Running diesel oil

[vex]

Originally Posted by classicauto

What do you expect to gain from running diesel formulated oil that couldn't be gained by just running a heavier oil like 20w50?

It really comes down to ash content. CJ-4 Has much less ash content than most oils I've seen from BITOG.com. Less ash, means less chance of pre-ignition events occuring within a given time period.

Personally, its not like the rotary suffers from any kind of premature bearing failure or anything that would require re-thinking the contents of the lube system - outside of modding passages and teardropping orifices on the e-shaft etc.

It's not the bearings I'm concerned about, it's the pre-ignition factor. Since the car is injecting oil into the combustion chamber the ash content of the oil becomes very important. The less ash (under .5%--I think, it's been awhile since I looked), means less chance of carbon build up and less chance of pre-ignition. There is a discussion on ash content and oils that were discussed in the Rotary Engine forum, which I'll link shortly if wanted.

But I highly doubt its going to kill anything either?

See above.