hey gang, been a while since i posted but something came to my attention today. i have had my wheeler for several years have run mobil 1 synthetic 0w-40. i was reading the manual today and noticed it said use 10w-40????? i live in tennessee, so the weather ranges from high 20's in late winter and mid 90's during summer. think i should move to 10w-40 or stay with 0??? thanks guys

 

I would use a 10-40 or 20-50, air temp and engine temp are the key factors.

 

I'm with buckaroo50 on this one , i use 10w40 in winter and 20w50 in summer ; i live in north ga. and the temp's where i live are very close to your's i haven't changed over to synthetic yet on my 2006 Arctic Cat 400 FIS 4x4 auto . I use Castrol GTX 10w40 winter and 20w50 in summer , the same oil i used on my first atv 86' Honda TRX 350 Foreman fulltime 4x4 and second atv; 93' Suzuki LTF4WD i sold the Honda to my brother in november 05' and the Suzuki one week after i got my AC 400 in Feb. of 2006 ; and both the Honda and Suzuki still run and drive as good as the day i got them with no major engine/tranny or diff./or CV' joint''s repaired ! Over the year's On the Honda i had to replace the starter , one set of tire's one wheel bearing and three batteries ; a new gas tank that set me back $289.99 ( my fault on the tank it was the old model with metal gas tank under the seat ) when i rode with an extra passnger up a creek which up over the seat i rebuilt the carb and replaced the rear hand brake cable ! I found out later i could've gotten a kit called Kreem Tank Liner for $27.89 + tax wish i had known that before i let it rust to the point of leaking fuel to bad to repair with the the liner kit ! And a few week's before i sold the Honda i put new brake's front and rear now that thing was built like a tank and i used it like one ! Now on the Suzuki i replaced all four tire's because i was riding with a fool one day , and he kept tail gateing me , and two time's when i stopped he ramed me i kept telling his to slow down and stop raming me ; he did for about 30 minute's when i had to stop again he ramed me right into the right rear tire ; right in the worst spot the side wall ! I managed to plug the tire and make it back home , the next day it was flat again ; so i gave up trying to plug it and went to the local Suzuki daeler to get a new tire ! The tire was $98.99 + Tax they didnt want to come down a penney on the price either , i waited about 30 minutes before closing time and called the owner over to help me and i just flat out told the dealer all i needed was the one rear tire ; i asked her what kind of deal she give me if i bought a full set and keep the old one's as spare's ! She said she would knock off $100.00 for the complete set , but told they wouldn't have time to mount them for me till tuesday because it was a saturday and they are allways closed on Monday's ! I told her no sweat , they loaded the tire;s into the back of my pick/ up that was fine with me because they charged $10.00 per tire to mount them ; i left and took it them to a friend who ran a service station who charged me $2,00 per tire good deal ! I did all my own labor on the Suzuki so i isaved on labor with sevicing ! And i did have to put a new throddle cable and replace one torn CV boot and new barke's and i rebuild the carb adjusted the valve's once and i also re upholtered the seat's on both atv'with new foam padding and real Leather sure made them both easier on the ole butt , but i got the same amount i gave for both the Honda and Suzuki when they were new by selling both quad's on credit , the Honda $2500.00 and Suzuki $3500.00 at $50.00 a week till they were payed in full I kept the Titles as of this week His Balance is only $450.00 ! And he never regreted paying me what i charged , because they didn't have credit and couldn't come up with the cash to buy even one old worn out Quad ! It was good for me because i got to buy the 2006 Arctic Cat 400 FIS with the Suzuki/ Belt Driven Duramatic Automatic and it was a lot easier for me having to change gear's with a hand shifter like i did on the Honda and Suzuki , you see i lost both my Leg's just below the knee's in an automobile accident way back in 1975 trying to help a friend push his car that had ran out of gas out of the road when another automobile traveling at a high rate of speed catch me between the bumper's at the age of 21 yrs old . I'm stuck in awheel chair untill i get one an ATV , then i can go and get to place's i couldn't get to even when i had my lag's ; Don't get me wrong i would give up my ATV to get my leg's back but i can't i had a 1972 Honda CB 750 that i rode as much as could when the weather would aloow and i sure loved to ride my bike ! But My Arctic Cat 400 FIS 4x4 Automatic ATV is as close to having my leg's untill the good Lord call's me home , sorry for the ramblin' and back to the question of oil ; what ever brand of oil you deside on just make sure it's Wet Clutch compadible ! The Castrol GTX 10w40 and 20w50 has the Right Rating at SE , SF , or SG under API service classification ! There's a chart in my ownwer's manual , that give's you an idea of what oil weight to use for what the temp range to use ; 0w40 is good for temp range -22 Degree* F - to 104 Degree* F- and 5w30 is good for temp range -30 Degree * F to 32 Dgree * F And 10w40 is good for temp range -20 Degree * F to 104 Drgree * F And 20w50 is good for temp range 32 Degree * F to 104 Degree * F Hope this is of some help to you , and may the good Lord make for some good safe riding ! Again sorry for the novel i didn't realize how long it was when finished and clicked the reply tab , and i wish a safe and fun weekend to all on the forums ! .....................williebee

 

listen to what a polaris book tells you to use. there isnt much differnce between 0-40 and 10-40 since there both fully synth. (which you are suppose to use) so if nothings wrong why change. the only time (in my opinion) you would go to 20-50 is if you are running in very hot weather and the engine runs very warm most of the time.

 

Stay with the 0w40 it was first used when Polaris was having cam lube trouble at cold start ups.I have run both my 4strokes many many hard miles with no problems with the Polaris 0w40.They recomend it for a good reason

 

stendori that's why i use 20w50 in the summer in my AC 400 it's air and oil cooled , no radiattor and the temp's in in north ga. have been getting as high as 110 degree's in late july and august all the way to sept ; and most of the trail's we ride around here are very rocky and slow going in the mountain's and thick forest ! Plus we have speed limit's of 25 mph in almost all the trail's we ride in north ga. and Prentiss cooper in TN all the trail's and road's that you use to acxcess the trail system's are posted 25 mph and the forrest guy's are every where and any where with those speed gun's! I've tryed 0w40 before and all my atv's have run cooler with 20w50 in summer and 10w40 work's great for me in winter , and i've tryed many different brand's of oil ; and have alway's gone back to Castrol GTX with API SE and SG has proven it'self to me ! My old 86' Honda TRX 350 Foreman full time 4x4 whitch i sold to my brother in Nov. 2005 only hold's 2 qts with filter and it's still run's as good as it did from the dealer show room floor ! I'm not knocking your's or anyone else brand of machine are oil , i'm only stasting what has worked best for me and still does ; happy trail's to all have fun and becarefull out there ! ............williebee