Thoughts on Engine Oil

[norm911]

I'm getting ready to do the first oil change on my 496 MAG HO since I bought it and am soliciting opinions on what oil to run in it. I'm sure there will be no lack of opinions in this category :) The motor has around 90 hours on it so it's well broken in.

Merc, of course, says to use MerCruiser synthetic oil. Their service bulletin says that recommendation superceeds all previous recommendations for oil use in all of their enginers. This sounds expensive to me, but if there are special marine detergents in there or something that make it worth the price please let me know.

I'm a big fan of synthetic oils in big block motors and have run Mobil-1 or Castrol Syntec in my race cars for a long time. Anything wrong with running one of these in my 496? Much easier to find and cheaper than the MerCruiser synthetic, but I wasn't sure if people on the list avoided automotive oils for any reasons.

Let me know what you guys think,
Norm

[VetteLT193]

Is the engine still under warranty?

If so, make sure you use the approved stuff. Either Merc or Amsoil. I'd go with Amsoil if it were my boat.

If it's out of warranty, save the $$ and go Mobil 1

[VetteLT193]

I think this is the list for the oil, so you won't have trouble with warranty:

http://www.nmma.org/certification/programs/oils/registeredoil.asp?y=FC-W2007

[gold-n-rod]

Consider this my vote for Mobil 1 V-Twin 20-50. It and a M1 oil filter is what I run in mine.

[norm911]

Hm, warranty - good question. The boat is a 2002 so even if the engine had a 5-year warranty I'd imagine that it's expired by now.

[mrfixxall]

Consider this my vote for Mobil 1 V-Twin 20-50. It and a M1 oil filter is what I run in mine.


What rod said,,,,or 15w50...also use a M1 302 mobile 1 filter too.

[blackhawk]

You're going to get all kinds of answers on this one! I especially like the ones that tell you to stay away from a certain brand because their 1994 Ford Bronco with 150,000 miles "blew up" using brand X! :rolleyes: :D

If you've had good luck with the Mobil 1 and Castrol synthetics then use them. The important thing is to change the oil OFTEN. I change mine every 20 hours. Fresh oil is much more important than brand IMO.

[blackhawk]

BTW, I was told that a manufacturer cannot deny a warranty claim because you didn't use "their" oil.

[norm911]

Gold-n-rod,

Thanks for the input. Just curious: Was there a reason you went with the motorcycle variant of Mobil-1 rather than just straight Mobil-1? Was it because the straight Mobil-1 wasn't available in 20w-50? I noticed that the Mercruiser Synthetic Blend that Merc recommends is 25w-40 so I was thinking the V-Twin 20w-50 was the closest you could get in the Mobil-1 product lineup.

Let me know,
Norm

[MOP]

Spectro beats the Harley oil! Minxguy on this board works there, we have spoken of the custom blending. That being said as much and as soon as we change our oil any decent brand of syn or dino will do the job, I have never gone much over 15 hours on a change. Use the search feature this has been hashed and rehashed to the point of it being almost a joke!

Phil

[mrfixxall]

Spectro beats the Harley oil! Minxguy on this board works there, we have spoken of the custom blending. That being said as much and as soon as we change our oil any decent brand of syn or dino will do the job, I have never gone much over 15 hours on a change. Use the search feature this has been hashed and rehashed to the point of it being almost a joke!
Phil

and where do you buy spectro? mobile 1 is available everywhere if you need it now!.. i change my oil every 50 hr and my engine is never under 3500 rpm and it sees 6200 every time i can get the chance,no coolers nuttin! lol

20w50 v twin is ok but its like peanut butter,15w50 is a little thinner but it will protect just as good if not better because it flows faster..thats the ticket,getting cleaner,cooler oil th the metal serfaces to dispose the heat faster.the thicher the oil the higher the oil pressure in return will take more hp from the engine...

[chappy]

http://www.spectro-oils.com/distributors.htm

http://www.raskcycle.com/cgi-bin/cart.pl?db=british.dat&category=Oils

[mrfixxall]

http://www.spectro-oils.com/distributors.htm
http://www.raskcycle.com/cgi-bin/cart.pl?db=british.dat&category=Oils


Bummer i guess you would have to order it because i cant get it at wallmart,peppboys or advance auto parts:wink:
i guess if i needed a qt i would have to wait to go boating..

[BUIZILLA]

that FLA warehouse is about 200' from my brother's office...

[CHACHI]

Gold-n-rod,
Thanks for the input. Just curious: Was there a reason you went with the motorcycle variant of Mobil-1 rather than just straight Mobil-1?
Let me know,
Norm
Norm, I guess you should have your question answered because it is a legit question. The reason that people use a motorcycle oil has nothing to do with viscosity. It has to do with the additive quanity. To be more exact, the parts per million of ZDDP (zinc) and phosphorus. Both of these additives are found in ALL automotive type engine oils, even non-dertergent ones. Some of the functions of these additives is that they are anti-wear additives and anti-oxidation additives. They are multi-functional. Back in the 70's,80's and 90's the auto oil coumpounders did an ok job of additive quanity. Probably in the 1000-1200 ppm range. The problem or condition that is in todays world is that the oil industry is driven by the auto industry. They don't care about anything else but what is important to Detroit. And one of the things that is important to them is emission warranty. I belive the auto industry must warrantry emission systems to 100K.
I may be wrong on the distance but the bottom line is that if your cat fails under the warranty Detroit pays. Detroit is also concerned with fuel economy. Have you noticed that over the past few years, engine oil viscosity has dropped. From 10w40 to viscosities as low as 5W20. This lower viscosity is to help fuel milage. The auto makers have to meet Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) number set forth by the Feds or the whole fleet gets taxed for every "X" per gal under the Feds mandated number.
So what does all this have to do with engine oil? Well, because the auto boys went to a thinner viscosity for fuel milage, a thinner oil is more volitile, it has a lower flash point than a heavier one so oil consumption went up in cars with lighter vis oils. So......Well this extra oil consumption was having a negitive effect on cats, causing them to go bad and Detroit havingto replace them. Very expensive. After a whole bunch of research detroit pointed the finger at zinc and phosphours as the cause of the cats demise. Remember zinc & phosphours are in the oil and are consumed when you consume the oil.
So after all this finger pointing Detroit asked for lower levels of antiwear in engine oil. In todays recommended oils the antiwear levels are below 1K ppm.
So why a motorcycle oil? Well Detroit doesn't care about motorccles so independent blenders such as Spectro can build a product as they/we see fit. Modern day motorcycle oils have anti-wear levels of around 1800ppm. And as a rule of thumb motorcycle oils are available in a better choice of viscosities. Another point about antiwear additives, they are consumable. In normal engine operation, as they as just doing their job, the antiwear additive level drops. (This is a reason why your change oil). As a side note Honda just started recommending a 10w30 in their bikes this past year. No one can give us an answer as to why.

Mike, you should be able to purchase Spectro at any quality motorcycle shop.
The product is not sold through mass merchandisers nor thru a pyramid sales program.

Hope this helps.

Ken

[chappy]

Bummer i guess you would have to order it because i cant get it at wallmart,peppboys or advance auto parts:wink:
i guess if i needed a qt i would have to wait to go boating..

Just answering your question.

Rich

[BigGrizzly]

Not another oil post. BTW The motorcycle oil is the same just packaged different. I know because I work for on the biggest manufacturers of motorcycles. Search the old oil post.

[Dr. Dan]

Stormin.... I told Ya So!

Anyway I change my Oil every other Event or at about 15 to 20 hours I guess. Now the Burban is gonna click off 264,000 miles this week and its only had one set of spark plugs changed...the Oil gets refreshed about every 3 weeks on average.

Good Luck, I guess when someone coined the phrase "Change Is Good" he musta been an Oil Man.

Doc of Water Soluable Lubes - Baby :smash:

[mrfixxall]

Now the Burban is gonna click off 264,000 miles this week..

just clicked 430,000 on my 92 sub 454 bbc last week too with m1 also..

i want a new one tho but this dam thing just wont give up:yes:

[CHACHI]

Not another oil post. BTW The motorcycle oil is the same just packaged different. I know because I work for on the biggest manufacturers of motorcycles. Search the old oil post.
www.ibmwr.org/otech/oilreport.html

Ken

[Pismo]

Everything you need to know about oil, filters, etc...


http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/showthread.php?t=107808

[blackhawk]

I use Walmart Brand SAE10. You can pick it up for $.89 a quart and the thinner oil allows my engine to rev higher which allows me to run a bigger prop. I picked up 10 mph!

[Carl C]

I use Walmart Brand SAE10. You can pick it up for $.89 a quart and the thinner oil allows my engine to rev higher which allows me to run a bigger prop. I picked up 10 mph! That's just too funny! I don't get tired of oil threads because there are always new people here and new opinions. Also new products. I've stuck with the recommended Quicksilver 25w40 but wonder if there is a thinner oil that will work as well and free up a little power.

[mrfixxall]

I use Walmart Brand SAE10. You can pick it up for $.89 a quart and the thinner oil allows my engine to rev higher which allows me to run a bigger prop. I picked up 10 mph!



Really ha ha,,i guess you have access to a dyno too....

[VetteLT193]

www.ibmwr.org/otech/oilreport.html
Ken

Lots of change since 1999 when that was published.

[rainy24]

I am running a 575hp 502, and I run nothing but valvoline racing 50 oil. Yeah, it's a little thick but if you warm your engine up properly (wich you always should for reliability) than that is what I would reccomend.