Change Your Own Oil?

Hi heavy, my BC Cummins took 11 gals. of oil with the filters (2). I'd buy 2 cases of Rotella T gals, put 11 in and have an extra for later. Not sure about Detroit's. Check the dipstick, and remember a gallon(or more) stays up in the motor once you shut it off hot.

 

I worked for a guy many years ago and he would filter then pour all his used oil back into his diesel storage tanks and use it in his trucks. Never had any problems and he might be still be doing it.

 

Hi Straitliner, I worked for a guy many years ago that did that too. We had Macks and I don't remember them running any worse than normal. I don't know if that would fly today with the emission motors.

 

Just call around or google oil recyclers, they buy waste oil. If you have room, you can get an old home heating oil tank for cheap or free. If you have 100+ gallons, they'll come to you, pump it out and cut you a check. Just put it somewhere that they can get to it with a 50 ft hose. Safety Kleen buys it, they're national. There are quite a few. In PA and NY, we use Rec Oil, currently they give 51 cents per gallon. It may take you a few years to fill up a 275 gallon tank, but you'll get a $130-140 check from it when you do.

If you don't want to store it, see if any are near you that you can drop it off. Most will also take old oil and fuel filters for free. They crush them to get all the oil/fuel out, then recycle the metal. If they're too far, it's usually pretty easy to find a shop that will take it for free.

If you ever have an oil change done and see that they charge you for waste oil disposal, ask what they do with it. No shop should charge to get rid of something that they sell.

 

Every jiffy lube will accept old oil. At least they did when i worked there... But it can't hurt to check any quick lube place. They usually have a hole in the back covered by a metal slider where you pour the old oil. It gets added to the oil they've collected from the cars.

 

I just hauled 6100 gallons of used oil from speedco in Lodi, OH. Nasty place. Anywho, if I need to, I just dump the oil into my fuel tanks. I also don't have the regeneration junk on the truck. Fuel filters work good to clean it, plus it's diluted (9 gallon pan into 270 gallons of fuel) pretty good.

I'm an opportunist. I'll grease the truck on a layover. If the weather is nasty (rain, snow, cold, whatever) I look for a wingfoot shop at a J. Rotella T and Baldwin filters are 210. Full pm.

I used to, like apparently most of us, do everything exclusively myself. But I'm running more and hometime is a valuable commodity. So I usually wing it. No pun intended

 

I know a guy that waits until he has two 55 gallon drums full and a service comes out, picks it up, and pays him for it.

 

Pshhhhhhhhh

 

They got better things to catch me at.

 

My truck takes 9 gallons.