Oil for new 21 HP Kawasaki FR651V SCAG mower engine

crazyal · Aug 31, 2020

I don't subscribe to to the idea that the second you put 30 year old oil into a new engine it's going to detonate like a nuclear bomb. Chances are if you do have a problem it'll be slightly more wear when the engine is cold and possibly fouling plugs. You also could be down on power. I watched a show about what happens when the wrong weight oil and having too much oil in a car engine. They used a dyno to show that oil actually robs some power in those conditions. I'm sure you will not notice a 1% or 2% loss in power. If it was me, I would turn the bottles up side down (making sure the caps don't leak) and let them sit for a few days so anything that has settled to the bottom has a chance to migrate towards the top.

fried1765 · Aug 31, 2020

crazyal said:
I don't subscribe to to the idea that the second you put 30 year old oil into a new engine it's going to detonate like a nuclear bomb. Chances are if you do have a problem it'll be slightly more wear when the engine is cold and possibly fouling plugs. You also could be down on power. I watched a show about what happens when the wrong weight oil and having too much oil in a car engine. They used a dyno to show that oil actually robs some power in those conditions. I'm sure you will not notice a 1% or 2% loss in power. If it was me, I would turn the bottles up side down (making sure the caps don't leak) and let them sit for a few days so anything that has settled to the bottom has a chance to migrate towards the top.

The weight of the oil I was considering is well within the mfg. recommended range.

Carl_NH · Aug 31, 2020

Fried,

I'm over 60, and all my engines (10 of the 15 are 18-30+ yrs old) are running well and my cylinders have good compression too

.

I expect they will outlast me no matter what oil I put in them as long as its used regularly and changed often.

fried1765 · Aug 31, 2020

Carl_NH said:
Fried,

I'm over 60, and all my engines (10 of the 15 are 18-30+ yrs old) are running well and my cylinders have good compression too .

I expect they will outlast me no matter what oil I put in them as long as its used regularly and changed often.

EXACTLY!
I'll be 80 in November!
One of my sons will inherit the SCAG,.....and a WHOLE lot of other good stuff!

5030 · Aug 31, 2020

If I was 60 again, I'd be a who*e.......

I have the same Kawolski engine in my zero turn (not a Scag) and it had 3500 hours, all on T6 Rotella. Just one valve adjustment is all it takes. Got the original plugs in it too.

fried1765 · Sep 1, 2020

5030 said:
If I was 60 again, I'd be a who*e.......

I have the same Kawolski engine in my zero turn (not a Scag) and it had 3500 hours, all on T6 Rotella. Just one valve adjustment is all it takes. Got the original plugs in it too.

I use Rotella 15W-40 in everything, except 2 cars, with Mobil 1.