Well that sucks, ten bucks wasted. Oh well, lesson learned.

I have used valvoline 10w40 motorcycle oil in the grizz a lot. Its a oil that I can find readily at the local advance auto. I'll get a few quarts of that tommorow and change it out.

The old oil that I drained out was pretty dirty. Chances are the oil changes were not kept up on it. Is it ok to mix some seafoam in with the mobil 1, run it for an hour or so then drain and replace with the valvoline?

 

If you want to clean out the engine, run one of the ester synthetics (Redline, Maxima, Klotz, Motul). They will clean the engine out better than any detergent will!

This is where kukerdan's stories of ruined engines comes from. In the old days, there were some very agressive diesters, and they would clean the sludge out of an engine....thing was the sludge was all that was keeping the worn rings sealed. Since then, the chemistry of esters, seal materials, etc., has been worked out a hundred times over....yet the old storied from 50 years ago, still have a life of their own......

These days, the synthetics have such monster film strength, they will seal the rings sludge or no!

 

Synthetic oils have smaller polymers an therefore can squeeze through tighter clearances. That is a FACT that cannot be changed by someone's opinion. Therefore, when making the change to synthetic oils, many engines end up seeing more leaks and begin to burn oil because the smaller polymers are able to squeeze by the rings and engine seals. Many manufacturers do not recommend making a jump to Synthetic to avoid those consequences. Not only do you burn more oil, but you increase the risk of damaging the engine under those conditions. There's a reason that I don't run Synthetic in my 1990 F-150, its never been done before, and after 250,000 miles, I'm not willing to send my truck to an early grave by running synthetic oils in a truck that isn't accustomed to it. It has a small leak from the rear main seal that I'm already dreading because if I pull the motor, I'm going to rebuild it or possible get a remanunfactured engine from Ford. However, Synthetic oils are GREAT in engines that are fresh and are broken in on them. I would NOT recommend synthetic oils for someone with a broken in bike unless they have been running synthetics from the beginning.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: DWill58

Synthetic oils have smaller polymers an therefore can squeeze through tighter clearances. <div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>

Again, more old tales from past generations!

Dude, I'm a chemist, and I can synthsize for you any size polymer you would like! Then I can attach some esters to it, and that will make it stick to metal like a magnet. Plus, it won't burn up and carmelize at high temperature.

Synthetics are designer molecules, created for a specific purpose. Petroleum oil, is what you are forced to end up with when your starting material is filthy, dirty, waxy goop that you pumped out of the ground.

The opposite of what you said is true! The one and only thing that petroleum oil has going for it (besides a low price...you get what you pay for!), is that it contains those "smaller" molecules that you refer to. These little molecules fit into little pits on the surface of the metal, and contribute much to the "lubricity" of petroleum oils. The problem is, when things get hot, these little molecules are the first thing to burn up and turn to sludge!

A little reading: http://www.p1-performance.com/pdf/oildoc.pdf


http://www.maximausa.com/techn...enews/LubeNews2002.pdf

 

Well I changed out the oil today and it was really dirty already. I let it drain till it was totally empty. Then refilled it with valvoine 10w40 motocycle oil. I rode it for a couple hours then checked the condition of the oil and it still looked new. Looks like that double oil change got it pretty clean. I also tightened the chain. Does any joints on the chassis need lubed regularly?

I love this quad so far. Super easy to work on compared to my grizz. Everything is easy to get to.

I'm going to tackle the valve clearance adjustment next weekend BTW.

 

It is a good idea to pull the swingarm pivot bolt out once a year, and grease it up. Otherwise, a few years from now when you need to get it out, it won't budge.

 

I appreciate all the help. Thanks a lot.