no more Rotella oil available?

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redglbx
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Re: no more Rotella oil available?

#16

Post by redglbx »

I use Rotella t6 15w-40 in my garden tractor normally and needed to change the oil. So I went to the O’Reilly’s in LaPorte that normally go to, they had no t6 Rotella and what 5qrt jugs of oil that they did have was about $10 a jug higher. Things were pretty sparse ! All bs imho.
Red 1976 oe owner
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1981 CBX
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Sidecar Bob
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Re: no more Rotella oil available?

#17

Post by Sidecar Bob »

From what I can find, Rotella and Rimula are similar but different products made by Shell for different markets. Both are designed for diesel engines but Rimula is marketed for "fleet" use and Rotella for retail sales. Some discussions say they are the same thing but others say that Rotella is a premium oil with a more expensive additive package.

Re the shortage, Google finds references on forums going back to February 2021 (possibly earlier) that mention Rotella and other oils being hard to find in some areas, often shortages of one brand while other brands were plentiful or shortages at some store chains while others had lots in stock.
From what I can gather it may be just part of the "distancing = less people in the workplace = lower production" principle that is currently causing all sorts of other shortages affecting oil blending facilities or it could be a result of additive shortages (that may or may not be tied to that principle) limiting the amount of product the blenders can produce.
The first page of this has some possibly good info (after that it devolves as these things often do)
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threa ... es.342764/

It could also be related to a general decrease in oil production as discussed here
https://www.api.org/news-policy-and-iss ... l-shortage
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pidjones
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Re: no more Rotella oil available?

#18

Post by pidjones »

I've purchased Rotella gallons on Amazon (free ship with Prime).
"Love 'em all.... let God sort 'em out!"
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Figor
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Re: no more Rotella oil available?

#19

Post by Figor »

I’ve been looking for Rotella for my Cummins for the last two days. Can’t find it anywhere. I was told by a parts dealer the factory is closed down. Don’t know the details. All I could find was a 50 gallon drum. Just can’t fork over that much cash.
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ritalz
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Re: no more Rotella oil available?

#20

Post by ritalz »

I was walking through a rural Walmart yesterday and they had a few on the shelf. Surprised to see some and bought one even though I won't need a oil change till March or April.
Al

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Don R
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Re: no more Rotella oil available?

#21

Post by Don R »

I talked to a young guy at a parts store that had a case of T4, he uses it for clutch oil, must be a Harley guy. He said, I saw it and thought I'd better buy it since I can.
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Re: no more Rotella oil available?

#22

Post by pidjones »

Bought a couple gallons of T4 the other day at O'Reilly. They also had T5, but no T6. I use T6 in the Spyder.
"Love 'em all.... let God sort 'em out!"
Ex 2006 GL1800 - the Black Pearl SOLD! to make room for:
2021 Can-Am Spyder RT Limited Dark Chalk Metallic
1975 Red GL1000 project - ex Pistol Pete project
1972 Triumph T150V Trident rescue - finished and FOR SALE!
1976 Yamaha RD400c
1978 GL1000 with '75 engine - the Hunley
Ex 1978 GL1000
Ex 1979 GL1000
Ex '79 CB750F rat bike
Ex '86 SEi
Ex '77 GL1000
Ex '76 RD400
Ex '72 Penton 125 set up for flat track
Ex '73 RD250
Ex '68 TR6C - chopped
toomanybikes
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Re: no more Rotella oil available?

#23

Post by toomanybikes »

according to the staff at O'Reilly's this morning, there is an additive in both T4 and T6 that is unavailable due to supply chain issues. they expect it to free up in the spring. They had a few T4's left (now just one), no T6.
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Re: no more Rotella oil available?

#24

Post by rcmatt007 »

whenever anyone brings up oil, a kitten dies and goes to heaven
-Rodger-
all it takes for evil to prosper is the want of a few good men to do nothing-Edmund Burke
The question is not how much time do you have, it is what you do with the time that you have Gandalf
"One of the greatest dignities of humankind is that each successive generation is invested in the welfare of each new generation." Fred Rodgers
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redglbx
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Re: no more Rotella oil available?

#25

Post by redglbx »

🙄🙄😁😁😁🤔🤔
Red 1976 oe owner
1976 LTD restored
1980 CBX , in the que, to fix the ignorant heavy handed owner
1981 CBX
1977 CB750 K7
2014 FJR OE owner, sold
1980 GL1100
1984 GL1200 naked
1969 CL350, in the que
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rcmatt007
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Re: no more Rotella oil available?

#26

Post by rcmatt007 »

-Rodger-
all it takes for evil to prosper is the want of a few good men to do nothing-Edmund Burke
The question is not how much time do you have, it is what you do with the time that you have Gandalf
"One of the greatest dignities of humankind is that each successive generation is invested in the welfare of each new generation." Fred Rodgers
"it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert" ancient saying
78 constantly modified/customized since 1978, BOTM June 2015 de-evolving this very moment viewtopic.php?f=30&t=65511
76 Ltd "cookies bike" ALMOST DONE
79 project, finished, FOR SALE
'86 1200 (Beth's)(FOR SALE) with motorvation sidecar (sidecar sold) , July 2017 BOTM
'17 HD Road king and 08 HD Heritage softail (Beth's) (FOR SALE). I guess you can say we have MBS
Figor
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Re: no more Rotella oil available?

#27

Post by Figor »

That’s a lot of dead cats.
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Sidecar Bob
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Re: no more Rotella oil available?

#28

Post by Sidecar Bob »

And you thought oil cane from dinosaurs..... ;)
Mr. Honda ('83 GL1100/Dnepr) summer How a motorcycle evolves thread
The Famous Eccles ('84 CX650EI/VeloUral) winter Never Ending Build (CX500forum)
Click: Colour schematics for all GL1000 & GL1100 and GL1200 standard models plus instructions on how to download the full size version
"A guy with two sidecars can't be all bad." - Cookie
Another guy with two sidecars..... Hmmmm... must be something to that....
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rcmatt007
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Re: no more Rotella oil available?

#29

Post by rcmatt007 »

Figor wrote: Wed Jan 05, 2022 7:18 pm That’s a lot of dead cats.
It was several years ago, but I put that sticky up so people would realize that oil tires and other things get asked alot and jokes end up being made
-Rodger-
all it takes for evil to prosper is the want of a few good men to do nothing-Edmund Burke
The question is not how much time do you have, it is what you do with the time that you have Gandalf
"One of the greatest dignities of humankind is that each successive generation is invested in the welfare of each new generation." Fred Rodgers
"it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert" ancient saying
78 constantly modified/customized since 1978, BOTM June 2015 de-evolving this very moment viewtopic.php?f=30&t=65511
76 Ltd "cookies bike" ALMOST DONE
79 project, finished, FOR SALE
'86 1200 (Beth's)(FOR SALE) with motorvation sidecar (sidecar sold) , July 2017 BOTM
'17 HD Road king and 08 HD Heritage softail (Beth's) (FOR SALE). I guess you can say we have MBS
Don R
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Re: no more Rotella oil available?

#30

Post by Don R »

I bought a 5 gallon pail of T4 at Tractor Supply Co. the checker asked if I was the guy that called in looking for 2.5 gallon jugs. I told him no and that I read here there is a shortage of ingredients. This will keep me supplied for a while.
78 GL 1000, 70 CB750 sandcast, 70 CB836 hot rod, 1124cc 750 dragbike resto project.
You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.
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