PCM 343 Oil (again?)

[takamikey]

Ok I've searched some and not come up with a clear answer on this - sorry if its a duplicate topic. The PCM 343 manual specs 15w-40 gf-4 (which i understand to now be GF-5) -- but man oh man the people at Auto Zone and Napa looked at me like I had two faces. (The dude at auto zone even tried to look up GF-4/SM like it was a part number #facepalm) .

We don't have a west marine here, but I've not ventured into our local dealers to see what they are selling... So what are you all using for oil these days?

[BCRider]

I'm going to watch this as well. I had been using the same Rotella brand that was mentioned in another post but apparently shouldn't be using that brand anymore.

[JohnnieMo]

I picked up Royal Purple 15W40, but I'm not changing till this weekend. I also found a NAPA Gold filter to do with it. I didn't see anything about GF-4 or GF-5 so I am watching this with interest as well.

[takamikey]

I picked up Royal Purple 15W40, but I'm not changing till this weekend. I also found a NAPA Gold filter to do with it. I didn't see anything about GF-4 or GF-5 so I am watching this with interest as well.

I got my Napa gold filter as well...

[freeheel4life]

We run Bel-Ray Marine High Performance 25-40 in pretty much all our inboards except Raptors and the Volvos that call for Full Synth 30. It meets the FC-W NMMA rating for catalytic converter equipped engines.

Nautiqeparts.com will have PCM "branded" oil for sale

[takamikey]

Best I’ve been able to find locally is this: https://hd.valvoline.com/our-product...sel-engine-oil

[Ochrod]

I've been running the rotella, no issues. Do I need to change?

[freeheel4life]

A guy could go nuts nerding out on American Petroluem Institute (API) and Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) info. Same ratings supersede, others are their own standalone ratings. It seems that SN rated gasoline engine blends also cover gf-4 and gf-5 at least as I understand it.
Your Rotellas and Delos have CJ and now CK ratings. I couldn't begin to speak to the differences between these and "gasser" blended oils.
The only real "argument" I could make for using an SL, SN or FCW rated gasoline oil is it's formulated to handle some of the deposits and other chemicals/molecules that are byproducts of combusting gasoline(octane). Your CJ and CK rated diesels have additives to deal with sulfur, and other chemicals/molecules leftover from combusting diesel (cetane). There is a small amount of blowby happening in either engine that puts combustion gasses into the crankcase.
Is there any harm in this?? I couldn't say. Seems to me though that running an oil with the same viscosity that was specifically formulated for gasser isn't a bad idea when compared to running an oil with the same viscosity that was blended specifically for diesels.
Just my take on it though.

[takamikey]

A guy could go nuts nerding out on American Petroluem Institute (API) and Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) info. Same ratings supersede, others are their own standalone ratings. It seems that SN rated gasoline engine blends also cover gf-4 and gf-5 at least as I understand it.
Your Rotellas and Delos have CJ and now CK ratings. I couldn't begin to speak to the differences between these and "gasser" blended oils.
The only real "argument" I could make for using an SL, SN or FCW rated gasoline oil is it's formulated to handle some of the deposits and other chemicals/molecules that are byproducts of combusting gasoline(octane). Your CJ and CK rated diesels have additives to deal with sulfur, and other chemicals/molecules leftover from combusting diesel (cetane). There is a small amount of blowby happening in either engine that puts combustion gasses into the crankcase.
Is there any harm in this?? I couldn't say. Seems to me though that running an oil with the same viscosity that was specifically formulated for gasser isn't a bad idea when compared to running an oil with the same viscosity that was blended specifically for diesels.
Just my take on it though.

I do think most of these oils mention gasoline engines on the back, or being also compatible with gasoline. The valvoline premium blue for example says in small print on the back "licensed for API services CK-4, CJ-4, CI-4 PLUS, CI-4, CH-4, SN, SM and all prior API gasoline categories." The challenge here is that even if you want to buy the "right thing" there's very little that is commonly available which clearly meets what is specifications from the manufacturer.