Rotella T6

So what's the deal with Rotella T6? It's the cheapest real synthetic out there. I know it's designed for diesel engines but has plenty of proponents for gas engines as well; others say it's liquid poison. The first half say the extra zinc and phosphors are great for internal wear. The second half say that it will kill the cats and 02 sensors if the car burns any oil at all.

I imagine the truth is somewhere in between. So what says the GRM hive?

I like the rotella products, i used the t6 in both turbo cars i owned with no issues. I run regular 15w40 in the wagon for the zinc after having issues with a zinc additive in conventional oil. Id use t6 but cork gaskets dont like synthetic.

I run T6 in a number of motorcycle engines, as well as the 22re in my truck and the m42 in the BMW, and a number of engines in the past. Have never had an issue with it, and plan to run it in my RX7 so I'll let you know if there's any truth to that "burning it clogs everything" statement.

I used it in my Miata and my Maxima, shut up both engines and when we pulled the valve covers no noticeable signs of wear. Never had an o2 sensor trip with it and both cars burned a little oil (3/4 qt between changes)

Stuff is almost magic.

What you say is true. A true "oil burner" will poison the cats but even a "light" burner will over time reduce the effectiveness of the cats and increase the nasty parts of an engines exhaust. For older engines the Rotella is a good oil to use and you don't have to use any "break in" oil additives. I use it in my 1988 Ford van which burns no oil and has old style lifters and I've used it in my IT race car but with additives since it has no cats.

I use T6 in everything but the 850 and TDI. The 850 gets Mobil 1 High Mileage, and the TDI gets 507.00 spec Mobil 1 ESP. Everything else, both Jeeps, all small engines, lawn equipment, etc. get T6. No complaints with any of it.

I'd like to know what the current formulation of T6 is before really getting into this. Last I heard Shell was reducing the amount of ZDDP and other additives in their oils but I couldn't find (in five minutes of searching) a real analysis of brand new T6 in 2015 anywhere online.

EDIT: My personal experience is using it in my Honda VFR motorcycle. Over 50k miles and no problems with the cat or O2 sensors there. Note that I mix 2.33 quarts of T6 with 1 quart of Kawasaki 20w50 conventional (also made by Shell) so the overall additive package is slightly different.

I run it in all my motorcycles and small engines. I have friends that swear by the stuff and have had zero trouble with it over many years.

My research on Bob Is The Oil Guy has seemed to indicate that the Rotella additive package is awesome for older engines and FI cars, but for modern engines it is best to just use the OE recommendation.

Rotella T6 was awesome oil in my turbo Saabs and turbo Volvos without a doubt. Good for the valve train and turbo seals, my 740 turbo in particular noticeably consumed and burned less oil after going to T6. In my '13 Fit daily I just use the the spec'd 0W-20 but I wouldn't hesitate to use the T6 when I pick up another older project.

I run the 5w-40 version in my turbo Mazdaspeed6 since its a common smokey turbo fix among the 2.3L MZR crowd. Never had any issues in 2+ years, no smoke or oil burning either. I also run it in my older 100k+ Subaru motors.

I can't speak for T6 but I've rebuilt 60 Series Detroit engines that have been run exclusively on Rotella conventional 15w40 and some that were run exclusively on Mobil Delvac and I would use Rotella 10 times out of 10.

Much less wear on and sludge in the Rotella engines at the 700,000 mile preventive rebuild. The engines could have gone quite a bit longer but the boss wisely played it conservative with the rebuild intervals.

What are we considering "older"? Pre-2000? Or is it "older" as in mileage? I know it's great for diesels, but I don't have any. I do run it in the Manic Miata (1996, 110k, supercharged), DD#1's 120,000-mile 2002 Impreza, and DD#2's 150,000 mile 1997 Celica. But I'm wondering about the "newer" fleet - 2003 325i, 2004 TSX, 2012 T&C.

Tanks for everybody's input so far.

I ran it last year, as fellow autocrossers told me it would stop the E36 tick. It didn't. This year I used Castrol Edge 5W40 instead (it was on sale), and it did stop the tick. For what that's worth.

fornetti14 wrote: I run the 5w-40 version in my turbo Mazdaspeed6 since its a common smokey turbo fix among the 2.3L MZR crowd. Never had any issues in 2+ years, no smoke or oil burning either. I also run it in my older 100k+ Subaru motors.

I ran the same in my Mazdaspeed6 for its entire 95,000 mile life with me, and never had any smoking or consumption issues. I had a mild (Hypertech) tune, intake, and exhaust. It seems to be the best option for the 2.3 turbo MZR engines.

I also ran it in my 996, the wife's CX7 (same block head as the Speed6, smaller turbo), BMW X3, and GMC Acadia. When it's time to change the oil in my new to me Golf R, I'll be using T6 in it as well.

The leftover from my oil changes goes into the lawnmower and power washer.

I may be a Rotella fanboy...

The interwebs told me, about 2-3 years ago, that T6 is the best stuff for turbo Subarus with the "dreaded banjo-bolt issue." Mine is a 2006 Outback XT and I change it twice a year (because I don't drive enough to make it to 3,750 miles in six months). No issues so far, but I've only added 18K to the 105,000 miles on it.

I'm usually able to find T6 at Walmart for a good price.

I ran T6 in my E36 BMW for many years with no problems. I also use it in all my motorcycles, which have included a Suzuki sportbike, a Honda cruiser and my current Ducati. And of course I use it in my Powerstroke Excursion (which is what it was really designed for).

I've been running T6 and the blend for years on my Rx-8, Miata and my wife's Mazda 3. I know that her 3 had at least 100k of miles on it and haven't had any issues. I'm a fanboi.

I'm still thoroughly convinced that if you can tell me the brand of oil you used, you'll never have an oil-related failure, though :)

At what point does the plural of anecdote become data?

my Mom's '12 Fit (only 7700 mi) is due for it's second oil change (oil life meter at 45%) … still undecided on what to us .. Rotella has always been on the horizon) if I were to go to it for Mom, what grade ? one more yr of warranty on the car

wbjones wrote: my Mom's '12 Fit (only 7700 mi) is due for it's second oil change (oil life meter at 45%) … still undecided on what to us .. Rotella has always been on the horizon) if I were to go to it for Mom, what grade ? one more yr of warranty on the car

The general consensus on the newer Fits is that anything over 20W on the hot side is way too thick for the L15 engine (Rotella T6 is only made in 5W-40). Stick with the stock-spec 0W-20.

Use it in my Duramax, which consumes no oil at 200k miles. I love the fact that you can get great oil for a fraction of the per quart price, just because diesel people buy 10 gallons at a time. If you catch it on sale, you can get a gallon for the price of a quart of Mobil 1. That said, I don't use it in my new Mazda (0w20..basically water) or the E46 because its not offered in the specified weight/viscosity. 5w40 would work in the E46 and I might try it some time. They revised the spec to '0w40 or 5w40 LL-04' for the 330i at some point.

We run Rotella in our LeMons cars, which obviously get abused for many long hours on end. Seems to work great for us.

In reply to Klayfish:

Yeah, but no cats, I assume. I love the internal lubrication advantages, but I'm worried about long-term issues with the emissions systems. I keep my cars a l-o-n-g time.

In reply to Duke:

I'm willing to bet the "Rotella kills cats" claims are all hypothetical and sourced from a bunch of armchair chemistry experts, as opposed to any actual known failures. IMO, the oil's biggest flaw is that it's only available in one damn viscosity.

Popular oil with the Corvair types. Zinc good.

it's a favorite in the older TDI crowd.

I ran it in my '99.5 "ALH" TDI car for almost 300K miles. No issues. 10K intervals.

The new car ('11 TDI Golf) requires the 507 oil because of the dpf and emissions systems, so unless those get removed later I'll stick with the factory spec on that for now.