil change came due.
I ended up getting some STP "euro" 5W-40 synthetic oil that was ACEA A3/B4 from Autozone.
Looking around online, I found a discussion thread on BobIsTheOilGuy about it, and an inquiry to STP got a list of certifications that included "Meets Requirements VW 501 01 / 502 00 / 505 00". Relevant replies here and here.

 

[tdidieselbobny]

I saw 6 gallons of T6 5W-40 on shelf at walmart yesterday morning . Walked around a little and by time I went back it was already gone.... they seem to have the traditional T4 15w-40 all the time.

 

[TDeanI]

I need to be more vigilant looking. Whenever T6 hits the shelves now, it will be instantly gone. They need to put a limit of like 2 per customer.

The nice thing about Rotella T6 is it is about the only full synthetic oil that you can use in your motorcycle. In a motorcycle the clutch is a multi-disc wet type and is bathed in the engine motor oil. Other full synthetic oils will make the clutch slip. My bike ('98) is old enough to be flat tappet with an aggressive cam profile and needs the added protection of synthetic now that they removed most of the zinc in motor oils.

 

[TDeanI]

I found two gallons of Rotella T6 at Walmart yesterday and bought them.

 

[thechoochlyman]

I've been running Schaeffer's 9000 series in my car for a while now. It's great full-synthetic oil if you can find it. My Uncle owns a large farm and is a dealer.

 

[chrisgt]

I buy my oil/oversized filter from idparts. Honestly, their oil change kit with total energy 9000 is cheaper than buying an oil/filter at a parts store by a significant amount. They didn't pay me to say this, but I've spent more money than i want to admit at that place and i've had a really good experience.

 

[jmhinkle]

T6 is all gone near me in Portland. The Pennzoil Platinum Euro 0w40 is rated for the VW spec and is on sale at Walmart for $25 for the 5qrt jug. They have a rebate where you can buy 2 jugs and get $25 back or buy 4 and get $50 back. Buy one get one free essentially after rebate. I use that oil in several different cars so I stock up everytime there is a rebate.

 

[Truckeratlarge]

I agree with Chrisgt on idparts. Also autohaus az has plenty to choose from. I had better start buying more and storing in basement as my truck takes 9 gallons every month or 15,000m (whichever i have time for). But it doesn't get to taste synthetic.

 

[Steve Addy]

There's no T6 in Des Moines either. I found that out at the middle of the covids that oils were vanishing fast.

It was at that time I switched all to Mobil 1 FS European Car formula in the 12 quart box. The oil is actually in a bag inside the box and has a spigot. It's also cheaper than T6 or at least it was last I checked, but even that has now gone missing from the Walmart shelves here too.

I switched to the 0W40 weight but there's also a 5w40 too if you feel like you want that. I did the change in response to the MB E320 CDI that needed an oil change, and I noticed that the Mobil 1 satisfies VW requirements too, so given the missing T6 and the still available 12 quart boxes of Mobil 1 I bought the last 6 12 quart boxes of oil in the metro area.

After that it went missing from the shelves too in the large box size...jugs probably were still available in some locations though.

After Walmart got it back (sort of) earlier this year, the price went up to $60 on it. Now it seems like stores aren't getting it again, but if you can find it that's just $20 a gallon, better than the last T6 price I saw by at least $2.

The Mobil 1 is an option though if you can't find T6

Steve

 

[garciapiano]

Are you talking about the Mobil 1 European Vehicle formulation?

 

[CleverUserName]

If anyone has a Phillips 66 distributor in their area you may be able to get Guardol XT (Triton) 5w40 from them. It is good and has some Group IV PAO base oil in the formula which you don’t see anymore from Shell or Mobil.

Not sure what it goes for now but I got a couple cases in early 2020 for around $20 a gallon from my local distributor.

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