Oil

Amsoil small engine synthetic here. 10W30/30W or something like that.

1striper1 said:

Amsoil small engine synthetic here. 10W30/30W or something like that.

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looked all over town for this oil the other day..it's designed for commercial grade small engines.. think I'm gonna switch from Royal Purple to this oil but it's looking like I'm gonna have to order it.

reynoldston said:

Change it every 100 hours if you use a good synthetic oil like Ams oil. Agree to disagree

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Speaking of Scams, scAMSoil is at the top of the list of scammers. Amsoil is basically an oil blending pyramid scheme. You can find other group 4 synthetics that are just as good or better at a faction of the cost. But really, why run a group 4 synthetic in a mower engine anyway? Bit of a waste of $$$ in my opinion. Even at double the change interval with amsoil you are still spending more money on oil than you would be with manufactures oil change interval with a group 3 synthetic, blend, or traditional dino oil.

Not saying scamsoil products are bad, they are just overpriced and all hype.

oh and last time I checked, Amsoil base stock is a group 4 synthetic manufactured by Mobile. Amsoil then adds other commercially available additive packages, lots of them to tout the double change interval. Oils now are of a quality that the additive packages wear out before the oil, so amsoil just adds more of the additive packages. This sometimes exceeds the composition limits for some of the oil certifications, so amsoils' gimick is "meets or exceeds such and such certification" but wasn't actually able to obtain said certification.

Just pick a good quality oil that meets the manufactures certification and follow the change interval. I use Rotella for stuff like this. Diesel engine oil has additives to handle the higher, inconsistent heat loads air cooled engines experience, without the gemicky price.

Just sayin.

Kelvininin said:

Speaking of Scams, scAMSoil is at the top of the list of scammers. Amsoil is basically an oil blending pyramid scheme. You can find other group 4 synthetics that are just as good or better at a faction of the cost. But really, why run a group 4 synthetic in a mower engine anyway? Bit of a waste of $$$ in my opinion. Even at double the change interval with amsoil you are still spending more money on oil than you would be with manufactures oil change interval with a group 3 synthetic, blend, or traditional dino oil.

Mot saying scamsoil products are bad, they are just overpriced and all hype.

Just sayin.

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can you explain the difference between a group 4 synthetic and a group 3 synthetic.

PVHIII said:

can you explain the difference between a group 4 synthetic and a group 3 synthetic.

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Group 4 oils are actually synthetic oil synthesized from a polyparifin base. Where group 3 is a highly refined version of dino oil. Group 4 oils a are slightly better hand surviving extreme conditions where group threes have a better additive solubility. This makes group 3 oils more flexible to work with, and better under some conditions. My definitions of extreme conditions would be ambient conditions below -50F and above 130F.

Here are a few good resource.

https://lubeng.wordpress.com/2012/06/19/is-your-engine-oil-really-synthetic/

Understanding the Differences in Base Oil Groups

If you really want to go big, look for group 5 synthetics. If you plan on making your mower fly, group 5 is the way to go.

It is my understanding that the Rotella T6 5W40 is a group 4 oil and about the best value there is in this category. I know the Mobil 1 0W40 is also group 4 but figure that might be a little too thin for a mower engine. I run the Rotella in all my mowers and have never had an issue from it. I also see it is popular in motorcycles/ATVs and is wet-clutch compatible.

One thing I have noticed is that the first change with it usually gets nasty looking pretty quickly, especially when using it in some of the equipment I got used and don't know about the history. Once you run a change until it turns pretty dark (only a few hours), you change it out and the new change stays nice and clean for what seems to be a lot longer than what I would see with a conventional oil. I figure that this type of oil is going to better withstand the rigors put on oil by a small air-cooled engine being diesel rated, full synthetic, and all. I am not saying that group 3 oils are bad. They are quite good but for $20 a gallon, this oil is good for what it is. I also understand that group 3 oils cannot be rated as synthetic in Europe so anything you see specified for European vehicles is going to be group 4 or 5 by default.

Oil is a funny thing. Everyone has an opinion like religion and politics.

Kelvininin said:

Group 4 oils are actually synthetic oil synthesized from a polyparifin base. Where group 3 is a highly refined version of dino oil. Group 4 oils a are slightly better hand surviving extreme conditions where group threes have a better additive solubility. This makes group 3 oils more flexible to work with, and better under some conditions. My definitions of extreme conditions would be ambient conditions below -50F and above 130F.

Here are a few good resource.

https://lubeng.wordpress.com/2012/06/19/is-your-engine-oil-really-synthetic/

Understanding the Differences in Base Oil Groups

If you really want to go big, look for group 5 synthetics. If you plan on making your mower fly, group 5 is the way to go.

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What are some examples of group 5 oils...not lookin to make my mower fly but am lookin to make it last and try to run the highest quality oil in all my engines including my ZT mower...thanks for your input

Kelvininin said:

Group 4 oils are actually synthetic oil synthesized from a polyparifin base. Where group 3 is a highly refined version of dino oil. Group 4 oils a are slightly better hand surviving extreme conditions where group threes have a better additive solubility. This makes group 3 oils more flexible to work with, and better under some conditions. My definitions of extreme conditions would be ambient conditions below -50F and above 130F.

Here are a few good resource.

https://lubeng.wordpress.com/2012/06/19/is-your-engine-oil-really-synthetic/

Understanding the Differences in Base Oil Groups

If you really want to go big, look for group 5 synthetics. If you plan on making your mower fly, group 5 is the way to go.

Click to expand...

Currently runnin Royal Purple in every engine I own.

PVHIII said:

What are some examples of group 5 oils...not lookin to make my mower fly but am lookin to make it last and try to run the highest quality oil in all my engines including my ZT mower...thanks for your input

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In this application you're not going to gain any additional engine longevity by running anything above a group 2. Group 2 is traditional motor oil. But if you want to spend $100/oil change. Redline, Motul, and many racing engine oils are group 5.

Kelvininin said:

In this application you're not going to gain any additional engine longevity by running anything above a group 2. Group 2 is traditional motor oil. But if you want to spend $100/oil change. Redline, Motul, and many racing engine oils are group 5.

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No thanks...I'll just stick with a good quality synthetic... No need for a racing oil in my ZT...but I am a believer that a good quality synthetic makes sense in air cooled engines because of the higher temps..peace of mind gos a long way ;-)