It seems like every time I log in, there are more oil threads, just like when I started reading the forums a few years ago. I like reading them, and everyone has a different opinion, as would be expected in a group of enthusiasts, which is most definitely what we are. No other word but "enthusiast" would accurately describe a group of adults tormenting themselves with computers to share their thoughts with the world. I think that's one of the nice things about these forums, we all want to share our thoughts, good or bad, with the world.

Now, enough rambling... about oil. What is it that makes us so passionate, opinionated, and indignant when others disagree about our oil choices? If I didn't know better, I'd say we were discussing sex.

So, I want to hear why we feel so strongly about our choices, and if any of us have actually had any kind of <u>mechanical failures</u> we're pretty sure were caused by any one particular oil.

I'll start us off..

In over 30 years of using machinery of all kinds, from lawn mowers to diesels over 10,000 horsepower, I have never seen a failure that was directly attributable to the oil not doing it's job, with the exception of heavy carbon buildup in diesels that were running low-detergent oils, for reasons known only to the Canadian Navy.

It's hard to believe, but I've never had an engine fail because of the oil not doing it's job. Maybe one two-stroke dirt bike back in the 80's that had a rod bearing slowly disintegrate, then send bits through the rotary valve, but other than that, simply zero failures, nada, nothing.

I'm careful what I use to be sure, but I think any good oil will do the job, provided we don't use it where it's not intended to go. Putting an "energy conserving" oil with moly additives in with a wet clutch is asking for trouble, in my opinion, but I'm not an expert either, just someone who doesn't care to replace a wet clutch unless I have to. And engine oil has no place in a hypoid gearset either, but I'm willing to bet you can do it and get away with it for quite a while. Just don't try it in my quad, I'd rather see someone else be the guinea pig.

Let's have some fun with this, and tell stories about Uncle Al and the '58 Ford he ran on used cooking grease for 18 years. I'm looking forward to reading them [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img]

 

I have mechanic friend who tells me the only way to get an oil related failure is if you run out. I generally believe him. My favorite is 15-40 diesel spec motor oil which I use in everything from Cummins diesel to Goldwing 1800 to all my dirt toys.

 

I believe that 15-W40 has a detergent in it, so basically it is always "cleaning" your engine!

 

I agree with the part about running out causing the vast majority of problems [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] What 15-40 are you running? I've looked hard at Rotella T, my only concern is the higher viscosity in cold weather, and I'm not sure what the transmission in the Honda will think of the lack of extreme pressure additives. Like I said, I'd probably get away with it, reap the benefits of cheaper oil changes, etc. but you know how it is.

 

Most do, since they're intended for diesel use. Our Navy was/is using a straight 40 weight, all their diesels are heated even when not running, so there was no requirement for a multigrade oil. They are looking at Sirius 40 and a product called OMD 113 now, trying to get away from the current non-detergent oil, called MIL-9000.

 

Sounds like a great idea for a thread. Here's a story to start it off with, your cooking oil comment made me think of it, that occurred in the mid '50's.

One of our neighbors hired a young man to work during the summer haying and fall harvest. This young man was to do primarily summer fallow work with a John Deere model G pulling rod weeders and harrows. At the start of the work he was shown how to check the engine oil of the the tractor which consisted of opening a petcock on the side of the crankcase to see if the oil was above that level. If the engine oil did not run out that petcock was closed and an upper one was opened and oil added till the level reached the upper petcock. As I recall it took about 2 or 3 quarts to bring it up to the "full" level. During this training, which included instructions on changing the oil, our neighbor told his new helper to use the same oil as was used in the diesel tractors even though the "G" ran on gas or stove oil. Well the kid saw a pump marked "diesel" and, you guessed it, put diesel fuel in the crankcase of the tractor. The mistake was not discovered till late in the summer and after at least one oil change. There was no apparent damage to the engine of that old John Deere even after many hours of working hard with only diesel oil as lubrication. Those old Johnny Pops were low speed, around 1400 RPM top speed as I recall, and had massive bearing surfaces in them which is probably what saved the engine.

Like you, I have seen no engines destroyed by a particular brand of oil but have seen engines that were full of sludge from running the wrong kind of oil for the application or failure to do routine oil changes. Some of these ended up with bearing failure or other problems due to oil passages plugging and other such related issues.

 

I'm willing to bet the inside of that tractor engine was sparkly clean after the diesel fuel came out. With regular oil changes and normal use, plain bearings are pretty tough to destroy. As long as there is an oil wedge of some sort, they keep on turning and burning.

 

We have used Rotella T 20-40 and later the 15-40 in all kinds of farm equipment for years with no problems at all. This is in eastern Washington where the winters often drop well below zero and the summers get quite warm. Since it, the Rotella T, is available in the farm shop it gets used in all the small equipment as well with the exception of two-cycle engines. Don't know for sure but I suspect the quads get it as a steady diet since they are serviced in the same shop.

 

i did a lot of research into oils when i switched my Harley over to synthetics. there are some good tests done by American Iron where they sent oil samples in to an independant lab and printed the results. Mobil 1 V-Twin oil was at or near the top in all the tests, but the air cooled Harley has different needs than the atvs. i use the Mobil 1 MX4T 10W-40 in by brute since the 10 hour change. i would happily use any premium synthetic in my brute, but can easily get the Mobil 1 products locally.

probably the biggest issue i have is the people that push 0W oil for atvs where the manufacturer reccomends 10W-40. if you run 0W, then the oil gets mechanical sheared for a while, then you will have an oil with less than 0W viscosity. i see no good in that. if start-up is the issue, then crank your atv with the kill switch "off" for a few seconds before starting to get the oil flowing.

i stress to follow the owners manual to the letter regarding Viscosity grade (weight) and API class. fossil oil is fine, but use the right stuff and change it regularly.

but i am a machinist in a railroad diesel shop and see all kinds of cool stuff. the locomotive oil seldom, if ever gets changed, and we see what happens under all kinds of conditions. a bearing failure on a locomotive engine will launch a hundred pounds of piston and rod through the side of the block and the long hood.

i personally believe the hype on the Amsoil site sucks a lot of people in and makes the believers almost fanatics. Amsoil is good, but so are Royal Purple, Mobil 1, and a few others. and good fossil oil will perform as well for 90% of us.

i think it is more important to pay attention to our air filters than fight over oil. the air filters can make or break an engine a lot quicker than oil choices.

monty

 

Now that we're laughing a bit, another one comes back to me.

I remember once, a young lady came walking along the street as I was adding the last of a liter of oil to my old Chevy stepside. Being a gentler time, she asked if I had any experience with cars. And naturally being curious, I inquired why she was asking... "Well", she said," I've been driving around for a little while, and that little "teapot" light came on. Then the car started slowing down and finally stopped just down the street." At this point, I asked her if the light looked anything like an oil feeder. She thought a moment, and said, "I suppose it does, if you think of it like that, I guess." Then, "I guess my husband isn't going to be happy with me, is he?"

All I could do was slowly nod my head in agreement with her last question. I noticed the car leaving via a wrecker shortly after.

Which begs me to ask the question.. why not have the light show up as "NO OIL !!!", or "HELP ME", or even "CHECK OIL, DUMMY" ? Because, as sure as there are little apples, leaving anything open to interpretation leaves room for .. well, you see what I'm getting at [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img]