Oil & Fuel What engine oil?

[Homebrew]

PTOuser,
Yes, he said the break-in time was 10 hours. Note that the Robin manual says it is 20 hours. I take this to mean that the exact time isn't all that critical, but you just don't want to go to the full 50 or 100 hours or whatever the regular oil change interval is...I'm certainly no expert, that's just a guess. I only have a little over 7 hours on my machine so I haven't got to the oil change yet. However, I do have that right angle adapter. If you look close, there's actually a cap on the end of that fitting. At a glance, it looks like one solid unit, but it looks to me that you just unscrew the cap from the elbow, not the elbow from the engine. So the elbow just directs the oil down through the big hole in the PT frame.

 

[MossRoad]

I received a manual for the Robin when I bought the PT. Terry told me to change the break-in oil at 10 hrs and said I didn't need to change the oil filter. The engine manual says to do the initial change of oil and filter at 20 hours.

Since PT does not warranty the engine (Robin does), I would follow Robin's instructions. It will certainly not hurt to change the oil more often, but follow Robin's recommendations to ensure you are covered. Oil is less than 10 bucks and a filter is probably 5 or 6. A little money now VS problems later.

 

[MossRoad]

So the elbow just directs the oil down through the big hole in the PT frame.

Yep. You still will want to change the oil somewhere where you won't get upset by the possibility of spilling a few quarts. The reason is, sometimes fingers slip, drain pans tip, etc... I know.

Since you are talking engine oil change, I thought I would mention something about your hydraulic oil filter change that will happen every 50 hours. Be sure to read and understand the instructions about purging the air from the hydraulic pump before starting the engine after the hydraulic filter change. This is one of the most important things to keeping the PT running long. Starte reading up on it now and study your machine to get to know where everything mentioned in the instructions is. Don't wait until you are doing the hydraulic filter change to start wondering if you are doing it correctly.

 

[AndrewB]

Here are links to .pdf files for the operator's and service manuals for the Robin Subaru engine in the PT425's. They do, in fact, recommend changing the oil at 20 hours.

http://www.robinamerica.com/media/manuals/128479343386273090.pdf
http://www.robinamerica.com/media/manuals/128450737920567500.pdf