I want to go synthetic on my first oil change,I got one hour left, Mobil1 it will be.

[Markcuda]

Well, did the first oil change at 8.1 hours.
I was very surprised how little effort it took to turn off the oil filter.
Put in 2 quarts of liquid gold, new Deere filter, I am good to go till.....................

 

[ccsial]

Noobie on syth oil here:

I noticed in the video, all the different brands of synth said "for gasoline engines".

Most regular oil on the shelves is for gas engines, but some is marked "Heavy Duty Diesel". I don't see any synth marked 'for diesel use".

My PU uses full synth, my wife's new car uses full synth, I'm going to put full synth in my Cub lawn tractor and I'd like to use it in my new Mahindra.

I'd like to get rid of the old oils and stick to all synth...less confusion that way.

What synth is recommended for diesels? My manual doesn't mention it.

I use Mobil Delvac one synthetic in all my diesels, three tractors and a Dodge Cummins. I doubt you'll find it a wally world. I get it from a Mobil distributer in town. It is one of the top rated oils for diesel.

There is Delvac and Delvac one. The Delvac one is the synthetic.

 

[Copperhead]

Since we are in the lawn and garden section of JD topics, I am going to step out on a limb and guess the OP was talking about smaller engines that we have in them. To that end, while I am not a real believer in a lot of Amsoil products, primarily because of pricing, their 10w30/30w is a killer product for small engines. It is a straight 30w, that qualifies as a 10w30 because of it's cold flow properties. It uses no viscosity improvers, so you would have a real tough time shearing this oil out of grade. It will handle anything you would put your small engine thru. This is the oil my JD Z445 gets.

AMSOIL Formula 4-Stroke 10W-30/SAE 30 Small Engine Oil

I generally am sold on Schaeffer Oil products for most of my stuff, but I know a good thing when I see it. Most multi grade oils have to use viscosity improvers. This one does not. It is a true 30w. But it will flow good down to sub zero temps, so it qualifies as a multi grade. And one area that any oil can have issues, is the breakdown of the VI under harsh conditions, especially high temps. If you have no VI, then you have the base oil doing all of the heavy work and that always a better deal.

For the diesels in the compact tractors, mowers, and UTV's, they have a similar product. A straight 30w that qualifies as a 10w30 also. Again, a killer product for those using a 30w in those applications. And that added plus of not using any viscosity improvers. No hocus pocus going on. Just a straight 30w synthetic oil.

AMSOIL Synthetic SAE 10W-30/SAE 30 Heavy-Duty Motor Oil

 

[Markcuda]

Since we are in the lawn and garden section of JD topics, I am going to step out on a limb and guess the OP was talking about smaller engines that we have in them.

Ahhhhhhh, ya, was your first clue reading the first part of my signature?

 

[SPYDERLK]

An oil lab's test data covers all of the above with the test results. So to me, the only advantage to synthetic is longer oil changes and it costs a lot more to get to that point. This said, I use synthetics and change gasoline engine oil every 5k miles or so (not cost effective) and every 50 hours on my tractor using regular petroleum.

For what it's worth, my 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee, AWD, 170k miles, 5.2L engine, auto. trans., heavy winch bumper/winch, carrying a moderate-heavy load every time I drive it, still gets the same 16 MPG it did when I purchased it with 16k miles on the odometer.

Yeah. Same with my 1996 Subaru. Dino oil from Walmart changed twice a year. 348,000 miles currently.

Hiya,

Yet another oil thread that ends up with people getting cranky. :mur:

What is really the factor for longevity is changing whatever oil you use more often than the manual says to. Keep in mind that these small air cooled engines operate in a very hostile environment, the best thing you can do is change the oil to get rid of the microscopic dirt that is suspended in the oil. Don't fool yourself, the tiny oil filters on these don't catch and hold the small, less than 20 micron sized abrasives that cause wear and damage. To have really clean oil, you need supplemental by-pass filtration, down to less than 1 micron, something impractical on these sized machines. If your engine doesn't have a filter, change the oil more often.

Use the weight or grade your manual states for the temps you are expecting to see during the time you plan to have that oil in the engine. Change it more often than the severe service timeline says to and don't forget to clean around the fill cap before you put oil in. Do that, keep the cooling fins clean and clear of chafe and debris, only run your equipment at maximum throttle when you really need to and it will last for years.

Here's an example, 30+ years ago I worked for a school department. During the summer, 4 of us had to cut lawns at 31 schools. 5 days a week for 12 weeks we cut acres of grass with 21" Bobcat push mowers. We got 4 brand new mowers with 4 HP B&S engines. At the end of mowing every day, I would walk my mower over to the fuel oil tank fill, dump the oil out then fill it with fresh 30wt (The schools used #4 bunker so 12Oz of engine oil wouldn't make a difference in 4000 gallons) At the end of the summer my mower was the only one that ran well, 2 had rod failures, the 3rd ran but smoked and mine ran well.

My 2 cents,

Tom

Yeah. Your mower always had the right amount of oil in it.

 

[Copperhead]

It is true, and most folks do not have a need for synthetics. Conventional oils have come a long, long way in the last decade. But there are still applications where synthetics are a desired product, and it does not always have to do with extending oil drain intervals. Extreme operating conditions, and even the type of engine or component can make using synthetics a good choice. As an example, the OEM's that make my transmission and differentials in my semi truck, they will extend the factory warranty from 500,000 to 750,000 miles if I use synthetics in those components. No fine print or anything. They must know that using synthetics in there is better for the components.

Some of us can really place a hardship on small engines that are in our mowers and such. While most folks mow a regular yard, some are really racking up hours mowing a lot more, and in a lot tougher conditions than the general public sees, and synthetics in there could be a good choice to consider. Sure isn't going to hurt anything by using synthetics. As for cost, it really is a non issue. A couple of quarts, come on. Most folks blow more money than that several times a week on stuff they really don't need. Cost factors in a little more for some of us. I go thru a couple of drums of motor oil a year taking care of all of my stuff. The cost difference between conventional and synthetics can really add up. Even then, I get a good synthetic engine oil (Schaeffer Oil) at prices that are very competitive with anything on the shelf at Wally World, and they deliver it free to my place and even include free oil sample kits and analysis in the deal. And I extend the drains about 50% over the OEM recommended intervals on most of my stuff, so it is a cost effective choice. To get a couple of quarts of Amsoil 10w30/30w for my Z445 is a non cost issue. I only change it once a year in that, and I generally rack up around 60-70 hrs a year on the mower.

 

[Copperhead]

Ahhhhhhh, ya, was your first clue reading the first part of my signature?

Well, I was making a poor jab that the topic had seemed to diverge off on general motor oil for applications other than JD lawn and garden. My bad.

 

[sdef]

Well, I was making a poor jab that the topic had seemed to diverge off on general motor oil for applications other than JD lawn and garden. My bad.

Yes we did and I believe it was appropriate. As in general, oil is oil until ones gets to extremes or certain specific circumstances.

 

[Markcuda]

Well, did my new X534 motor need synthetic oil, nope, probably not.
Do I fall a sleep better knowing my new X534 motor has synthetic oil in it, yup.
Do I care that my new X534 motor takes 2 quarts of expensive synthetic oil, nope.
Happy mowing, peeps

 

[Copperhead]

Couldn't have said it better myself.