Rotella 15w 40 oil in a B&S?

[FederalQ]

Even though they were forced to lower ZDDP from spark ignition oils, they still have to formulate more expensive additives to take it‘s place. From what I understand ZDDP is/was a good and cheap additive but not friendly to catalytic converters on engines with 150,000+ miles.

 

[dangerousatom]

Up till about 10 years ago all knowledgeable turbo Subaru guys ran Rotella 5w40 because it had the most zinc in it for a stock on the shelf oil. Also we needed a light weigh on cold start but a heavyweight running hot. It was great for the horizontal boxer head design in combatting under liberation on start up and slow oiling to the upper valve assembly and AVCS system. I believe the zinc was no longer added after 2016-17ish.
.......( edited on the moly its was zinc, but served the same purpose )......

Even though they were forced to lower ZDDP from spark ignition oils, they still have to formulate more expensive additives to take it‘s place. From what I understand ZDDP is/was a good and cheap additive but not friendly to catalytic converters on engines with 150,000+ miles.

Run a Catch Can and not much will get into the catalytic converters to cause blockage or erosion. -IMO all cars/trucks should be running a catch can, cleaner intake manifolds and valve trains = better fuel mileage and happier combustion all the way out to the tail pipe.

 

[Nutball]

Up till about 10 years ago all knowledgeable turbo Subaru guys ran Rotella 5w40 because it had the most molybdenum in it for a stock on the shelf oil. Also we needed a light weigh on cold start but a heavyweight running hot. It was great for the horizontal boxer head design in combatting under liberation on start up and slow oiling to the upper valve assembly and AVCS system. I believe the "moli" was no longer added after 2016-17ish.


Run a Catch Can and not much will get into the catalytic converters to cause blockage or erosion. -IMO all cars/trucks should be running a catch can, cleaner intake manifolds and valve trains = better fuel mileage and happier combustion all the way out to the tail pipe.

Looks like there's some do's and don't to keep in mind. You could make your own easily enough, and it looks like one with a large paper filter will do the best job catching the oil vapor.

 

[S&S_Work_Saws]

I know a guy that's been running bar oil in his wood splitter engine for about 3 years now lol. In the woods, low on oil, all he had was bar oil with him. Now 3 years of adding nothing but bar oil and I've got to imagine that's all that is in the crankcase. Not that I'm condoning anyone doing that. It amazes me what some people will run in their machines. Even more amazed when these machines continue to run under those conditions.

 

[dangerousatom]

Looks like there's some do's and don't to keep in mind. You could make your own easily enough, and it looks like one with a large paper filter will do the best job catching the oil vapor.


Yes prety much any properly setup CC will do the job. I disagree on a filter or any type of filter media inside as from my experience they are too restrictive. The best thing inside I have found is a stack of stainless steel or copper pot scrubbers....lots of surface area and no rust. You would think in that environment rust would not be able to form but it does and quickly.

 

[lehman live edge slab]

I can tell you that guy is an idiot if he's blaming it on that oil. If fun that exact oil for 1800 hours in a pro ztr with no issues. BTW it's not letting me play the video but it's probably just my internet.

You may have other thoughts and opinions on this what’s best oil thread but this guy definitely isn’t an idiot. He is a tribologist and has developed some very good oils for race teams and has done some very special wear testing for perfect circle piston rings. Basically his whole life has been testing and formulating oils for different purposes. Rotella he has said many times is a great detergent oil and he’s used for carbon clean out ect but not permanent in an engine not designed for it. He also has explained that zinc isn’t needed for flat tappet cams ect anymore because they have other additives that can take its place. He’s been doing some engine cleaning tests with the valavoline restore and protect also.

 

[SawAddictedFarmer]

You may have other thoughts and opinions on this what’s best oil thread but this guy definitely isn’t an idiot. He is a tribologist and has developed some very good oils for race teams and has done some very special wear testing for perfect circle piston rings. Basically his whole life has been testing and formulating oils for different purposes. Rotella he has said many times is a great detergent oil and he’s used for carbon clean out ect but not permanent in an engine not designed for it. He also has explained that zinc isn’t needed for flat tappet cams ect anymore because they have other additives that can take its place. He’s been doing some engine cleaning tests with the valavoline restore and protect also.

I have a hard time believing that piston damage was caused by the wrong oil. Just about every one of our 6 mowers have 15w40 in the for hundreds of hours and they look great when I pull them apart. That piston looks like it got severally overheated. I'll try again and see if it'll let me watch it.

 

[SawAddictedFarmer]

I guess if that was a car piston you'd have issues. I guess I just assumed it was a mower piston.

 

[lehman live edge slab]

I guess if that was a car piston you'd have issues. I guess I just assumed it was a mower piston.

The guys channel is the motor oil geek on YouTube and he has some pretty good videos and explanations on oil stuff

 

[SawAddictedFarmer]

The guys channel is the motor oil geek on YouTube and he has some pretty good videos and explanations on oil stuff

My internet connection isn't very good so watching videos can be hard. I also don't have a very high opinion of most YouTubers. I can however see how you would have issues running diesel oil in a gasser but in a lawn mower it works just fine.

 

[lehman live edge slab]

My internet connection isn't very good so watching videos can be hard. I also don't have a very high opinion of most YouTubers. I can however see how you would have issues running diesel oil in a gasser but in a lawn mower it works just fine.

I understand about a lot of the YouTubers but definitely not all in the same group, good and bad like everything else.

 

[Nutball]

Supposedly the increased calcium (detergent) content in diesel oil can increase the likeliness of pre-ignition in direct injection turbo gas engines. I have no idea how, but apparently when pre ignition occurs around the piston rings, there's enough force to break the piston.

 

[lehman live edge slab]

Supposedly the increased calcium (detergent) content in diesel oil can increase the likeliness of pre-ignition in direct injection turbo gas engines. I have no idea how, but apparently when pre ignition occurs around the piston rings, there's enough force to break the piston.

I do believe this was a partial reason for gm’s newer dexos oil grades and a piston design change in the 2.0t gm cars.

 

[FergusonTO35]

Supposedly the increased calcium (detergent) content in diesel oil can increase the likeliness of pre-ignition in direct injection turbo gas engines. I have no idea how, but apparently when pre ignition occurs around the piston rings, there's enough force to break the piston.

Yikes, I will remember that. Is it supposed that the oil itself is subject to pre-ignition? Or the additive is lowering the octane of the fuel that gets squirted in? If the oil itself was igniting, then I would think diesels would suffer from it due to the.much higher compression.