I've been using Delo 400 15W-40 in my sport quads for several
years. Are there any negative comments on using it in my
King Quad when it's time to change oil.

 

Is this a motorcycle oil, or car oil? You are best off with a mororcycle specific oil that is API SG/JASO MA, and here is why:

http://www.thumperfaq.com/oil.htm

I am a biochemist by profession, and have done a lot of study on the chemistry of oils. By far the finest oils are the Ester Synthetics. They are a little more expensive, but you paid a lot for your machines, so why not give them the best protection available??? MAXIMA EXTRA is my choice!

http://www.maximausa.com/products/4s...synthextra.asp

http://www.maximausa.com/technical/l...beNews2002.pdf

 

I know I received a bulletin from Rekluse Clutch last year stating that Delo has been reformulated w/Moly and should not be used with wet clutch set ups and that they recommended Shell Rotella T instead. Not sure if/how it would matter on the King. It's a CVT belt system isn't it?

"We have confirmed that Chevron has recently made a change to the formulation of DELO 400 Oil to meet the new CI-4+ specification. To meet the new specification, Chevron has added 260ppm of Moly. Moly is not compatible with wet clutches.

The new formulation appears to just be making its way into distribution, our local Chevron Oil dealer still has some CI-4 oil on the shelf. DELO 400 with the CH-4 specification is also ok.

Although designed for large diesel engines, DELO 400 Oil has been a popular oil for use in motorcyle engines because of it's anti-wear properties and very good wet clutch performance. Rekluse Motor Sports has recommended DELO 400 for use with the z-Start clutch.

After speaking with Chevron Technical support, it does not appear that Chevron has a suitable replacement product.

However, I confirmed with Shell Technical Support that the Shell Rotella T oils meet the CI-4+ standard and do not contain any Moly or other friction modifiers.

Thanks,

Al Youngwerth
President, Rekluse Motor Sports"

 

reconranger,

Delo 400 is a heavy duty oil made for diesel engines as well as gasoline engines..... Chevron product

I had to do some homework on Google...... Here is the scoop!
Found at: http://www.yft.org/tex_vfr/tech/oil.htm

Motorcycle Motor Oil
by Mike Guillory

The author is a Chemist, retired from a major Oil and Chemical Company, after a career in the Quality Assurance of Fuels, Lubricants, and Chemical products. He and his wife both ride.

Heavy-Duty Oils
My favorite oils and the ones I most mostly recommend for motorcycle use, are the "heavy-duty" oils. They are commonly misunderstood, and often referred to as "diesel oils." They are NOT energy conserving, have higher zinc levels, as high as 0.16%, and by virtue of their multi-duty have a better engine protection package than an oil that is only rated "SL". These heavy-duty oils are rated SJ or SL, plus CH-4. They are currently closer in formulation to the motorcycle specific oils and to the "SG" oils that many motorcycle makers recommend. Following are some examples of these oils, generally 15w40 oils by industry convention. There may be several other 15w40 oils that I am not familiar with.
1. Castrol RX Super 15w40
2. Chevron Delo 400 15w40
3. Mobil Delvac 1300 Super 15w40
4. Pennzoil Long-Life 15w40
5. Quaker State 4X4 Synthetic Blend 15w40
6. Shell Rotella-T 15w40 (my personal favorite)
7. SuperTech 2000 (WalMart) 15w40
8. Valvoline All Fleet 15w40
9. Castrol Syntec Blend Truck and 4X4 15w40

 

Not sure why this post when you seem to already have your mind made up????

I don't see any point in even considering any car/truck oils ("heavy duty" or not), when I can just get an SG motorcycle specific oil and not have to worry about whether it meets specs or not (seems like a no brainer to me). Motorcycle oils (that are JASO MA) are made to take the beating that a transmission dishes out. Car/truck oils are not formulated to be run in a transmission, "heavy duty" or not. And an MA oil isn't going to have moly in it, so no need to wonder about that.

Be careful, because a lot of these guys on the net who recommend different "motorcycle" oils, are strictly street bikers. They are street bikers recommending oils for other street bikers, not off-roaders. No way does a street bike's oil take anywhere near the beating that a dirt bike does!

I'm not sure how your KQ is set up? It is a rubber band drive, so maybe the engine oil is not shared with any gear driven transmission components???? Does it really have a true "wet clutch"??? What about the transfer case, how is it oiled??? Maybe you can get away with running car oil, because you don't have a real gear-on-gear transmission???

 

The King Quad has a belt drive..... so no wet clutch. So I'll be fine with Delo 400. Thanks for your input.

 

But what about your transfrer case? It has to be gear-on-gear. What oil does your owners manual recommend for it? And while you are looking, what does it recommend for the engine? Or are the transfrer case and engine oil integrated???

 

reconranger,

Man o' man....... you're making me read the damn manual.

The manual says: "Use (of course) SUZUKI PERFORMANCE MOTOR OIL or an
equivalent good quality oil rated SF or SG under the API classification system.

15W-40 is recommended for Temps -5º to 40º C (23º to 104º F)

Delo 400 fits the bill.

 

Sorry to bug you, but are the engine and transfer case seperate, or are they integreated and share the same oil??? (Do you have to put oil in TWO places, or just in the engine???) Just wondering about how the machine is designed???

 

reconranger,

Only one....
Here is the page 11 from the 477 page manual outlining the oil requirements
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y3/56Nomad/Oilcopy.jpg