I plan to change my oil to either Amsoil or Mobile 1 synthetic when weather starts to warm up. What is the best weight to use for the hot summer months. My prairie only has 20 hours. Is this too soon to change to syn.?

 

I am sure there will be disagreement, but I have always heard wait till 100 hours before
using synthetic oil. I believe syn oil is supposed to be thinner than petrol oil, so go heavier
I assume?

 

Am in the exact same situation here. Want to go synthetic but not too soon.

 

woodsrunner its not 100 hours but 100 miles

rutwad, amsoil makes a atv specific 0w40 that is made for all year round usage, this is what i plan on putting in my quad the next time i change the oil, they also say that you can run the oil twice as long as the standard oil, but you do have to change the filter at regular intervals

 

You need to run it a bit to allow the engine to break in. Problem with synthetic is it's a really good lubricant. Almost a little too good, since it'll inhibit break in. If you don't let the rings seat with regular oil, then you can have oil burning problems in the future.

Just use the normal weight you'd use in the summer (see your owners manual). Usually 10W30. You could probably run a straight 30 oil (like a lawn mower oil), but what tends to happen is your too stupid to remember to change it out as the temperatures start to drop, run it a couple of times in colder temperatures (which causes major accelerated wear). Not that I've did that in the past, of course! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

Be wary of using oils like 0W40 all year around. The wider range they are, the more additives are used to keep them stable. They have to work harder at the extreme temperatures, and tend to break down faster.