synthetic or 30w?

reddragon

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i use Rotella T6 5-40 in all my vehicles including motorcycle....is there any reason it wont work for small engines?
 

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benski

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I don't see why not. I guess if you were really nervous about it, you could use a 30w synthetic.:smile:
 

KennyV

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i use Rotella T6 5-40 in all my vehicles including motorcycle....is there any reason it wont work for small engines?

Excellent choice ... That's what I have been using ever since it first came out... and even before T6 I always ran Mobil 1 Delvac synthetic in everything...

Synthetic is Very good for small air cooled engines... and T6 is very good syn... :smile:KennyV
 

Giles

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I have checked with four different parts store, Chinamart, Kmart and hardware stores and I can't find ANY brand 30# Synthetic Oil anywhere:frown:
Where do you guys find it?
 

reddragon

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i asked the same question and was told its hard to find...but T6 is good enough for heavy diesels and high perfomance bikes, it should do the job...only $19 a gallon at walmart
 

Black Bart

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Go with the T6 the 5-40 would be much better than a 30 weight oil.
 

oldyellr

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I've been using Mobil 0W30 or Castrol Syntec 0W30 in my "good" car for years. At first the "0W" scared me a little, but after doing some research the light bulb lit up. The zero-w viscosity rating refers to the viscosity at mid-winter cold cranking temperatures. In fact, the viscosity curve of these oils is such that they are actually thicker at temperatures above the operating temperatures of conventional 5W30 or 10W30 oils, i.e., they don't thin out as much as conventional oils under extreme high temperature conditions.

So, yes, use a synthetic in your mower if that makes you feel better. However, these motors are not stressed as high as racing engines, so whatever the manufacturer recommends will work just fine. However, if you're on the habit of running your engine out of oil, synthetic will give you an extra margin of safety.
 

reddragon

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yes.. glad to have all the input...being a truck driver..i know of rotella t6 being a good industrial [diesel] oil....ive had alot of motorcycles..but when i bought my '98 zx11 i ran into alot of people touting the T6 for bikes because of the friction modifier for wet clutch and being 5-40 covers just bout every temp out there...so ive used that in everything ever since..[previously my oil was MOBIL 1 high milelage]...ive studied the synthetics a bit and believe they are well worth they're money...it consists 100% of the best parts of regular oil...when you realize how much of regular oil is actually bad for your engine, the choice is simple.....THANKS AGAIN to everybody
 

Black Bart

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People want to compare engine oil that they use in a car to a lawn mower.
Unless you have a water cooled engine in your mower their is a big difference.
Thermostat keeps water cooled at a constant temp. Air cooled engine runs really hot on a 90 degree day.
A 30W oil must be within a range to be classified as 30W

The kinematic viscosity range for a 30wt at 100C is 9.30cSt to 12.49cSt.
You need to know the CST # and what the HSTS numbers are to make a intelligent decision of what is best, Not nearly as simple as some think.
All the new SM oil have a very low ZDDP ppm count because it is harmful to the catalytic converter.
Since a mower don't have a cat not yet anyway ( Just wait they will } I would choose a oil that has a high ZDDP count.
That will be found in Diesel oil and even higher in Racing oil.

I have a Corvette that I built a Supercharged and Nitrous injected 406 for it and it makes 1200 HP I use 10-40 Redline oil in it.

This oil would also be great for an air cooled engine but it is expensive if you are use to buying conventional oil
 

reddragon

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ill do some more investigating...red line is great..ive used that stuff for 17 years now in in my trannies when i came across it while building racing 280 z's..thanks again
 
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