Chevron Lubricants – maker of the Delo brand of engine oils, lubricants and coolants – announced Thursday, Feb. 10, that it recently conducted benchmark testing to determine how its premium conventional heavy-duty motor oil, Delo 400 LE SAE 15W-40, performed against other major oil companies’ semi-synthetics. Chevron says test results showed that Delo 400 LE with ISOSYN Technology was equal to, if not better than, leading semi-synthetics in industry-recognized tests in the areas of wear control, oxidation and deposit control.
Chevron says that in one test designed to look at soot-related wear protection, Delo 400 LE outperformed three of the four semi-synthetics tested – showing between 16-41 percent better wear protection in this test – while tests for oxidation and deposit control also showed good performance results of Delo 400 LE versus the four major oil companies’ semi-synthetic products.
Chevron says in recent over-the-road field tests using 12 Detroit Diesel 15 engines, Delo 400 LE 15W-40 with ISOSYN Technology was able to extend drains out to 70,000 miles for the customer without filter changes; in this testing, both wear protection and oxidation control were validated from the Delo bench tests. Chevron says that following the test, one of the DD15 engines was torn down, and inspection of the engine at 400,000 miles of service life indicated excellent engine durability – with low wear, low deposits and clean engine.
Chevron – which says the strong performance of Delo 400 LE 15W-40 is a result of its proprietary ISOSYN Technology that combines premium base oils with advanced additives – recommends customers continue to adhere to OEM specifications based on their situation. “We’re concerned that some fleets are unnecessarily purchasing semi-synthetic engine oils without understanding if there are any real benefits,” says Len Badal, Commercial Sector manager for Chevron Lubricants. “Customers may be very surprised at the answer.”
