CAT SAEO in Westerbeke?

dtfeld

dtfeld

Water Contrails
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Jun 5, 2016
5,553
Milton, GA
Boat Info
410 Sundancer
2001
12" Axiom and 9" Axiom+ MFD
Engines
Cat 3126 V-Drives
Last big job is to change oil and filters. PO was using CAT SAEO SAE 30. I'm going to continue that practice. Its not a whole lot more expensive. I have no idea what he as using in the Westerbeke 7.6BTD, but I'd like to only have to find keep and replenish one oil on board. Since the Engines are using the CAT SAEO, can I use that in the Westerbeke? Also, I'm in Atlanta and will boat almost year round. SAE 30 or 40?

Otherwise Rotella T1 would be my choice, but require 2 oils to be sourced and maintained. That would be a PITA!!

What are the rest of you doing?
 
I used Rotella 30 weight in my motors and Rotella 10/30 in the Generator. Walmart stocks the multi weight for the genny but rarely has the straight weight so I ordered it from Walmart.com in 1 gallon jugs for delivery to my local store and had it in a couple of days.
I think it was about $14.00 a gallon that way.
Although I use the Reverso pump to pull the old stuff out of the motors, I like to pour the fresh stuff in by hand.
I picked up a couple of reusable 10 gallon containers to pump the old stuff in to and use one for each motor.
I think they were about 10.00 or 15.00 each from a local place that sells them used. I think these were recycled pool chemical jugs. They look like little barrels and have screw on lids.
 
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Westerbeke is very specific…….SAE 30; not multi viscosity oil, . Rotella T1 or SAEO in SAE 30 are both ok, but the SAEO is expensive and you may have trouble sourcing it in GA. I boat in Florida but by my Caterpillar supplies in Nashville TN because I am by their store frequently and they have superb parts guys and excellent service. But, they do not stock SAEO and can only order it from Cat in pallet quantities, so I continue to use Rotella T1 SAE 40 in the boat and SAE 30 in the generator.
 
fwebster said:
Westerbeke is very specific…….SAE 30; not multi viscosity oil, . Rotella T1 or SAEO in SAE 30 are both ok, but the SAEO is expensive and you may have trouble sourcing it in GA. I boat in Florida but by my Caterpillar supplies in Nashville TN because I am by their store frequently and they have superb parts guys and excellent service. But, they do not stock SAEO and can only order it from Cat in pallet quantities, so I continue to use Rotella T1 SAE 40 in the boat and SAE 30 in the generator.
Click to expand...

I stopped by my local CAT dealer here in Atlanta a couple weeks ago and had a nice chat with the service tech. He claimed the SAEO was available in 1 gal and 5 gal buckets. I want to say he quoted me $120/5 gal bucket so $6 a qt. Rotella T1 is $5 delivered via amazon, and one of the guys got it from Walmart, for a little less. I bought the oil filters and several fuel filters, some After cooler anode o-rings and a few other misc items while there.

I sent him an email earlier today to get pricing and delivery, so I will report back what he comes up with. All things being equal, I think I'll just go with the CAT oil. The extra $50-$75 is going to be a rounding error on the boat budget this year. If its OK for the genny, so much the better.
 
Just checked Walmart and they have the Rotella T1 30 at $14.62 gallon and free delivery (not sure if home or to store).

Amazon is matching the price and has free delivery to the house! That might be intersting!

CAT dealer is a 2+ hour round trip through ATL traffic.

Maybe I'm not so brand conscious!
 
The primary reason Caterpillar offers SAEO is to prevent 3116 and 3126 owners from using a multiviscosity oil which contains viscosity improvers that allow it to change from 40 weight oil to 15 weight viscosity. The viscosity improvers can precipitate out of the crank case oil fumes and foul the aftercooler's air side with deposits. The synthetic SAEO contains no viscosity improvers so it will not cause aftercooler fouling......... but.... Rotella T1 SAE 30 or 40 does not contain them either and it will not foul aftercoolers.

This isn't just theory either. I just cleaned my aftercoolers.....1500 hours; first time they have been off the engines.....and they had normal oil deposits inside but no crusty build up. We just soaked them in solvent and didn't even have to vat them to get them clean. The rest of the story is that I use Rotella T in everything I own with diesel engines, so T1 SAE-40 is the only oil my engines have ever had in them. My oil samples come back every year marked "Samples are excellent; continue current maintenance schedule and products"
 
I'm with Frank on Rotella T-1. I had Wolverine Pad Heaters on my 3126 oil pans, so I used Rotella T-1 40wt year round. T-1 30wt in the Westerbeke...The Wolverines kept the oil temp about 95° year round. I don't think my bilge heater ever came on in the winters...
 
fwebster said:
Westerbeke is very specific…….SAE 30; not multi viscosity oil, . Rotella T1 or SAEO in SAE 30 are both ok, but the SAEO is expensive and you may have trouble sourcing it in GA. I boat in Florida but by my Caterpillar supplies in Nashville TN because I am by their store frequently and they have superb parts guys and excellent service. But, they do not stock SAEO and can only order it from Cat in pallet quantities, so I continue to use Rotella T1 SAE 40 in the boat and SAE 30 in the generator.
Click to expand...
Frank,
My genny was installed brand new in the boat by previous owner in April 2016. The manual I have for it says 30 weight, 10/30, or 15/40. I wasn't sure so I went with 10/30 since the outside temps around here can vary from high 30’s to low 90’s during a typical season.
Should I just go with straight 30 (same as the Cats get) next time?
A1A6A809-2933-4C25-B200-1E3EFC11DBAD.png
 
I use Rotella straight 30 for everything too.
 
My generator is original from all appearances.. The Operator manual calls for 15W-40.

Oil.PNG


However, the Technical Service manual allows for 30W, 10-30, or 15-40

oil1.PNG



I don't see any reason not to use Rotella T1 SAE 30 across the board, and for almost $100 less.
 
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JVM225 said:
Frank,
My genny was installed brand new in the boat by previous owner in April 2016. The manual I have for it says 30 weight, 10/30, or 15/40. I wasn't sure so I went with 10/30 since the outside temps around here can vary from high 30’s to low 90’s during a typical season.
Should I just go with straight 30 (same as the Cats get) next time?
View attachment 56234
Click to expand...


The page shown does show several oil viscosities. My generator is n 8BTD and it has the same table of specs, but thee spec sheet is applicable for about 6 different generators covered by the manual. The owners and operators manual for the 8kw generator also has a temperature table that shows SAE-30 as the proper oil for most ambient temperatures. You might look at the manual and see if there is a temperature table/graphic shown for your specific generator.

Typically, the issue with using multiviscosity 10W30 or 15W40 oils is that they do thin down at higher temperatures and, conversely, SAE 30 may be so thick at colder temperatures that the generator starting speed is to slow to allow prompt starting.

SAE 30 is a good choice in the southern states because of the high summer temps and we seldom go boating when the temperature is below freezing.
 
Thanks Frank! The beginning and end of our seasons can see some cold temps, but I think I might give the straight 30 a try in the genny next oil change anyway since we don’t spend a lot of time on the hook running the genny when it’s cold out.
If I need to run it while I’m running the boat in cold weather, the ambient temp in the bilge will probably be pretty warm with the motors throwing off heat.
 
Just noticed a sale @ Advanced Auto Parts Rotella 30w $13.99/ gallon. 15 gallons @ $230.00 out the door.
 
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