I HAVE A 1988 HONDA 300 2 WHEEL DRIVE
JUST BOUGHT A MONTH AGO
I HAVE ASK SEVERAL PEOPLE IF CAR OIL IS OK
SOME SAY YES SOME SAY NO
WOULD LIKE YOUR OPINION

DOES ATV OIL COME IN DIFFERENT WEIGHTS ?

WHAT WEIGHT DO I NEED FOR AN OLDER ATV - DOES NOT SMOKE OR USE OIL

 

If your ATV has an oil bath clutch (which most do, so I assume it does ) dont use car oil.
Car oil that is labeled "energy conserving" has friction modifiers in it which will usually cause clutch problems. Although I have heard of people running it with no problems I wouldnt take the chance. It will not harm the engine, just the clutch.

 

Stick with a motorcycle oil. Ohhell is correct, the friction modifiers in todays car oils will cause your clutch to slip and give out prematurely. It isn't something that happens the first time you use car oil or anything though. In the long run you are better off using the right stuff. A search here will net you a ton of threads asking the same question.

 

when i bought my 07 Vinson i asked the same thing to the head mech! this is what he told me! he said that it is "highly recomended" that you use the ATV/Motorcycle oil! he said there are numerous people that have and still use regular car oil (castrol 5w-30, 10w-40ect...) and have not had any problems. BUT he said he has seen it make clutches wear premature in some ATV. he said IF i was going to use it, use standard oil, and to NEVER use any sytheic blend or sythetic oils, they woun't alow the clutchs to grab (to slic w/ to many additives)!

i work with a guy that has an eiger and a wolverine, and he uses Castrol 10w-30 in both, no problems with either of them. the eiger has 1500 miles on it, and the wolverine has 200.

me personaly, my vinson has 18mo warrenty and the firs service is on the house! after that he said i could do the next oil changes and not void my warrenty if i used the "suzuki" oil and one of the "suzuki" recomended filters (WIX, K&N, Suzuki), save the recipt in a recipt book and if anything does happen to go wrong, i can show i've still been following the recomendations!

 

As long as you use an oil that is JASO MA certified for atv/motorcycle wet clutch applications you will be fine. You can also use diesel oil like Rotella T 15w40.

 

NO CAR OIL! Great article that answers your question: http://www.thumperfaq.com/oil.htm

Pick a motorcycle specific oil that is API SG/JASO MA. The SG insures that it has at least minimal levels of high pressure additives that car oil cannot contain (because of catalytic converters) and the MA insures that it is safe for a wet clutch.

And forget any "diesel" oils as well, because they are all getting reformulated (downgraded) just like all the car oils have been in recent years.

In the south, I would run 15 or 20W50 in the hot summer and 10W40 in mild winters. In the frozen north, 10W40 in summer and 5W30 in winter.

I highly recommend Maxima's oils. They have the highest levels of anti-wear anti-scuff high pressure additives in the business! If you are working on the cheap, their Premium oil is a basic petroleum oil at a good price. http://www.maximausa.com/

I saw an old buddy from high school yesterday. He has been running cheapie Castrol $1.13/quart car oil in his 450R, and is looking at $800 just for new bearings now before he can even begin to put his trans back together again.......

 

........and have you changed out the rear drive gear case since you got it??? Takes some GL5 "hypoid" 80W90 gear oil.

My buddy inherited on of the old 300's with a farm he bought. I changed the oil in it for him, and it came out darker than chocolate syrup. We changed it, rode it around a little, then changed it again...it was that dirty. That was 5 years ago and it is still going strong!

 

Show me where Rotella has been "downgraded." It's still a full on API CJ class oil. It's still not an engery conserving oil so it's wet clutch compatable.
The REAL fact about Rotella
Use what you want. Just be informed.

 

Your link wouldn't open!

Diesel oils never did have the optimum amount of additives to protect an integrated transmission, and now they will have even less. Rotella isn't bad oil, it just isn't the BEST choice for an engine with an integrated transmission.

It could however safely be run in the ENGINE side of a Honda 450/250/150 with no problem, but I would never run it in the TRANSMISSION side.

 

Opens for me? Anybody else?
I never said it was the best. It may be in some areas, I just don't know? I do know it's VERY cost effective. For that matter I bet I can find a better oil than Maxima oil. I bet it would cost more though, making it a worse choice to be cost effective. Like I said in another thread, the average quad is gone long before the engine needs rebuilt.

Here is another link about Rotella in motorcycles. Pay special attention to the oil analysis from an independant lab. This oil is synthetic, although there is a dino Rotella oil.
<a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.shellusserver.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?
ubb=showflat&Number=3261&page=1#Post3261">Rotella oil analysis for motorcycle</a>
And the oil caused this how? If the oil was never analyzed, you, me, your buddy and everybody else will never know the REAL reason the bearings failed. Bad air cleaner? Water, dirt, sand contamination? Who knows?
If it was analized, please post the report so an independant lab can show bad of an oil "cheapie Castrol oil" is. If the oil was beat up, the report will show it. If it had sand in it, the report will show it......................If the oil caused the failure, the report will show that too.

Lets also not forget that we are talking about a 1988 Honda 300!!! We arn't talking about a 450 race engine with a quart or two of oil that gets wound up to 8 grand or more.

IMHO, people are fixated on oil way too much. On a quad in most areas, the air cleaner is the most important thing to pay attention too, not oil.

In any event, oil failures are extremely rare. Contamination problems are not. Especially on an off road vehicle.