"Nate Nagel" wrote in message
...
wrote:
On Mon, 7 May 2007 16:52:01 -0700, "Ook" Ook Don't send me any
freakin' spam at zootal dot com delete the Don't send me any freakin'
spam wrote:


When mixing some oil for my weed eater, which is a 2-stroke engine, I
didn't have enough oil, so I substituted some engine oil to make up the
difference. Question: Why not just use engine oil? What is special about
2-stroke oil?


Back in the olden days you were told to use non-detergent 30w in your
small 2 strokes and it will work but there are better oils these days
(all the things the other posters have pointed out.)
I bought a gallon of Quicksilver TCW3 for 12 bucks at Sams and that is
probably a lifetime supply in my weedeater and chain saw.

The 2-cycle oil is formulated to burn cleanly; 4-cycle oils are not
formulated with any consideration to how they burn, as they're not
intended to be burned in normal operation.

nate

Bingo! Engine oil is not designed to be burned! That makes more sense then
anything else. Hmm...Question: I have a couple dozen small airplane engines,
displacement .05 to .35. They are two stroke engines, and the fuel is
methonal, optional nitromethane, and 25% oil, mostly castor oil. Castor is
considered best because it does not break down under high temperatures,
whereas the synthetic oil can burn or break down. If you have one lean burn,
you can ruin the engine if you are using synthetic. If you burn 25% castor,
the engines last forever. So, can I use castor oil in the fuel? I'm thinking
not - I think the gasoline engines burn hotter, and I don't know how castor
burns. More important - in the small engines, the castor is ejected from the
exhaust and can make quite a mess. It would not be good to have hot castor
oil dripping out of the exhaust.