Oil for gas powered splash lubed engines
Posted: Tue Oct 03, 2017 1:57 pm
I figured I'd get up on my soapbox again regarding oil, as I've done a lot of research and a lot of learning the hard way on this one.
Those of you with gas powered splash lubed engines will want to pay attention.
No that long ago, the EPA mandated the removal and minimization of additives like zinc, sulfur, and moly in "on-road" motor oils. This is far reaching, affecting every oil type and brand from the 99 cent a quart stuff to Mobil 1 full synthetic, and in my opinion is one of the least known and most BS move in automotive history if you ask me.
Here's the deal. In newer car motors with oil pumps and roller valve train with minimal "rubbing" parts, it works fine. In a splash lubed flat tappet engine that many use in their locomotives, tillers, lawn mower, go kart, or whatever, these additives are vital to the continued lubrication of the crank and rod, camshaft lobes, and cam bearings. Note that the rod/crank, and cam/case bearings are steel on aluminum, there is no bearings or bushings here so if the oil is working poorly the aluminum gals quickly and seizes the engine. I started seeing a lot of metal in my oil on two engines, and lost two engines to seized connecting rods which ventilated the block in spectacular fashion, running Mobil 1 synthetic and Castrol full synthetic. Both motors had broken in fine on regular cheap oil. Come to find out, my cheap oil was old stock chevron oil with about 1300 PPM(parts per million) zinc. The Mobil 1 only had about 500, the Castrol had none.
The BMW guys were having so many issues with cam lobe wear and valve train problems that one online forum started a group buy of bulk volumes of euro-spec Mobil-1 which still had the additives in it, and were shipping it stateside.
The solution I found, is that off-road racing oils, motorcycle oils, and marine oils still contain the additives we need. Of the SAE ratings, "SG" was the last rating that included a minimum of 1300 ppm zinc. We are at "SN" now, which is bathwater as far as I'm concerned.
I have personally had good luck with Maxima motorcycle oil, it has nearly as much zinc in it as Amsoil plus great anti-foaming properties, I don't even need to run the synthetic, the synthetic blend works fine on my racing kart and for equipment I just use the full petroleum version.
When looking for your oil, look for "meets and/or exceeds SAE SG standards", this will assure a high zinc motor oil. Kawasaki and several other motorcycle manufacturers even require this to honor their warranties if you read the fine print. Many generator and equipment companies that include the first fill of oil with their equipment will also include a "SG" rated oil if you look at the bottle.
(steps off soapbox)
Those of you with gas powered splash lubed engines will want to pay attention.
No that long ago, the EPA mandated the removal and minimization of additives like zinc, sulfur, and moly in "on-road" motor oils. This is far reaching, affecting every oil type and brand from the 99 cent a quart stuff to Mobil 1 full synthetic, and in my opinion is one of the least known and most BS move in automotive history if you ask me.
Here's the deal. In newer car motors with oil pumps and roller valve train with minimal "rubbing" parts, it works fine. In a splash lubed flat tappet engine that many use in their locomotives, tillers, lawn mower, go kart, or whatever, these additives are vital to the continued lubrication of the crank and rod, camshaft lobes, and cam bearings. Note that the rod/crank, and cam/case bearings are steel on aluminum, there is no bearings or bushings here so if the oil is working poorly the aluminum gals quickly and seizes the engine. I started seeing a lot of metal in my oil on two engines, and lost two engines to seized connecting rods which ventilated the block in spectacular fashion, running Mobil 1 synthetic and Castrol full synthetic. Both motors had broken in fine on regular cheap oil. Come to find out, my cheap oil was old stock chevron oil with about 1300 PPM(parts per million) zinc. The Mobil 1 only had about 500, the Castrol had none.
The BMW guys were having so many issues with cam lobe wear and valve train problems that one online forum started a group buy of bulk volumes of euro-spec Mobil-1 which still had the additives in it, and were shipping it stateside.
The solution I found, is that off-road racing oils, motorcycle oils, and marine oils still contain the additives we need. Of the SAE ratings, "SG" was the last rating that included a minimum of 1300 ppm zinc. We are at "SN" now, which is bathwater as far as I'm concerned.
I have personally had good luck with Maxima motorcycle oil, it has nearly as much zinc in it as Amsoil plus great anti-foaming properties, I don't even need to run the synthetic, the synthetic blend works fine on my racing kart and for equipment I just use the full petroleum version.
When looking for your oil, look for "meets and/or exceeds SAE SG standards", this will assure a high zinc motor oil. Kawasaki and several other motorcycle manufacturers even require this to honor their warranties if you read the fine print. Many generator and equipment companies that include the first fill of oil with their equipment will also include a "SG" rated oil if you look at the bottle.
(steps off soapbox)