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Small Engine Oil Weight

E

Erik MN

Member
Hi all. I am going to go through the customary oil changes on some small engines... 20.5 hp Briggs on log splitter, 17 hp Kawasaki in John Deere lawn tractor, 5 hp Briggs for tiller, etc. What do you all think about oil weight/type. I have used automotive oil 10w-30 or 5w-30 in past (depending on season). I heard someone talking about zinc additives that these oils do not have that small engines need? I do not want to prematurely wear out engines! I use auto oil in my Ford 8N and Farmall 460 with no issues. Am I missing the boat or just go on as I have been? Any insight would be appreciated!

Have a good Thanksgiving everyone.
 
Yes, the zinc additives (ZDDP) have been removed or greatly lowered in on-road automotive oils - gas and diesel sold in the USA and Canada. They were left in for oils used in Europe.

They are supposed to be necessary for all engines with flat tappets/lifters - i.e. any engine that does NOT have a roller-cam. That includes most if not all small engines. Also most cars and trucks before the mid-80s, just about all farm tractors, etc.

If you want proper protection, just buy an off-road oil. Any good tractor dealership should have it.

Until last year, you could just buy a good diesel oil like Rotella T and be safe. No more. Rotella T also lowered the addtives to meet the newest diesel emmissions standards (unless you buy Rotella in Europe).
 
Eric,
I belong to a Cub Cadet forum most of us agree that straight 30 wt non detergent is the best. for small engines.

I compromised mine last summer by going with 10-40
on last oil change within two hours of mowing=twice I had a good engine smoking so bad that mosquitoes left for two miles around.

I changed it back to 30 wt , but the detergents had already done their thing and loosened the rings to the point I lost compression almost destroying the motor.
I now have a winter project.
 
In the summer use 30W, in the winter use 10W30. DO NOT USE NONDETERGENT OIL.


Phosphate is the replacement to zinc as I recall... and is not quite as good performance wise as Zinc, but is close on metal to metal protection. The lack of zinc is an issue with metal to bronze. Zinc has been lowered to about 1/3 of the amount in SM rated oils compared to previous off the shelf oils. If you find SJ rated oils on the shelf no problem at all.

Even the current SM rated oil is still much better than the nondetergent oil that manufacturers recommended in the early 80s and earlier - it contained no zinc at all.
 
have one berral of oil on the place 15-40 Diesel oil use it in every engine from a 4 hp to a 450 hp only other on the place is for per mix and thats 40 to 1
 
ZDDP is a zinc and phosphate and it's been lowered in all the major on-the-road oils. I.e., both the zinc and phosphate have been lowered. The phosphate was not increased to make up for less zinc.
 
reduced but not totally removed... the sky is not falling,

hd diesel oils used to be the best made, but due to tier 3 emissions and catalytic converters now on the diesels, the oil has be """ modified""" for the worse..

no, its not the end of the world, and the hd oils are still able to run an hd diesel engine over one million miles between overhauls...some engines are even getting 2 million miles... so its not the end of the world...

running 30wt is like so 1950s... modern hd oils will perform better and will remove and clean sludge from your engine. if you want to run a lawn mower oil and then throw away the engine every three years, then by all means run 30 nd oil.
 
I have been running 10w40 Castrol synthetic in my small engines for a few years and works great.

They don't hold much so it is pretty cheap and the synthetic handles the high air cooled temps better than regular dino oil.
 
All my small engines on welder/gen, riding mowers, zero turn, pressure washer, etc. all get Mobil One 10W30 synthetic year round. I always use regular HD 30 weight for the break in on new engines, then switch to the Mobil One. Have been using it for years and years, never had to rebuild or had any engine failure yet. Tom
 
My 17 year old Campbell Supply lawn mower runs great on synthetic oil - same as my cars get - most years i actually change it - but not all
 
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