I have an 06 Rubicon 500 with the Hondamatic oil driven transmission. It's great and has fantastic downhill engine braking. Has anyone had successes with engine oils other than the standard GN4? I used it the first year and found hard starting in cold weather. After some research I used Amsoil 0W-40 synthetic last season and it seemed to work fine and cold weather starting was easy. Now I hear Shell has a synthetic Rotella 5W-40 which meets specs for ATV type engines. The Honda manual says no oil that has a detergent, other than that, what have you Rubicon owners been using, good or bad?

 

If it is rated SG and JASO MA, and the logo doesn't say "energy conserving" it should be OK, assuming it does not have PTFE or other teflon or moly.

Although switching to a synthetic of lower viscosity would probably be a good idea during the time you are operating at low temps, if it were mine I'd stick with an oil designed for motorcycle applications.

The hydrostat drive system does include a centerfugal clutch that runs in engine oil.

Reconranger here is really up to speed on the finer points of synthetics.

 

Be careful with any oil that is not raterd API SG/JASO MA....which Rotella is not! That insures that you are getting a descent anti-wear additive package and it is wet clutch friendly. Use to be that the "diesel" oils had descent additive packages, but they have now been reformulated for cat converters, just like what happened to car oils back when.....

GN4 and HP4 bother me, because they are SJ (a couple years ago they were still SG!!!). My fear is that Honda has downgraded these so they can be run in street bikes that have cat converters (????). This makes it simple so the dealer only has to stock one oil, so I fear one is getting downgraded oil here as well.

I recommend anything from Maxima. Their oil covers a large price range from simple basic petroleum oil like Premium, to high tech performance oils that contain wet clutch friendly organic friction modifiers, like Ultra and 530MX.

 

There are three very different types of synthetics! Rotella is Group III, which has nothing special going for it other than price. Amsoil and Mobil 1 (rumor is that Mobil 1 is now Group III ???) are Group IV PAO, which is better. Better yet are the Group V esters.

Ester and PAO actually compliment eachother in many ways. The best oils will be ester based, with some PAO thrown in for "balance". I run Redline in all my quads (don't be scared off by the fact that it is JASO MB...it is still wet clutch safe), and Maxima Extra and Ultra in my bikes.

 

Thx for the info guys. I can get Redline 10W-30, but there's no outlet for Maxima here in the north. I went to Amsoil because there are several dealers. I missed saying, it's Amsoil 4-stroke 0W-40 and I see their website if providing more detail for its use than last year when I looked - like 'no friction modifiers', 'wax free', 'Jaso MA/MA2', includes an SG rating. My mistake on the 'no detergent' in the bike manual, the oil should have no moly.

Not that I'm promoting the stuff, just trying to find something better than GN4 that will work in below freezing temps. I know there are some non-fans of Amsoil and frankly, I'm one for their 1:100 2-cycle, mix in anything oil, recommended by a mechanic. I put it in a weed-waker and the thing blew apart inside.

Thx again.

 

What weight does your owner's manual spec for really cold weather??? My Rancher specs 0W30....as a possible year round all weather oil!!! I live in the hot southwest, so no way am I running a 0W30 down here (it was 104 degrees on Tuesday!).

If I had to pick an oil for extremely cold weather, it would be Maxima Ultra 0W30 or 530MX! If I can't find it locally, I get it here by mailorder: Maxima Lubricants: Onoffroad-ON OffRoad

If you use Redline, be sure it is the motorcycle oil in the BLACK bottle, and not the car/diesel oil in the WHITE bottle which contains moly. (Notice that Redline car oil is API SG....some extra protection available there for you car or truck....for the savy oil buyer!)

My problem with Amsoil, is that it appers to be 100% PAO. PAO needs to be fortified with some ester, to make up for some of its shortcomings. For example, ester molecules are polar, and like little magnets it sticks to metal. So, even after you turn your engine off, you still have a molecular layer of ester there on your moving parts. PAO on the other hand, is a neutral molecule and doesn't stick to freaking anything!!! It will drain down very quickly and leave you with no protection on a cold startup.

Most engine wear actually occurs on a cold startup!!!

 

If you want an indication of how well an oil will flow on a cold start, you want to look at the "Viscosity cSt @ 40 degrees C" on the oil data tables. For example, if you go to Maxima's web site, you will see the following values: Maxima Racing Usa - Overkill

Ultra 0W30....46.8
5W30MX....52.9
Ultra 5W40....74.66
Ultra 5W50....92.1
Extra 10W40....82.2
Extra 15W50....116.8
ATV Premium 10W40....111.6
Premium 20W50.....162.91

The LOWER the number, the more freely the oil will flow when cold! Notice that as the bulk viscosity goes up (30 to 40 to 50), so does the viscosity when cold. So, when you are choosing an oil, you want to take these into consideration....seeing that most engine wear occurs at a cold start.

Also notice things like 5W40 has a lower number than 10W40. And, the petroleum oils have way higher values than a synthetic of the same weight (compare Extra and Premium 10W40 for example). This is one of the huge huge advantages of a synthetic oil!!!


Just for the record, the "Viscosity cSt @ 100 degrees", is the viscosity you can expect when the engine is hot and up to running temperature. These are the numbers that are used to assign an oil's "weight". For example:

9.3 to 12.5 = 30 weight
12.5 to 16.3 = 40 weight
16.3 to 21.9 = 50 weight


Use these numbers to evaluate your favorite oil or one you are thinking about using. For example, going to Amsoils site ( http://www.amsoil.com/storefront/mcf.aspx ), a 10W40 motorcycle oil gets a cSt at 40 degrees C of 93.36, etc......

 

I use Mobil 1 in my 2008 Rancher

 

Im using maxima xtra in the 03 350 rancher i just inherited from my father inlaw it has 100 miles on it. this thing has never seen mud so basicaly its just broke in....how often should i change oil (hours,miles?).

thanks

 

My manual says to change oil and filter every 600 miles, 100 operating hours, or 12 months, which ever comes first.