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#41
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Ethanol In Garden Tractors, Lawn Mowers
Smitty Two wrote:
In article .com, "Pete C." wrote: RB wrote: There is a product on the market now called 50FUEL It's pure gasoline premixed to 50:1 oil/gas or 40:1 Shelf life of 2 years at least. For things like trimmers and chainsaws, it seems to solve some starting and run problems on my equipment. Retails for $4 - $5 /qt Wow, $16-$20 per gallon?! That's sure paying a lot extra for the convenience of not spending 35 seconds dumping a little bottle of pre-measured 2-cycle oil into a small gas can. But it's *pure* gasoline, Pete. Made by the Amish. Company is based in Louisiana. No telling what those Cajuns put in it. I suspect it is mixed in a big pot in someone's backyard. |
#42
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Ethanol In Garden Tractors, Lawn Mowers
RB wrote:
Pete C. wrote: RB wrote: There is a product on the market now called 50FUEL It's pure gasoline premixed to 50:1 oil/gas or 40:1 Shelf life of 2 years at least. For things like trimmers and chainsaws, it seems to solve some starting and run problems on my equipment. Retails for $4 - $5 /qt Wow, $16-$20 per gallon?! That's sure paying a lot extra for the convenience of not spending 35 seconds dumping a little bottle of pre-measured 2-cycle oil into a small gas can. I did the math. I'm not driving to the gas station to fill up a 1-gallon can, nor buying the oil separately. And I'm getting pure product with no ethanol. My Ryobi trimmer had been giving me problems with hard starting and running. It's much better with the first tank of this stuff. A quart will last me about 2 months of summer usage. I don't make a special trip to fill a gas can and just bring it along and stop on the way home and fuel the car at the same time. You can buy synthetic oil that contains fuel stabilizer in an easy measure bottle. I noticed a significant improvement in operation when I started using it. I haven't noticed any issues with ethanol blend except that it was stupidly implemented. Currently only two brands even sell it in my area because it is more expensive than "plain" gasoline. |
#43
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Ethanol In Garden Tractors, Lawn Mowers
On Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:11:20 -0500, dpb wrote:
LouB wrote: Pete C. wrote: Murriel wrote: Years ago I was told not to use automotive oil in garden tractors and lawn mowers but rather oil especially formulated for those devices, such as brands bearing the names "Briggs and Stratton," "Cub Cadet," etc. For four cycle engines use a good synthetic motor oil, I use Mobil 1 5W-30 in all my power equipment. For two cycle engines use a brand name two cycle oil for the fuel-oil mix. Now I see that the gasoline at the staion where I deal has 10% ethanol. Is this acceptable for lawn mowers and garden tractors? Not really, but you don't really have any other option unless you can travel to one of the few states where you can get alcohol free gasoline. To compensate you should put Sta-Bil in all your power equipment fuel, even if you don't expect to store it that long as the alcoholic fuel doesn't store well for even short periods. Could that be why my gas golf cart stopped starting after I filled the tank (it is ab old cart)? Highly unlikely. I don't think there's anything to back up the previous poster's assertions. He is right, but for the wrong reason. It takes special materials to handle the corrosive alcohol in fuel. Many older cars and truck could be ruined by using gasohol. Small engines are not designed to handle alcohol in the fuel and will eventually destroy the carb. |
#44
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Ethanol In Garden Tractors, Lawn Mowers
Michael Dobony wrote:
.... He is right, but for the wrong reason. It takes special materials to handle the corrosive alcohol in fuel. Many older cars and truck could be ruined by using gasohol. Small engines are not designed to handle alcohol in the fuel and will eventually destroy the carb. Whether the small engine(s) were or were not designed for ethanol fuels depends mostly on the age of the engine--see the link from B&S posted earlier which confirms that E10 is fine for their current engines (as, of course, will be true for essentially any now given the widespread mandates for ethanol blends it's almost a given). -- |
#45
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Ethanol In Garden Tractors, Lawn Mowers
On Thu, 18 Jun 2009 09:21:12 -0500, RB wrote:
Pete C. wrote: RB wrote: There is a product on the market now called 50FUEL It's pure gasoline premixed to 50:1 oil/gas or 40:1 Shelf life of 2 years at least. For things like trimmers and chainsaws, it seems to solve some starting and run problems on my equipment. Retails for $4 - $5 /qt Wow, $16-$20 per gallon?! That's sure paying a lot extra for the convenience of not spending 35 seconds dumping a little bottle of pre-measured 2-cycle oil into a small gas can. I did the math. I'm not driving to the gas station to fill up a 1-gallon can, nor buying the oil separately. And I'm getting pure product with no ethanol. My Ryobi trimmer had been giving me problems with hard starting and running. It's much better with the first tank of this stuff. A quart will last me about 2 months of summer usage. I last filled my chain-saw (an old Remington) over 2 years ago with some mixed gas drained from a friend's ultralight airplane. It is 40:1 standard air-cooled engine 2 stroke oil mixed with 100LL aviation gas. The saw started on the second pull when I needed it today. The gas was low in the tank so I filled it out of my plastic fuel can with more of the same gas. This little Remington is a VERY high compression engine - it will pull the ctarter cord right out of your hand if you are not real careful starting it. The cackle from the exhaust lets you know it is a pretty high performance machine. 24" bar on 35cc, IIRC. Might be 38. Cut 2 trees with it this afternoon.. |
#46
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Ethanol In Garden Tractors, Lawn Mowers
On Thu, 18 Jun 2009 10:38:07 -0400, George
wrote: RB wrote: Pete C. wrote: RB wrote: There is a product on the market now called 50FUEL It's pure gasoline premixed to 50:1 oil/gas or 40:1 Shelf life of 2 years at least. For things like trimmers and chainsaws, it seems to solve some starting and run problems on my equipment. Retails for $4 - $5 /qt Wow, $16-$20 per gallon?! That's sure paying a lot extra for the convenience of not spending 35 seconds dumping a little bottle of pre-measured 2-cycle oil into a small gas can. I did the math. I'm not driving to the gas station to fill up a 1-gallon can, nor buying the oil separately. And I'm getting pure product with no ethanol. My Ryobi trimmer had been giving me problems with hard starting and running. It's much better with the first tank of this stuff. A quart will last me about 2 months of summer usage. I don't make a special trip to fill a gas can and just bring it along and stop on the way home and fuel the car at the same time. You can buy synthetic oil that contains fuel stabilizer in an easy measure bottle. I noticed a significant improvement in operation when I started using it. I haven't noticed any issues with ethanol blend except that it was stupidly implemented. Currently only two brands even sell it in my area because it is more expensive than "plain" gasoline. The ethanol blends CAN muck up the fuel lines, depending what material they are made of. I replace mine with Tygothane. It can also deteriorate diaphragms in carbs. When my saw is not running on Aviation gas I use Shell Ultra - because it is always ethanol free in Canada and has the octane required for the hot little Remington. Secret to buying ethanol free premium for small engine use - start the pump and put a gallon or so in your car - then fill your can. This way any regular left in the hose (assuming a mixer pump) goes in the car tank. Shut off the pump and pay for the gas - then switch to regular and put gas in your car. That way YOU get the premium that was left in the hose in YOUR car - not the next guy. |
#47
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Ethanol In Garden Tractors, Lawn Mowers
On Thu, 18 Jun 2009 09:40:56 -0500, Michael Dobony
wrote: On Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:11:20 -0500, dpb wrote: LouB wrote: Pete C. wrote: Murriel wrote: Years ago I was told not to use automotive oil in garden tractors and lawn mowers but rather oil especially formulated for those devices, such as brands bearing the names "Briggs and Stratton," "Cub Cadet," etc. For four cycle engines use a good synthetic motor oil, I use Mobil 1 5W-30 in all my power equipment. For two cycle engines use a brand name two cycle oil for the fuel-oil mix. Now I see that the gasoline at the staion where I deal has 10% ethanol. Is this acceptable for lawn mowers and garden tractors? Not really, but you don't really have any other option unless you can travel to one of the few states where you can get alcohol free gasoline. To compensate you should put Sta-Bil in all your power equipment fuel, even if you don't expect to store it that long as the alcoholic fuel doesn't store well for even short periods. Could that be why my gas golf cart stopped starting after I filled the tank (it is ab old cart)? Highly unlikely. I don't think there's anything to back up the previous poster's assertions. He is right, but for the wrong reason. It takes special materials to handle the corrosive alcohol in fuel. Many older cars and truck could be ruined by using gasohol. Small engines are not designed to handle alcohol in the fuel and will eventually destroy the carb. For 4 stroke engines do NOT use standard automotive engine oil as it has no zinc compounds in it any more for extreme pressure/anti-friction. It has been taken out for emission control reasons - if the engine burns any oil with the zinc compounds in it, the catalist is compromized. Apparently it is still allowed in the heavier oils like 20W50, but that doesnt mean the brand you use will have it. The special 4 stroke equipment and bike oils still have it. Use them for best engine life. |
#48
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Ethanol In Garden Tractors, Lawn Mowers
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#49
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Ethanol In Garden Tractors, Lawn Mowers
Air cooled engines run a lot hotter. At least, that's what
my instructor said, when I took the small engine course. -- Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus www.lds.org .. "dpb" wrote in message ... BS...a small 4-cycle engine has higher lubrication demands than an automotive engine? I don't think so and B&S doesn't either... I seriously doubt you'll find any ordinary small 4-cycle engine have any special requirements more stringent than the above. |
#50
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Ethanol In Garden Tractors, Lawn Mowers
Stormin Mormon wrote:
Air cooled engines run a lot hotter. At least, that's what my instructor said, when I took the small engine course. Look at the manufacturer's oil spec's in comparison in terms of API ratings... -- |
#51
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Ethanol In Garden Tractors, Lawn Mowers
dpb wrote:
wrote: ... For 4 stroke engines do NOT use standard automotive engine oil as it has no zinc compounds in it any more for extreme pressure/anti-friction. It has been taken out for emission control reasons - if the engine burns any oil with the zinc compounds in it, the catalist is compromized. Apparently it is still allowed in the heavier oils like 20W50, but that doesnt mean the brand you use will have it. The special 4 stroke equipment and bike oils still have it. Use them for best engine life. BS...a small 4-cycle engine has higher lubrication demands than an automotive engine? I don't think so and B&S doesn't either... "Briggs & Stratton lawnmower oil is formulated...and approved by Briggs & Stratton engineers-Warranty certified and recommended in all Briggs & Stratton manuals-A high quality detergent oil classified SJ/CD by the API" The API classification is nothing different than that for most modern automotive applications. I seriously doubt you'll find any ordinary small 4-cycle engine have any special requirements more stringent than the above. Air-cooled engines always have hotspots, no matter how well-designed. That's why even Porsche and VW eventually gave up on air-cooled engines. Briggs is not going to spec anything other than regular oil. It would be a marketing nightmare for them, and a warranty issue. "Don't buy a mower with a B&S engine. You have to use B&S oil, and that stuff is expensive." They know that the original owner is rarely going to put enough hours on the engine to wear it out, and even then it won't be blamed on anything in particular. How many people are going to run a mower 10 years until it just won't run anymore, then realize "If only I had used motorcyle oil I'd get another 5 years out of it." ? As to wear additives, it's true that the best of them has been eliminated for the sake of emissions, specifically catalytic convertors. That's a great tip on using bike oils. I'm going to check with my Lucas rep and see if their Motorcycle Synthetics will work in my non-catalyst cars. I think racing oils should also still have the anti-wear zinc and other additives. |
#52
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Ethanol In Garden Tractors, Lawn Mowers
RB wrote:
dpb wrote: wrote: ... For 4 stroke engines do NOT use standard automotive engine oil as it has no zinc compounds in it any more for extreme pressure/anti-friction. It has been taken out for emission control reasons - if the engine burns any oil with the zinc compounds in it, the catalist is compromized. Apparently it is still allowed in the heavier oils like 20W50, but that doesnt mean the brand you use will have it. The special 4 stroke equipment and bike oils still have it. Use them for best engine life. BS...a small 4-cycle engine has higher lubrication demands than an automotive engine? I don't think so and B&S doesn't either... "Briggs & Stratton lawnmower oil is formulated...and approved by Briggs & Stratton engineers-Warranty certified and recommended in all Briggs & Stratton manuals-A high quality detergent oil classified SJ/CD by the API" The API classification is nothing different than that for most modern automotive applications. I seriously doubt you'll find any ordinary small 4-cycle engine have any special requirements more stringent than the above. Air-cooled engines always have hotspots, no matter how well-designed. That's why even Porsche and VW eventually gave up on air-cooled engines. Briggs is not going to spec anything other than regular oil. It would be a marketing nightmare for them, and a warranty issue. "Don't buy a mower with a B&S engine. You have to use B&S oil, and that stuff is expensive." They know that the original owner is rarely going to put enough hours on the engine to wear it out, and even then it won't be blamed on anything in particular. How many people are going to run a mower 10 years until it just won't run anymore, then realize "If only I had used motorcyle oil I'd get another 5 years out of it." ? As to wear additives, it's true that the best of them has been eliminated for the sake of emissions, specifically catalytic convertors. That's a great tip on using bike oils. I'm going to check with my Lucas rep and see if their Motorcycle Synthetics will work in my non-catalyst cars. I think racing oils should also still have the anti-wear zinc and other additives. Yabbut the thread was for small lawnmower engines, not racing or other extreme duty applications. There's little need nor anything to be gained from using anything greatly exceeding the OEM's API recommendations in normal use. Virtually any quality automotive oil of proper viscosity rating of the last 20-30 years will be more than adequate since the advent of the higher-temperature running auto engines beginning in the 80s for the emission controls. In the 50s thru say 70s the requirements were pretty minimal and some might show some temperature breakdown in air-cooled engines I'll agree but that's pretty much gone by the by... Again, high performance bike engines, etc., etc., aren't/weren't the subject. Using such won't hurt anything and the small quantities required means it won't really cost a whole lot extra but it generally isn't really going to make any difference ever be able to tell. As noted upthread, we're running some 30-40 yr-old small engine equipment regularly. For most of their lifetimes (until Farmland Co-op closed their refinery and quit manufacturing it) they ran on an all-purpose API SE/SF/SD multi-grade that included full engine warranty (including the turbochargers) service and a drained oil sample test kit returned at every change for all of the trucks and tractors. After that went away and w/ the arrival of the larger crankcase capacity tractors went to bulk JD multi-grade but not synthetic -- JD did not recommend switching to synthetics on engines formerly not on them. Use it in everything... -- |
#53
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Ethanol In Garden Tractors, Lawn Mowers
RB wrote:
.... Briggs is not going to spec anything other than regular oil. .... But the intended point is (which my other response didn't do well) that they _could_ have spec'ed a more stringent API classification but didn't. It's not that there's any shortage of grades from which to choose to meet the needs of the engines they're designing. That they didn't indicates something... -- |
#54
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Ethanol In Garden Tractors, Lawn Mowers
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#55
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Ethanol In Garden Tractors, Lawn Mowers
dpb wrote:
RB wrote: ... Briggs is not going to spec anything other than regular oil. ... But the intended point is (which my other response didn't do well) that they _could_ have spec'ed a more stringent API classification but didn't. It's not that there's any shortage of grades from which to choose to meet the needs of the engines they're designing. That they didn't indicates something... My points were two: Air-cooled engines can have localized hotspots that exceed the temps found in automotive watercooled engines. Speaking only of areas touched by the oil. Current API specs have all but eliminated the traditional, and most effective wear reducing additives so as not to foul your cat convertor. To get the wear inhibitors back, you have to look at oils made for engines without catalysts - race cars, motorcycles. --- Will small engines last a long time using motor oils formulated tot he current API spec? Undoubtedly. Are they ideal for the application? No, they are designed to a different operating environment. Is the engine manufacturers branded oil the best for their engines? Not necessarily. |
#56
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Ethanol In Garden Tractors, Lawn Mowers
RB wrote:
dpb wrote: RB wrote: ... Briggs is not going to spec anything other than regular oil. ... But the intended point is (which my other response didn't do well) that they _could_ have spec'ed a more stringent API classification but didn't. It's not that there's any shortage of grades from which to choose to meet the needs of the engines they're designing. That they didn't indicates something... My points were two: Air-cooled engines can have localized hotspots that exceed the temps found in automotive watercooled engines. Speaking only of areas touched by the oil. "Can", yes. Smaller and less performance driven engines less likely. I'd also wager quite a bit that the engine manufacturers look at temperature distributions quite a bit in the design process. Current API specs have all but eliminated the traditional, and most effective wear reducing additives so as not to foul your cat convertor. To get the wear inhibitors back, you have to look at oils made for engines without catalysts - race cars, motorcycles. That doesn't mean that there aren't different than the traditional wear additives currently in those oils. There are some very smart folks doing lubrication design these days w/ far more sophisticated chemical modeling tools, etc., than in those days of yore. Will small engines last a long time using motor oils formulated tot he current API spec? Undoubtedly. Are they ideal for the application? No, they are designed to a different operating environment. Is the engine manufacturers branded oil the best for their engines? Not necessarily. OTOH, is some other selected ad hoc oil any better? Not necessarily. The primary disagreement I have is the conclusion drawn that OEMs simply more or less randomly select something in making those recommendations and that there is something somehow wrong w/ newer oils simply because they don't necessarily use the older formulations. Again, specialty applications are something different than the ordinary small 4-cycle. -- |
#57
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Ethanol In Garden Tractors, Lawn Mowers
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#58
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Ethanol In Garden Tractors, Lawn Mowers
On Thu, 18 Jun 2009 21:25:18 -0500, dpb wrote:
wrote: ... For 4 stroke engines do NOT use standard automotive engine oil as it has no zinc compounds in it any more for extreme pressure/anti-friction. It has been taken out for emission control reasons - if the engine burns any oil with the zinc compounds in it, the catalist is compromized. Apparently it is still allowed in the heavier oils like 20W50, but that doesnt mean the brand you use will have it. The special 4 stroke equipment and bike oils still have it. Use them for best engine life. BS...a small 4-cycle engine has higher lubrication demands than an automotive engine? I don't think so and B&S doesn't either... Air cooled engines DO have higher lubrication requirements - and the low TBO or lifespan of most small engines definitely affirms that. "Briggs & Stratton lawnmower oil is formulated...and approved by Briggs & Stratton engineers-Warranty certified and recommended in all Briggs & Stratton manuals-A high quality detergent oil classified SJ/CD by the API" The API classification is nothing different than that for most modern automotive applications. I seriously doubt you'll find any ordinary small 4-cycle engine have any special requirements more stringent than the above. About 98% of the older small engines will last a WHOLE LOT longer with oils containing ZDDP. Any engine with flat tappets will have significantly less cam wear with ZDDP. The only reason current auto oil does not have it is because it can affect catalytic converter life. Any SL or previous engine oil is acceptable for small engine use.. Racing oil and Deisel or Multi-Fleet oil is also acceptable.They all have about 12ppm ZDDP, compared to a maximum of 0.08% Today's roller tapet engines are much less demanding lubrication-wise than flat-tappet engines. |
#59
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Ethanol In Garden Tractors, Lawn Mowers
On Thu, 18 Jun 2009 23:17:46 -0500, dpb wrote:
Stormin Mormon wrote: Air cooled engines run a lot hotter. At least, that's what my instructor said, when I took the small engine course. Look at the manufacturer's oil spec's in comparison in terms of API ratings... Remember, higher API ratings do NOT translate to better lubrication. They just meen a newer standard.SM oil is significantly inferior to SJ for heavy duty applications, old engines, and "L" Head air cooled engines. Don't know if any of the current crop of OHV small engines has roller cams but I doubt it. |
#60
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Ethanol In Garden Tractors, Lawn Mowers
On Fri, 19 Jun 2009 10:43:10 -0500, RB wrote:
dpb wrote: wrote: ... For 4 stroke engines do NOT use standard automotive engine oil as it has no zinc compounds in it any more for extreme pressure/anti-friction. It has been taken out for emission control reasons - if the engine burns any oil with the zinc compounds in it, the catalist is compromized. Apparently it is still allowed in the heavier oils like 20W50, but that doesnt mean the brand you use will have it. The special 4 stroke equipment and bike oils still have it. Use them for best engine life. BS...a small 4-cycle engine has higher lubrication demands than an automotive engine? I don't think so and B&S doesn't either... "Briggs & Stratton lawnmower oil is formulated...and approved by Briggs & Stratton engineers-Warranty certified and recommended in all Briggs & Stratton manuals-A high quality detergent oil classified SJ/CD by the API" The API classification is nothing different than that for most modern automotive applications. I seriously doubt you'll find any ordinary small 4-cycle engine have any special requirements more stringent than the above. Air-cooled engines always have hotspots, no matter how well-designed. That's why even Porsche and VW eventually gave up on air-cooled engines. Briggs is not going to spec anything other than regular oil. It would be a marketing nightmare for them, and a warranty issue. "Don't buy a mower with a B&S engine. You have to use B&S oil, and that stuff is expensive." They know that the original owner is rarely going to put enough hours on the engine to wear it out, and even then it won't be blamed on anything in particular. How many people are going to run a mower 10 years until it just won't run anymore, then realize "If only I had used motorcyle oil I'd get another 5 years out of it." ? As to wear additives, it's true that the best of them has been eliminated for the sake of emissions, specifically catalytic convertors. That's a great tip on using bike oils. I'm going to check with my Lucas rep and see if their Motorcycle Synthetics will work in my non-catalyst cars. I think racing oils should also still have the anti-wear zinc and other additives. They do. So do most deisel engine oils. |
#61
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Ethanol In Garden Tractors, Lawn Mowers
On Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:51:23 -0500, dpb wrote:
Yabbut the thread was for small lawnmower engines, not racing or other extreme duty applications. There's little need nor anything to be gained from using anything greatly exceeding the OEM's API recommendations in normal use. Virtually any quality automotive oil of proper viscosity rating of the last 20-30 years will be more than adequate since the advent of the higher-temperature running auto engines beginning in the 80s for the emission controls. In the 50s thru say 70s the requirements were pretty minimal and some might show some temperature breakdown in air-cooled engines I'll agree but that's pretty much gone by the by... You have not QUITE understood what I'm saying. The 20 and 30 year old oil is PERFECT for lawn mowers etc. The levels of ZDDP (google it if you don't know what I'm talking about) were very high back in the '70s. Today's automotive engine oils have virtually NONE. ZDDP protects sliding parts. Camshafts and camfollowers. Connecting rods on splash lubricated engines. Ditto for main bearings. There is NO pressurized layer of oil between the moving parts in a B&S, Kohler, or Techumseh l-head engine. The ZDDP prevents metal-metal sliding friction from welding the parts together. Again, high performance bike engines, etc., etc., aren't/weren't the subject. Using such won't hurt anything and the small quantities required means it won't really cost a whole lot extra but it generally isn't really going to make any difference ever be able to tell. You can more than double the life of the average small 4 stroke engine by using the correct oil over using current off-the-shelf automotive oils. If you put a lot of hours on a fleet of small engines (snow removal/lawn service or generator/construction air compressor use) the inconvenience/expense of finding the right oil will save you BIG BUCKS. As noted upthread, we're running some 30-40 yr-old small engine equipment regularly. For most of their lifetimes (until Farmland Co-op closed their refinery and quit manufacturing it) they ran on an all-purpose API SE/SF/SD multi-grade that included full engine warranty (including the turbochargers) service and a drained oil sample test kit returned at every change for all of the trucks and tractors. After that went away and w/ the arrival of the larger crankcase capacity tractors went to bulk JD multi-grade but not synthetic -- JD did not recommend switching to synthetics on engines formerly not on them. Use it in everything... You ARE using the right oil in the small engines. JD Multi-Fleet and SD rated oils ARE right for these engines. SM rated oil is NOT. For anyone to recommend otherwise they obviously do not know API oil ratings and/or small engine lub requirements. |
#62
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Ethanol In Garden Tractors, Lawn Mowers
On Fri, 19 Jun 2009 18:49:24 -0500, dpb wrote:
Current API specs have all but eliminated the traditional, and most effective wear reducing additives so as not to foul your cat convertor. To get the wear inhibitors back, you have to look at oils made for engines without catalysts - race cars, motorcycles. That doesn't mean that there aren't different than the traditional wear additives currently in those oils. There are some very smart folks doing lubrication design these days w/ far more sophisticated chemical modeling tools, etc., than in those days of yore. There are a lot of very intelligent mechanical engineers convincing the automotive manufacturers to go to the more complex and expensive roller tappet camshafts to make engines last running the de-contented engine oils mandated by the emission control requirements. Will small engines last a long time using motor oils formulated tot he current API spec? Undoubtedly. Are they ideal for the application? No, they are designed to a different operating environment. Is the engine manufacturers branded oil the best for their engines? Not necessarily. But usually. They will be providing oils with lots of ZDDP in them. GENERALLY the small engine manufactur supplied oil is roughly equivalent to multi-fleet or racing oil. OTOH, is some other selected ad hoc oil any better? Not necessarily. The primary disagreement I have is the conclusion drawn that OEMs simply more or less randomly select something in making those recommendations and that there is something somehow wrong w/ newer oils simply because they don't necessarily use the older formulations. Again, specialty applications are something different than the ordinary small 4-cycle. Are you a mechanic? In particular a small engine mechanic? Or a mechanical or lubrication engineer? I'm not an engineer, but I AM a mechanic (among other things) and have worked on a lot of small and air-cooled engines in the last 45 years. |
#63
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Ethanol In Garden Tractors, Lawn Mowers
I am now thinking this is what happened to my weed eater. My daughter lent it to her friend without asking me. I think they ran regular gas through it and it has never worked right since and I have had it in the shop more than it has run after wards. -- Dymphna Message origin: www.TRAVEL.com |
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