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I recently had my engines serviced at Jarrett Bay Marina in North Carolina. They have about 600 hours on them and the last owner was using Shell Rotella. When I went to pick up the boat I noticed they had used 15w40 Bel -Ray diesel oil. I have not ever heard of that brand and I am most familiar with Rotella Shell 15w40. Just curious if anyone is using this particular brand and if there any mechanics see a problem with that particular brand. They seem to be the only ones selling that particular brand it in my area. Would appreciate any thoughts.

http://www.belray.com/company-history

I have never heard of them, but a search turns up a history on them.

Looks like they got their start making lubricants for the food industry. Looks like they were or currently are a fairly big player in the food field.

I ran the Yanmars for 10 years and used nothing but Shell Rotella based on factory service recommendations.

Marine Diesel Engine Oil - 12 x 1L Bottle
Product ID : 99761-BT1
Price: $121.16

I just found the price on this stuff. 1 liter is $10. You have got to be kidding me. No wonder they used it.

When I was in high school I had bought a second hand 50cc CB Honda moto, together with another 2 friends...Each owned 33% !!!
When we were servicing it we always put Bel-Ray oil in it. It was considered the best oil for motorcycles. 4 stroke. I didnt know they also made diesel oil. But then again, why not.

When you go buy all those parts from Yanmar (filters, anodes, impellers etc) why not also buy their oil? Its cheap and its guaranteed by them. In 4 liter jugs.

I have always put the shell rotella
15 | 40 heavy duty in the 230 yanmars

Yannis

Shell Rotella, Valvoline Blue purchased by the gallon works out to about $4 to $5 a quart depending on where you buy it. Most diesel mechanics/dealers around my way will tell you stick with either Shell Rotella or Valvoline Blue. Cummins recommends Valvoline Blue and the only reason I use it over Shell is for the fact that I get it for $12 a gallon from a truck dealer near me.

The Diesel Mechanic I use is a Yanmar, Diesel, Cummins dealer and tells everyone to use either of the Valvoline or the Shell.

Tony,

I buy my 15W40 Yanmar branded oil in 5 liter containers for € 5.4 per liter.
I could also go to a fueling station and buy their brand, perhaps for less, but haven't tried it yet. Now that I know that Shell makes it, I might try it next time.
I'm done with my annual for this year, so this will have to wait until after the end of this coming season.

I have been running Rotella T6 5w40 synthetic in my diesels (non marine) with great results on the UOA. It makes a big difference on startup for my 2006 6.0 Ford in my F250 and stands up to all of the abuse those engines throw at it ( they are know for shearing 40 wt oil down to 30 wt because of the hydraulically fired injectors).

bel ray oil is what I always used in 2 stroke dirt bikes growing up and any 2 stroke outboards very good product
in my boats cummins I use the Valvoline only as its recommended by cummins
we use rotella on a regular basis at my shop for any diesel trucks I have a repo fleet of trucks that are on the road 24/7 and do 150k a year and no oiling issues ever

Thanks so much for everyone's reply. It appears most are using Rotella. My question would be would Rotella T (I assume is first generation) or Rotella 4 which appears to be the newer release (non synthetic). I can not imagine that it would make any difference. My engines were built it 2002. I agree that changing on a regular and frequent basis is more important than the brand as long as it is a high quality diesel oil. The Bel-Ray oil is about $35 a gallon and the Rotella is about $16 or half the price. I have also been in contact with a Yanmar marine dealer and he says he does not keep the Yanmar oil in stock and only orders it for new engines that are in warranty. He uses Rotella 4 for all of the Yanmars out of warranty. Thanks again for everyone's input.

T6 synthetic is about $22 a gallon at Walmart.

THESALTYSATO wrote:Thanks so much for everyone's reply. It appears most are using Rotella. My question would be would Rotella T (I assume is first generation) or Rotella 4 which appears to be the newer release (non synthetic). I can not imagine that it would make any difference. My engines were built it 2002. I agree that changing on a regular and frequent basis is more important than the brand as long as it is a high quality diesel oil. The Bel-Ray oil is about $35 a gallon and the Rotella is about $16 or half the price. I have also been in contact with a Yanmar marine dealer and he says he does not keep the Yanmar oil in stock and only orders it for new engines that are in warranty. He uses Rotella 4 for all of the Yanmars out of warranty. Thanks again for everyone's input.

I am not sure how it applies to marine engines, but several years ago there was a lawsuit with one of the major car manufacturers about oil brands. The dealer and Manufacturer would not warranty an engine issue due to the fact it was not their brand of oil. The manufacture lost in court, since the oil used met the same specs as the brand recommended by the manufacturer.

I would think Yanmar would have a tough time not honoring a warranty on oil if everything met spec.

But who wants to be the test case . . .

api service specs is what they would have to meet
I just looks at a jug of 15 40 napa brand and the cummins recommended Valvoline and both have the exact same api specs

1962 31 wrote:api service specs is what they would have to meet
I just looks at a jug of 15 40 napa brand and the cummins recommended Valvoline and both have the exact same api specs

Correct--api specification indicates what the oil is formulated to do, brand doesn't really matter. Yanmar doesn't make their own oil, they buy it.