"Ahhhh yous don't havta to
"Ahhhh yous don't havta to call me mista!
Hi Mathieu,
Well it seems you did not like my suggestion of an oil heater, eh? But, I have to tell you, there is no magic bullet to solve your problem. Although I currently reside in the State of California, My roots and birthplace are in Texas. Back home we have a couple of sayings that we use when we encounter a situation where someone is overreaching or trying to get something unreasonable out of a given resource. Perhaps you've heard of the old saw "trying to squeeze blood out of a turnip"? But, my all time favorite is; "tryin' to cut a fat hog in the ass". Now that has a real Texican ring to it! Go Longhorns!
Yes, that hog has a fat ass! And you would think he should be ok just missin' a few slices. But, there ain't no free ham! That's my own SoCal transplant saying :~)
While it is true that Detroit Diesel has approved some multi-vis oil for use in their ON HIGHWAY 2 stroke diesel engines, including the 53 series, there are many stipulations as to the technical suitability of the oil it'self and to the conditions in which it is utilized. I'll quote from a document printed by DDC entitled:
DDC-SVC-BRO-0001 (revised 10-09)
"Must posess a high temerature/high shear viscosity of 3.7cP as measured using ASTM D 4741
1.0% ash MAX per ASTM D 2896
7.0 TBN as per ASTM 2896
700ppm Zinc per ASTM D 5185
AND, must meet MIL-PRF-2104 H (U.S. military)"
The problem is, while they tell you to "go ahead on" (another Texan idiom
) and use the oil if it meets all these standards, they say in the same document to change it out as soon as "ambient temperatures permit". Well sir, the ambient temperature surrounding a running diesel engine soon goes from sub-zero to tropical as the fuel is burned. Based on all of this "gobbledygook" (Canadian saying maybe?
) what do you do? I know what I would do, I'd install a sump heater and run single vis 40 wt! But, I see that you may be a TAD resistent to my remedy so that is something you will decide. You may read all this by going to
www.ddcsn.com. I can offer nothing on the specs for the ESSO oil.
You are currently in the process of what I call "empirical testing" of what will and what won't work for your application. You wanted to know what a "good" oil pressure is for your 53. I can tell you that 5psi is not good. I'm positive that bearing to shaft contact is taking place, at idle, in your engine, each time the OP falls below 10 psi. Each time there is a firing pulse, the upper rod bearing and lower main bearing are surely making shaft contact and only failure analysis would tell how badly the cam bearings are being starved for oil. Your high of 40psi at 2600rpm...(governed no load I hope because that seems unneccessarily high to me)...I would say is acceptable but I believe 50 psi is optimum. Yes, 15-20psi @ 600rpm and 50psi @ 2150rpm is optimum.
Bottom line Mathieu? You may "empirically" prove me wrong but it is my opinion that if you don't bring that idle oil pressure up above 10psi, by whatever means, expect a shorter engine life span.
Then again, opinions are like asses...everybody's got one...including the hogs! Go Longhorns!"
