Synthetic oil in Splitters engine?
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Yeah, I looked it up before I posted that last one. Had no idea. Thought Rotella was a food. Pretty much walk into Wal-Mart with blinders on in the oil section. Just need to find the weight of the Mobil one I need and don't even pay attention to the rest of the stuff on the shelf. Found 4 gallons of turbo diesel specific Mobil 1 last night. The teller thought I was nuts when the amount came out to $110.
I actually have the 6.0l turbo diesel, but it is still 15 quarts. Fills up the entire drain pan. Cannot wait until I get a lift and can use a drum for all this oil.
Changing the coolant is a nightmare. That is gallons upon gallons of coolant.
bioman
Feeling the Heat
Just put mobile 1 10w30 in a new gx 630. have full confidence in the oil for this application. If it blows up I'll let ya know for sure !
simple.serf
Feeling the Heat
The only engines I use synthetic in is my MEP-002a Genset and a crappy Sears generator with Techumseh engine. The MEP has a 2 cylinder air cooled diesel with an oil cooler and those engines are known for being rough on oil. The techumseh is a POS, but I got it for free and would like to do everything in my power to keep the rod from ventilating the block. Everything else gets either Rotella (the other diesels) or Castrol (all gas engines). I usually find that the rest of the equipment fails or rusts out before the engine dies. I change the oil in the truck once every other month (I drive 30k miles a year), and the oil in offroad eqpt twice a year.
If you really want to run synthetic, get some 10w30 Mobil 1 and call it a day.
If you really want to run synthetic, get some 10w30 Mobil 1 and call it a day.
This is great but then we have
So now it's 5w30 or 10w30 ??????
I would go with synthetic 5w-30 or 10w-30. Splitting hairs on this one for sure. Whatever I had in the garage would be going into the splitter's engine. Since you live in frigid Massachusetts, I would probably go with the 5w-30 synthetic. A lower weight oil when it is really cold. Also depends how much you will be running the splitter when it is really cold out. I hardly split anything when the weather is below 25 degrees, so the engine oil is never very cold.
With that said, synthetics are a lot less susceptible to cold temps. They don't get as thick as conventional motor oils when it gets cold out. Since I use 10w-30 Mobil 1 for my mower, I would probably use the same thing for the splitter and never think twice about it. Been using 5w-30 in my Taurus for years, but now they are recommending 5w-20. The car has 235,000 miles on it on what used to be the wrong oil.
The most important thing is changing the oil to get rid of the crap that is floating in it, especially on the small engines that do not have an oil filter.
That chart is for one type of engine from one single engine manufacturer. The recommendation will vary amongst the various engines and manufacturers. Really want to know little something about what you pour out of those bottles?This is great but then we have
So now it's 5w30 or 10w30 ??????
http://www.upmpg.com/tech_articles/motoroil_viscosity/
Cliff Notes:
0W-30, 5W30, 10W30, and 30wt all flow at similar rates at 100
.(Deemed the typical operating temp of the oil.)One manufacturer's 10W30 might be closer to another one's 5W30 than you think.
More additives and less oil is a recipe for frequent oil changes.
And more money spent.All synthetics are not created equal! There are highly refined petroleum based oils out there (under big brand names) labeled as synthetic through a legal loophole. Buyer beware. The shelf at your local Wally World or parts store is usually dominated by Group III "Synthetics".
I'm getting away from using oil certified to the latest API standards in my small engines. The reason being for that is the formulas have moved to using less anti-wear additives. You won't destroy a small engine running oil certified to SN but there will be more wear on the bearing surfaces and cam lobes over time. That increased wear is deemed "acceptable" (by whom?) and may not be noticed by the vast majority of small-engine operators. But this wrench-monkey has never been one to settle for "acceptable".
With a fleet of small engines around, none of which have roller valvetrains (like most modern cars do) and a truck with a big-block Chevy that also doesn't have a roller valvetrain, I look for an oil that will offer the best protection of these engines. There is only 1 Group IV synthetic oil that I know of that offers that protection, and is formulated/marketed specifically for small-engine use.That chart is for one type of engine from one single engine manufacturer. The recommendation will vary amongst the various engines and manufacturers. Really want to know little something about what you pour out of those bottles?
http://www.upmpg.com/tech_articles/motoroil_viscosity/
Cliff Notes:
0W-30, 5W30, 10W30, and 30wt all flow at similar rates at 100
One manufacturer's 10W30 might be closer to another one's 5W30 than you think.
More additives and less oil is a recipe for frequent oil changes.
All synthetics are not created equal! There are highly refined petroleum based oils out there (under big brand names) labeled as synthetic through a legal loophole. Buyer beware. The shelf at your local Wally World or parts store is usually dominated by Group III "Synthetics".
I'm getting away from using oil certified to the latest API standards in my small engines. The reason being for that is the formulas have moved to using less anti-wear additives. You won't destroy a small engine running oil certified to SN but there will be more wear on the bearing surfaces and cam lobes over time. That increased wear is deemed "acceptable" (by whom?) and may not be noticed by the vast majority of small-engine operators. But this wrench-monkey has never been one to settle for "acceptable".
The suspense was killing me, so I had to read through the link you posted:
As more and more large oil companies switched their "synthetic" motor oils to the less expensive/more profitable Group III (3) base stocks it has become much easier to identify which are PAO based true synthetic. Of the large oil companies, only Mobil 1 Extended Performance, as of this writing (12-16-2012), is still a PAO based true synthetic.
Don't know how long this has been the case though. Been using Mobil 1 in all my vehicles since 1989. Crazy thing is, I still have all those vehicles. Looks like I am going to need a gallon of Mobile 1 10w-30 Extended Performance for the small engines though. The "cheaper" stuff seems to be working in my vehicles, but don't really want to chance it on my small engines. Will have to keep "Extended Performance" in mind the next time I am at Wally World or the auto parts store.
Mobil 1 was originally a Group IV oil no? That is, until they started selling the EP version.
EP is worth it for the vehicles too. All the reasons you run synthetic should be the same ones that cause you to insist on a real Group IV PAO oil. I'm not afraid of extended drain intervals and you shouldn't be either.
(Hell, the OEM specified drain interval on my wife's Terrain is over 10,000 miles on dino oil. 
)
simple.serf
Feeling the Heat
Sorry for the edit, but these are the comments I want to make:
1. It's a small engine. You still should change the oil every 25 hrs (for a B&S, or whatever the manuf. recommends) because there usually isn't any oil filtration on this size engine.
2. It's a small engine. As I said in my post, the rest of the machine usually craps out before the engine. This is one of those (rare) cases where I take the whatever approach. It will be fine with either 5w30 or 10w30 synthetic. The two splitters I use have been running for 15 years on Dino oil (straight 30wt) and splitting about 20 cord apiece every year...and that's with aluminium block flathead briggs engines on both.
On a side note: The 5w20 change on the taurus (assuming you have the 3.0 vulcan) came not because of an engineering change to the engine, but because of needing to reduce friction and meet better MPG requirements. My 3.0 vulcan and my 4.2 essex were both labelled this way, despite earlier versions of the same engines being labelled differently. Both families were getting older and Ford needed to do everything in it's power to get a few more years out of them. They seem to run fine with either, with some people believing that the thinner oil helps to keep the CPS gear from failing. In my opinion, it doesn't matter- they fail with either viscosity oil.
...Sorry for getting off track. I'm a little out of it today.
Sorry for the edit, but these are the comments I want to make:
1. It's a small engine. You still should change the oil every 25 hrs (for a B&S, or whatever the manuf. recommends) because there usually isn't any oil filtration on this size engine.
2. It's a small engine. As I said in my post, the rest of the machine usually craps out before the engine. This is one of those (rare) cases where I take the whatever approach. It will be fine with either 5w30 or 10w30 synthetic. The two splitters I use have been running for 15 years on Dino oil (straight 30wt) and splitting about 20 cord apiece every year...and that's with aluminium block flathead briggs engines on both.
On a side note: The 5w20 change on the taurus (assuming you have the 3.0 vulcan) came not because of an engineering change to the engine, but because of needing to reduce friction and meet better MPG requirements. My 3.0 vulcan and my 4.2 essex were both labelled this way, despite earlier versions of the same engines being labelled differently. Both families were getting older and Ford needed to do everything in it's power to get a few more years out of them. They seem to run fine with either, with some people believing that the thinner oil helps to keep the CPS gear from failing. In my opinion, it doesn't matter- they fail with either viscosity oil.
...Sorry for getting off track. I'm a little out of it today.
Well, you noticed the part about my Taurus, which does have the Vulcan engine, but either you missed this:
The most important thing is changing the oil to get rid of the crap that is floating in it, especially on the small engines that do not have an oil filter.
Or you are just reinforcing it.
simple.serf
Feeling the Heat
Poor attempt to reinforce, Though the taurus thing has more to do with my mind being all over the place today- 4 hrs of sleep a night this week isn't working out so good.
Sleep isn't working out well for me either, so I feel your pain. You a tax preparer like me? I can hardly see straight right now and still have about 45 days to go.
simple.serf
Feeling the Heat
Nope, been doing 12 hrs a day at my FT job, keeping our farm running, and dealing with the first maple run of the season. Though, that reminds me, I need to do my taxes...
I run it in my Kubota tractor and my Dodge Cummins.. It's their preferred amsoil diesel over their 15-40w..better shear ability , etc... It's not thickness of oil, it's all about film strength,,, oils ability to keep two metals apart..I learned that as a Harley tech years ago out in Milwaukee...Days of the 60 weight oil are over.. It's all about film strength...
PDF]
Series 3000 5W-30 Synthetic Heavy Duty Diesel Oil
Adobe PDF
Series 3000 5W-30 Synthetic Heavy Duty Diesel Oil Maximum Fuel Economy and Excellent Anti-Wear Protection AMSOIL Series 3000 5W-30 Synthetic Heavy Duty Diesel Oil
www.amsoil.com/lit/databulletins/g1301.pdf
Mobil 1. No other oil will do. My Exxon/Mobil dividend checks tells me so.
I have intended to change the oil in my splitter. Every year since 1988. Gotta do that someday. That Walmart 30W oil added every once in a while seems to be doing fine. Original hydraulic fluid too.
I have intended to change the oil in my splitter. Every year since 1988. Gotta do that someday. That Walmart 30W oil added every once in a while seems to be doing fine. Original hydraulic fluid too.
Synthetic oil story. I used to manage a truck leasing company. We used RPM Delo in all of the Cummins and Detroit diesels. One customer asked about Mobil 1 when it came out. We told him not to worry about it. Oil and engine maintenance were part of his lease.
A few weeks later he came into my office and told me his story. He decided we were full of it and he changed the oil in one of their trucks and used Mobil 1. At five bucks a quart in 1973 dollars. On the way back to Dallas from Houston an oil line busted and dumped something like 14 gallons on the highway.
We never heard him talk about synthetics again.
A few weeks later he came into my office and told me his story. He decided we were full of it and he changed the oil in one of their trucks and used Mobil 1. At five bucks a quart in 1973 dollars. On the way back to Dallas from Houston an oil line busted and dumped something like 14 gallons on the highway.
We never heard him talk about synthetics again.
ArsenalDon
Minister of Fire
So are you saying that synthetics caused that oil line to break or just bad karma from ignoring your advice?
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