oil question

#1
just want to start out by saying what up to everyone im new to this forum seems like alot of good info on here.. but one thing i cant find is on oil so basicly my question is what kind of oil do you all use in your motors? i have the 212 predator.. thanks in advance
 
#3
Any quality brand name oil is fine.
10/30 15/40 or #30 single viscosity.
Its in the manual if you want to check.

The important thing is the changing of the oil.
Change it often.
20 hours should be as far as you go, forget what the manual says.
When you notice the oil in one of these ist starting to look dirty, it is....
 
#5
Ok thanks is synthetic ok to use or just stick to regular?
Its not that significant a difference.

Really if you want to use something I have a little more faith in I would shop around for some Rotella T from Shell.
The 15/40 is turbo diesel rated.
That means its good for high bearing loads, keeping engines clean and heat.

Three things these engines are bad for.
Hard on rods and rod journals ( bearing load ) dirt no oil filter ( high detergent package ) and of course heat because they are air cooled ( turbo rating ).

Now since we are on the subject of oil and lubricants.
I would recomend to enyone the use a top lube on these engines.
A low ash oil 2 stroke or aviation mixed ver thin into the gasoline 150 or 200 to one will only help keep the top of the liner slick.

Also check your timing and run up to 25 on these engines ( no more though )
Some clones are coming with timing as lazy as 18

This is to improve the emissions running late timing.
But what it does is make a dry liner situation worse.
AS the RPM goes up the late firing starts to burn the oil of the liner causing more heat and wear than needed.

And richen up the carb a touch too!
More timing and richer mixture add some top lube as I sugested and regular oil changes.
I think that about covers it.
These engines can last much longer than they are advertised if they get care.
They are generaly rated for as little as 200 hours of service life ( did you know that ? )
But if you care for them they can go 2 or 3 times longer
 
#7
Honda did a real good job on the oil control rings in these engines.
Combined with the oil seal in the intake, retarded timing ( Nox control ) little oil sneaks past the rings or down the intake valve stem into the combustion chamber.

Think about how much oil a 5 HP briggs used and often you topped them up.
These engines consumed oil as a matter of course because of the cheap 1 piece iron ring.

But Honda did something better and it shows.
Long after compression starts to fall off these things are still not belching blue smoke.

The down side is at the RPM goes up beyond 3600 rpm these engines awful dry up in the liner with high piston side loads.
You do want the head hot, but you do not want the cyllnder hot and dry.
This seems to be where most piston scuffing on these engines comes from.

Just some thoughts of mine.
Others may not agree.
 
#13
It helps lubricate the cylinder walls. But don't put too much oil in the gas or it will start smoking. The oiling system on these is just the slinger on the rod cap. The arc billet rod is a little better as it has a channel in the dipped which force some oil to the rod bearing. The oil control ring does a good job of wiping oil away but at high temperatures the sleeve is fairly dry. Adding lube to the gas insures some lubrication is in the cylinder bore
 
#14
Adding lube to the gas insures some lubrication is in the cylinder bore
Marvels has made a business out of it for decades- and the Harley guys have been adding it for at least 30 years that I recall.

Alcohol has zero lubricating properties, and as NOS said, that smog timing isn't helping your $99 engine any, especially if you're running it at 6K RPM.
 

Cuda54

Active Member
#15
To lube the upper cylinder and keep the rings lubed and sealed equals long engine life. Could we make a sticky out of this it will help others keep their engines running a lot longer. And add it to all of the Engines and Modifications sections. I know I will be adding some 2 cycle to my gas from now on. Motors are not cheap to build so any thing to make them last longer is good info to share!
 
#16
Marvels has made a business out of it for decades- and the Harley guys have been adding it for at least 30 years that I recall.

Alcohol has zero lubricating properties, and as NOS said, that smog timing isn't helping your $99 engine any, especially if you're running it at 6K RPM.
You should take what is in an additive with a grain of salt

Long time ago when lead was in everything in high concetrations and refining practices were less that today ( to pu tit nicely ) you had some issues with deposits in most engines.
Today we have detergents and all kinds of things added to pump gas that is refined to higher standards and has no lead

At the same time oils were not very good at deposit control and had few additives too improve lubricity.

Enter MMO.


The product is 95% mineral oil and vasrol, and the additives are winter green and veg or animal based lubricants.
These still do things inside an engine but not to the same degree as in the bad old days when deposits were caused by inferior fuel and lubricants.
I'm not calling it snake oil, its just far less effective than it used to be.
My only real beef witgh these kinds of additive today is the amount of filller that they add with no real advantage.

If you want a top lube use a top lube oil.
And you really do not need much at all you just want to wet the liner.
Deposit control and anything else is really not an issue in 2014.
 
#17
In 1994 they started removing the zinc and phosphorus from the oil to help combat carbon and increase the life of the catalytic converter

More zinc and phosphorus= happy cam and lifters
You can also add ZDDP to your run of the mill oil
The 15/w40s like rotella and delo
Do also have increased levels of ZDDP they are still reduced from years past


Sent from my iPhone using Mores code
 
#18
You should take what is in an additive with a grain of salt.
I was simply making a point. Keeping PTFE out of the equation here.

Deposit control is not an issue in 2014 due more to technology (EFI et al) than to detergent motor oils, or removal of lead- which lubricated the top end a lot better than ethanol enriched fuel by the way. (And I know there's a valve guide discussion next)

When running methanol in race applications, you have to run top end oil to keep corrosion down. Correlate that fact with the fact that at most of the pumps, we're getting ethanol with our gas. I'd think top end oil additives would be more salient now than in by gone eras.

I do agree that MMO is not a top end lube, but a fuel additive with solvent properties (note I said properties, not that it was a solvent) which allows combustion of the black stuff.
 
#19
If you want a clean engine look for some stuff called CV-100.
It does work, it so good at cleaning you need to change fuel filters rapidly when you start using it.
I will go out on a limb and say CV100 is the only thing I have ever seen work.
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=130440
Ferocene is another one that has a proven track record of doing two things.
Improving combustion and reducing soot in jets ( and leaving an abrasive film of iron oxide inside gasoline engines )

Getting off topic but gas today is better refined than it has ever been its not the EFI that makes less deposits its the fuel.
Fuel had to be refined better to prevent valve deposits and injector clogging.

Gasoline used to be so bad between 70 and 90 that in some cases it was corrosive and damaging fords.
Remember that rotton egg smell in the 80s whenn 3 way catalysts came on stream?
That was the sky high sulphor ( today that smell is gone )
 
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