bumping. I thought this was good information and hope others do too.

 

going to go out on a limb here and suggest that this be stickied....

 

yes this is a good thread, and I wouldn't mind giving it a sticky, but is this the correct forum it should be in? landscaping?? i was thinking more like the mechanic forum.
let me know.

 

yes this is a good thread, and I wouldn't mind giving it a sticky, but is this the correct forum it should be in? landscaping?? i was thinking more like the mechanic forum.
let me know.

I thought I had originally put it in the mowing forum. for greatest exposure. But found it here. I am guessing it was a case of "fat finger typing".

Put it where ever you think it will work best.

and could you add the www to the second url so it acts as a link or at least people realize there is one for filters too.

John

 

Ok, moved this over to the mechanics section, let's leave it stickied for awhile, and see if others read the links and find the info helpful.

 

WOW...That's a lot of info!! Thanks

 

I found this one quite useful as well
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/

btw, I didn't care much for the PAO / synthetic oil explanation.
You just can't peg an engine's rpms to the governor indefinitely with conventional, I don't care who says what.
And until someone guarantees the cost of my engines, I will continue to run synthetic.

 

Question : If a multi vis oil is rated say 10w 30 does that mean it has the weight or viscosity of 10w and additives to equal 30 weight ?
and if that is true ,,then why do some engine manufactures ,,,and engine require a straight 30w? Why wouldn't a 10w 30 work ? Unless its additives don't add up !!!

And have you noticed its getting harder to find straight weight oils ?

I want to try a mobil 1 , 15w 50 synthetic in a kaw that specs for straight
30 for normal summer heat ,,,,
my understanding is if it runs cooler the less friction, and there for a longer running engine...

I also have a infared temp gauge and can check it under simular conditions
Thanks already rt

 

Question : If a multi vis oil is rated say 10w 30 does that mean it has the weight or viscosity of 10w and additives to equal 30 weight ?
and if that is true ,,then why do some engine manufactures ,,,and engine require a straight 30w? Why wouldn't a 10w 30 work ? Unless its additives don't add up !!!

And have you noticed its getting harder to find straight weight oils ?

I want to try a mobil 1 , 15w 50 synthetic in a kaw that specs for straight
30 for normal summer heat ,,,,
my understanding is if it runs cooler the less friction, and there for a longer running engine...

I also have a infared temp gauge and can check it under simular conditions
Thanks already rt

10w50 will def help the life of your engine in the heat... that's what we do down here in Georgia and it reduced the "dead engine" rate by half.

 

sorry,,, I posted in wrong location ............

 

Question : If a multi vis oil is rated say 10w 30 does that mean it has the weight or viscosity of 10w and additives to equal 30 weight ?
and if that is true ,,then why do some engine manufactures ,,,and engine require a straight 30w? Why wouldn't a 10w 30 work ? Unless its additives don't add up !!!

And have you noticed its getting harder to find straight weight oils ?

I want to try a mobil 1 , 15w 50 synthetic in a kaw that specs for straight
30 for normal summer heat ,,,,
my understanding is if it runs cooler the less friction, and there for a longer running engine...

I also have a infared temp gauge and can check it under simular conditions
Thanks already rt

This is the way I understand it:

10W-30 oil in your mower, is exactly the same as SAE 30 oil in your mower, when at operating temperature. The difference is, the 10W-30 oil will behave exactly like a SAE 10 weight oil when cold, which means it is thinner than SAE-30 oil when cold. But this is not a good thing, if the manual calls for SAE 30.

Don't confuse the W in 10W-30 as "weight." I believe the W stands for "winter." Nevertheless, when the engine reaches operating temp, even in winter, the 10W-30 is just like SAE 30.

On occasion, I've run out of SAE 30 and I've used 10W-30 in its place. I've found that 10W-30 in my Kaw will be consumed much faster than SAE 30, which is what he manual calls for in my Kaw engines. I guess it's too thin during warm up, and therefore burns off. Therefore, I really try to stick with SAE 30.

Yes, it seems harder and harder to find nowadays.

 

W is for weight. Iused to be in sales for big oil jobber. Most old wives tales are told for the oil companys sake, you guys have heard them like you shoud not change brandsin used equipment, bull. I use full pao's in trucks after they are broken in. In my diesels which range in hp from 33 to 425 we use 15-40. I used stick with 1 brand but for conveniece have gone back to Rotella. Most people think theres a dollars worth of difference between best and worst actually more like a nickels if even. Mostly stick with name brands but have been using Wal-Marts super tech 10-30 full syn in trucks made by major and at 13.84 for 5qts is great buy. I also switched all my hondas over and with good results. Oil changes are more important than oil brand.

 

W is for weight.

Curious, I googled "oil winter weight defined" and found the below link. This writer for valvoline contradicts your statement:

http://www.valvoline.com/carcare/articleviewer.asp?pg=ccr20040601ov

 

Looks as if most don't know that W stands for winter and not weight. The manufacturer rep that helped to train me called it weight. In effect 10W30 pours like 10 and protects like 30. I have used this principle for years and we haven't had any oil failure

 

The reason that straight 30 was specified in some engines was to avoid the viscosity improvers that are required to make a 10W30 oil. Viscosity improvers are long chain polymers that react to temperature and allow the viscosity swing of a 10W30 oil. The viscosity improvers "thicken" the base 10 weight oil to make it like a 30 when hot. Magic. Viscosity improvers can also cause problems with deposit formation in the piston ring belt area causing ring sticking. So....some heavy duty engines specify non-viscosity improver oils....like the straight weight 30.

Ever notice that multi-vis oils were pretty much taboo for heavy duty diesel engines until the early-mid 90's?? That is because of the viscosity improvers. VI packages of the late 70's and thru the early/mid 80's were notoriously bad for ring belt deposits. Due to the high concentration of VI in the 10W40 oils those were especially bad.

Today this is all pretty much ancient history. The viscosity improvers in today's oils are all synthetic and there is little to no risk of ring belt deposits and ring sticking with multi-vis oils. Also notice the proliferation of 15W40 diesel oils that meet all diesel specs. The VI packages are excellent. No real need to avoid them these days.

 

"W" in 10W30 oil definitely stands for Winter. People have used W to stand for weight in casual conversation but in the API oil classifications the W is clearly for "winter" to delineate the "cold" oil viscosity as it would be in the winter.

 

What would be the correct hydro oil to use in my 2000 Grasshopper ZTR? Grasshopper says to use there hydro oil only and when I bought a quart of it, I noticed that there was not weight listed on the container. I also felt as if I bought liquid gold when they told me how much it was per quart. I'm sure there is an alternative but have had no luck in finding it. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

Question : If a multi vis oil is rated say 10w 30 does that mean it has the weight or viscosity of 10w and additives to equal 30 weight ?
and if that is true ,,then why do some engine manufactures ,,,and engine require a straight 30w? Why wouldn't a 10w 30 work ? Unless its additives don't add up !!!

And have you noticed its getting harder to find straight weight oils ?

I want to try a mobil 1 , 15w 50 synthetic in a kaw that specs for straight
30 for normal summer heat ,,,,
my understanding is if it runs cooler the less friction, and there for a longer running engine...

I also have a infared temp gauge and can check it under simular conditions
Thanks already rt

Have you tried the 15-50 mobile1 yet? What did you think? I am considering the same for my kohler which also calls for straight 30. Why is there no synthetic 30W?

Thanks,
RIch

 

Why is there no synthetic 30W?

Thanks,
RIch

I'm not sure, but I think it would a contradiction of terms. 30W I believe is by definition a straight oil with a viscosity of 30. My guess is they have not figured out how to make a synthetic that behaves EXACTLY like straight oil. I mean, if they did, from that maybe we could then make man-made gasoline, and to hell with the middle east.

 

Amsoil ASE 10W-30/SAE 30 for one

A synthetic multi weight oil is similar to a straight weight oil by its nature.
Think of water. Pretty much the same viscosity from 33 to 211F.

 

Amsoil ASE 10W-30/SAE 30 for one

A synthetic multi weight oil is similar to a straight weight oil by its nature.
Think of water. Pretty much the same viscosity from 33 to 211F.

This is all I use in my air cooled engines. lots of hours on some of them and they still do not use oil between oil changes.

Best spec's I know of for air cooled engines.

 

I found this one quite useful as well
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/

btw, I didn't care much for the PAO / synthetic oil explanation.
You just can't peg an engine's rpms to the governor indefinitely with conventional, I don't care who says what.
And until someone guarantees the cost of my engines, I will continue to run synthetic.

I'm with you I just switched everything over to synthetic.

 

Turfeater, please don't do that! Using 50wt. in a 30 wt. is awful. 30 wt molecules are a certain size lets say 30 microns/ 50 wt, oil has molecules that are say 50 microns/// too thick, you are forcing 50's in a space designated for size 30. You are wearing the engine out slowly this way.
The 10/30-30wt. amsoil small engine oil is full synthetic and is designed for that 30wt. classification.

 

I'm not sure, but I think it would a contradiction of terms. 30W I believe is by definition a straight oil with a viscosity of 30. My guess is they have not figured out how to make a synthetic that behaves EXACTLY like straight oil. I mean, if they did, from that maybe we could then make man-made gasoline, and to hell with the middle east.

We have been able to make synthetic gasoline since at least the 20's, Google Bergius process. During WWII, the Germans produced 92% of their aviation gasoline this way.

The process is quite a bit more expensive than our current $4.00 a gallon gas, so...

 

No matter who tries to teach you about oil. It is skewed to sell their brand of oil. We have been selling lube products fo 20 years. It is amazing how they cum up with rah rah bulls---.
Single wieght oils are basicly obsolete for land based craft.

 

Another great place of info on oil the simple man can understand is www.bobistheoilguy.com. All based on easy tests.Again Schaeffer is a great proformer.