Will This Oil Work in My Lawn Edger?

primerbulb120 said:
Why are car oils completely unsuitable for mower engines?

I use Kinetix 10W-30 small engine oil in the majority of my equipment. It's not synthetic and has a zinc additive. Is this a good choice?
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I use some Kinetix oils around the shop and have normal results. Kinetix markets the high zinc rating which my understanding is one of the additives in the "formulated for use in small engines" so Briggs, Kohler, Kawasaki, etc all use zinc in their oil but just don't mention it. Since small engines operate at higher temps than auto engines, the oil is formulated better against thermal breakdown.

Most people get hung up over the API oil rating, but unless you are needing to meet some Nasa spec, the oil rating has no bearing on what the oil is going to be used in. We are arguing over SH, SJ oil when I believe the current API spec is SN. The most important thing for most people should be is the oil rated for S whatever for use in gas engines, and C whatever for use in diesel engines.
 
Fundamentals of Lubrication 101: Any oil is better than an absence of oil.

Advanced Lubrication 102: Some oils are marginally better than others for a given application.
 
Stems117: Yes, it indeed has been debated here before, and every other power equipment site on the planet I suspect. Nobody here is going to fault you for asking though. The issue often comes down to those who insist that "their" oil, which is designed for automobiles, is better than an oil specifically designed for use in air-cooled power equipment and refuse to acknowledge that they could be wrong.
 
If the manufacturer says SAE30, i put in sae30. if it says 10W30, i put in 10w30. I mostly use valvoline oils.
 
Auto engine :water cooled

Lawn mower engine: air cooled

Different friction temperatures. Viscosity breakdown happens.

A car engine has bearings, most lawn mower engines have a chunk of aluminum spinning around a steel crank, metal to metal.

I use Honda One in my lawn mowers, someone left a case at our shop.

The Harley uses 25-60 dino.

Each engine class has its own needs. Your engine needs air cooled engine oil.
 
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