Engine Oil

Don S/V ILLusion · Nov 15, 2013

I am dubious of using single weight oils particularly for older engines produced when manufacturers didn't understand the value of mult-viscosity oils. Old myths die hard. Also, some single weight oils have no detergents in them to reduce foaming in race engines which most of us don't have in our sailboats.

Meriachee · Nov 15, 2013

Don,

Mine is a racing engine, heck, it's even red.

. Single weight oils are not particularly good in these environments. The detergents do help keep things clean, and even more so in our scenarios where the engine sits for comparatively long periods between working hard.

woodster · Nov 15, 2013

i just hope it is not quakerstate 30 weight as it containes a lot of parafin ...best is to change it out the first chance you get and use something like shell rotilla 15-40..... or in your area maybe 15-30 in the cold weather....

regards

woody

LakeOntario270 · Nov 16, 2013

I use Rotella 10W-30 oil that I purchased at Advance Auto Parts. The Westerbeke manual says don't use heavier than 30W.

KingAirDriver · Nov 16, 2013

45+ years my family operated Diesel engines...

We only ever used one oil. Pennzoil 15W40 Heavy Duty engine oil. We routinely had engines go 500,000+ miles and 20,000+ hours.

They now call it Long Life Gold 15W40.

I use it in my boat, my car, my mower, I would use it in my airplane if it were legal. My VW Rabbit with the 2.5L has 138,000 miles on it, I change the oil every 10,000 miles, it comes out almost as clean as it goes in, and the engine runs like new.

Don't be afraid of multi-viscosity. And the difference in 15W40 vs SAE30 or Rotella 10W-30 is so minor. I would rather run the slightly heavier viscosity in diesels. Especially older technology engines.

Stay clear of synthetics, stay clear of Shell and Quakerstate. Like a previous poster said, too much paraffin. Leaves behind residue and sludge. Shell owns Quakerstate now, and I don't think I can trust them to use Pennsylvania oil anymore. I trust Pennzoil to use low paraffin crude for lube oils more than the others.

LakeOntario270 · Nov 17, 2013

Don't forget the transmission. I use a straight 30W oil. The manual says do not use a multi-viscosity oil. A vacuum pump makes this change very easy.

nybor · Nov 18, 2013

Stay clear of synthetics, stay clear of Shell and Quakerstate. Like a previous poster said, too much paraffin. Leaves behind residue and sludge. Shell owns Quakerstate now, and I don't think I can trust them to use Pennsylvania oil anymore. I trust Pennzoil to use low paraffin crude for lube oils more than the others.[/quote]

Hi. question - why "Stay clear of synthetics"?
thanks
dave
Catalina 350

KingAirDriver · Nov 18, 2013

nybor said:
Stay clear of synthetics, stay clear of Shell and Quakerstate. Like a previous poster said, too much paraffin. Leaves behind residue and sludge. Shell owns Quakerstate now, and I don't think I can trust them to use Pennsylvania oil anymore. I trust Pennzoil to use low paraffin crude for lube oils more than the others.

Hi. question - why "Stay clear of synthetics"?
thanks
dave
Catalina 350[/QUOTE]

I am of the opinion that synthetics are a tremendous waste of money.
As aircraft and heavy equipment owners we have tried about everything in the book at least once. And also we ALWAYS had a lab test our oil, every oil change, on everything from the family car to the dump trucks to bulldozers to airplanes. The only oil we never bothered testing was the small engines. Lawn mowers, pressure washers etc.

The Pennzoil that I recommended gave us the best results, with the least engine wear. We used Mobil Av1 in our aircraft, good oil, but gave slightly worse results than the AeroShell or Phillips at a third of the cost. If Pennzoil manufactured a certified aircraft oil, I would have been using it.

Same results when I had my Corvette. Mobil 1 vs Pennzoil. 3 times the cost, less results.

Synthetics have some advantages I am sure, but I have not had the experience of seeing those advantages. The only thing I have seen in the synthetics are a much higher cost.

I do like the Rotella, but I still prefer the Pennzoil. Pennzoil is less expensive as well.

Barnacle Bill · Nov 18, 2013

I would stick with manufacturer's recommendations.

KingAirDriver · Nov 21, 2013

bawlmer said:
Thanks to everyone for their valuable input. Mystic has been put to bed for the winter. I will change the oil again to a good multi wieght at Spring commissioning.I also think I will heed KingAirDriver and send my next oil sample to a lab. I am curious to see what they find.

Doing the sample once is great, but doing it twice or three times is better.

What they sample is the metallic contents in the oil and the Parts per million of each.
Steel means wear on valves and rings, bronze (oilite) means bearing wear, rubber means gasket breakdown, chrome might mean cylinder wear etc. (not exact but an example)

What you really want to see is the trends. There will always be some *stuff* in the oil. How much is the issue. Does the PPM of a certain metallic element jump out at you as being excessive, or different from the last 2 or 3 samples. If there is something out of the ordinary, it is indicating abnormal wear and a potential failure point. If you are getting a ton of carbon in the oil, you might be getting some blow by somewhere (rings valves etc) Not normally a real big issue, but something to watch in the trend. Some is normal, a lot might not be. An increase can be problematic in the future.

First sample is a base line, and can sometimes indicate a problem, but the second and third is where the real story begins to get told.

Just like getting your blood tested.

Big Windy · Nov 26, 2013

I'm on diesel number three, always use Shell Rotella 15W40. Buy it by the case (of six gallons) at Sam's Club.

jrowan · Nov 30, 2013

I second the use of Rotella, which is recommended for marine diesel engines by every diesel mechanic I know & by most manufactures. Whether 15-40 multi weight or 30 weight, most folks know that multi weight oils provide far more protection under different temperature extremes. I do use Penzoil in my car engines, but I like the heavy duty weight & viscosity of Rotella, which is made specifically for diesel engines.
Although I think most sailors change the oil in the engines too often & not often enough in their transmissions.
My father worked as a chemical engineer for 40 years for Allied Chemical, now Honeywell. They performed extreme tests of modern multi viscosity oils for thermal breakdown. They left the same, unchanged oil in lawn mowers & car engines & let them run the equivalent of 50k miles, & rarely found any extreme thermal or viscosity breakdown in engine oils that would cause engine failure. The cause of engine failures was only in the engine design themselves where rings, seals & bearings naturally wore out over time, which cannot be stopped. Not that I advocate never changing your oil, but don't forget about your transmission either.

swampcreek · Dec 7, 2013

I switched my boat over to Shell Rotella 15W-40 at our first oil change when we bought our 2000 Catalina 320 last year, the PO used straight 30 from what the records show. Funny thing happened when we did, I had to lower the throttle stop position on our 3GM30F due to it picking up 300 rpm at idle, I've asked around but no one has an answer to why or how this could happen by merely switching oil brand/viscosity, she's been running fine though.

Chief RA · Dec 7, 2013

swampcreek: It sounds like the Rotella has superior lubrication compared to the PO's oil. I would strongly suspect it is due to the variable viscosity concepts w/ the 15/40. Chief

swampcreek · Dec 8, 2013

That is what I tend to believe but 300 rpm sure is a big difference. I also wonder if the old oil was really really old. Anyway, I ran 15-W40 Shell Rotella in my truck for 16 years and never had a lubrication related problem. one thing I have noticed is that most people that are concerned on brands and types of oil to use in anything rarely have oil related problems since they ARE USUALLY CHANGING IT ON A REGULAR BASIS to begin with. Since my engine is 14 years old and I'm not 100 percent sure changing over to synthetic wouldn't cause gasket leak issues I stick with the dinosaur juice, if it were new or newer I'd go with synthetic since I'm a big believer in that.