Hello all. I have a Sears mower with the 6.75 hp Tecumseh engine. The so-called "high torque" engine, only available in certain areas. Anyway, do you think it would be ok to use Delo 400 15W-40 in the thing? Summer mowing months are coming! Thanks.
15W-40 DELO in a 6.75 hp Tecumseh?
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Most HD Lawn and Garden equipment for years listed 10W40 as the prefered grade prior to 10W40 most of them listed HD 30W. I do not know anything about the specific engine you are asking about though. I would imagine that a 15W40 would be fine. I have used 15W40 in my Sears Craftsman Lawn and Garden Tractor and now have M1 0W40 in it! I used M1 0W40 in it dureing the winter and it is still in the unit. It worked great! To date the M1 0W40 has been the cleanest running oil in the unit and has not had any consuption issues at all!
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I have a new Sears mower with the Honda OHV engine. I put the lawnmower oil that came in the box in my daughter's Ford as a top-off... then put HDEO dino Motorcraft 15W-40 in the new Honda engine. After the first season, I'll switch it to full synthetic.
"To date the M1 0W-40 has been the cleanest running oil in the unit and has not had any consuption issues at all!"
Cleanest running?
I have a 8 year old Honda 4518 (18hp, twin-cyl, liquid cooled) and have been running various 15W-40 oils in it ... most recently, Schaeffer 15W-40. I changed the oil last November and right now, the inside of the motor is so clean, it looks like it was assembled yesterday.
You can see oil on the bolt heads ... perfectly clean except for that green Schaeffer tint.
--- Bror Jace
Cleanest running?
I have a 8 year old Honda 4518 (18hp, twin-cyl, liquid cooled) and have been running various 15W-40 oils in it ... most recently, Schaeffer 15W-40. I changed the oil last November and right now, the inside of the motor is so clean, it looks like it was assembled yesterday.
You can see oil on the bolt heads ... perfectly clean except for that green Schaeffer tint.
--- Bror Jace
I run SuperTech HD 30 in all of my mowers w/ no problems.
I didn't know that Sears sold anything with a Honda OHV engine on it. All I have seen have had the 5.5 hp OHC engine. I have one of these that I got about 4 years ago. Since changing out at 5 hours the 30W oil that came with it, I have used Mobil 1 5w30, changed once a year. I have an hour meter on this little engine, and it is used around 50 hours a year. The M1 stays a nice golden color, and so far, does not burn any. I use the mower thru the winter for leaf cleanup, so the 5W is nice.
The oil looked so good at 50 hours that I considered using it for another year to see if it would ever use any, but I finally gave in and changed it at exactly 50 hours. [The hour meter flashes a recommendation to change every 25 hours].
See the post I just put up on B & S oil recommendations.
Here is what they have to say, if its good for them, it good for yours.
* CAUTION: Air cooled engines run hotter than automotive engines. The use of non-synthetic multi-viscosity oils (such as 5W-30 or 10W-30) in temperatures above 40°F (4°C) will result in higher than normal oil consumption. When using a multi-viscosity oil, check oil level more frequently.
** CAUTION: SAE 30 oil, if used below 40°F (4°C), will result in hard starting and possible engine bore damage due to inadequate lubrication.
NOTE: Synthetic oil meeting ILSAC GF-2, API certification mark and API service symbol (shown at right) with "SJ/CF ENERGY CONSERVING" or higher, is an acceptable oil at all temperatures. Use of synthetic oil does not alter required oil change intervals.
Seem to me, synthetic oil is the best for small engine.
Note - I would not anything but these milti-vis grades in a small engine
SAE 5W-30, 10W-30
SAE Synthetic 0W-30, 5W-30, 10W-30
Anything else is not the best choice, like 15w-40, 10W-40, 20W-50. But its your engine, use what makes you happy.
I just today seen some new Sears mowers with Honda engines and was suprised myself.
[ May 13, 2005, 09:15 PM: Message edited by: Mike ]
Here is what they have to say, if its good for them, it good for yours.
* CAUTION: Air cooled engines run hotter than automotive engines. The use of non-synthetic multi-viscosity oils (such as 5W-30 or 10W-30) in temperatures above 40°F (4°C) will result in higher than normal oil consumption. When using a multi-viscosity oil, check oil level more frequently.
** CAUTION: SAE 30 oil, if used below 40°F (4°C), will result in hard starting and possible engine bore damage due to inadequate lubrication.
NOTE: Synthetic oil meeting ILSAC GF-2, API certification mark and API service symbol (shown at right) with "SJ/CF ENERGY CONSERVING" or higher, is an acceptable oil at all temperatures. Use of synthetic oil does not alter required oil change intervals.
Seem to me, synthetic oil is the best for small engine.
Note - I would not anything but these milti-vis grades in a small engine
SAE 5W-30, 10W-30
SAE Synthetic 0W-30, 5W-30, 10W-30
Anything else is not the best choice, like 15w-40, 10W-40, 20W-50. But its your engine, use what makes you happy.
I just today seen some new Sears mowers with Honda engines and was suprised myself.
[ May 13, 2005, 09:15 PM: Message edited by: Mike ]
The MTD 21 inch mower I have has had 15W40 in it after the first one and a half years. It is on its 8th mowing season. I tried 30W, 5W30, 5W40, 10W30, 10W40 and all but the 30W and 10W40 smoaked and used a lot of oil. 15W40 seems to work best. The engine is a B&S 6.5 HP. I use Delo and Rottella, whatever is cheapest. I might try 15W40 with a shot of GM EOS in my new 6.5 OHV B&S powered 2500 PSI pressure washer too. DaveJ
I was using Penzoil 5W-30 in my Sears 22" with 6.75 hp Eager-1 engine. Manual said to use 5W-30 under 40 degrees and 30 weight at higher temps.Thought the 5W-30 would be similar to 30 weight oil at operating temp.The used oil was black and much thinner when I changed it.There was silver flecks in the used oil also.
Found old stock Delo 400 15W-40 for $1.25 a qt and decided to try it after reading these posts. Cannot tell a difference in how the mower runs but the oil is cleaner and not breaking down like before.
Found old stock Delo 400 15W-40 for $1.25 a qt and decided to try it after reading these posts. Cannot tell a difference in how the mower runs but the oil is cleaner and not breaking down like before.
Was the Pennzoil 5w30 synthetic? The B & S chart only recommends synthetic multigrades, I believe. I use M1 5w30 in my Honda OHC 5.5 hp mower, and it looks fine after 50 hours. That's when I changed it. It stayed about 1/16th inch overfull the whole year. I've had this mower for about 4 years; changed it to M1 at the 5 hour mark, and have never had to add any oil between yearly changes. I have had to buy one new rear wheel which split apart, and I really need to get two new front tires as they are getting slick and are giving much less traction.
I just bought a Craftsman Lawn Vac with a 4.5 HP Tecumseh engine. It runs at wide-open throttle and seems to work very hard. It burns a full tank of fuel in about 35 minutes. The engine exhaust comes out with much more force than my lawn mowers; that's why I think it is working very hard. That's also why I'm going to put in some 15W40 Delo when I change out the 30W that came with the vac at the 5 hour mark. I usually use 5W30 M1 in my mowers, but this seems to be a much harder working engine.
Today my new hour meter arrived, just in time for the 5 hour oil change. Now we'll see how this 15W40 works.
Today my new hour meter arrived, just in time for the 5 hour oil change. Now we'll see how this 15W40 works.
No this was old stock dino Pennzoil. I think it was SH or SJ. I think the engine is made by Tecumseh because the air filter has "Tecumseh" stamped on it.
I really didn't think much about the mower until reading these posts. Don't want to pay for synthetics in the mower, will use HDEO's like Delo 400 from now on. Fortunately found the Delo at WalMart which they were trying to get rid of. Bought 5 qts for less than the price of 4 qts of newer Delvac, Shell ROtella T or newer stock Delo 400.
It seems pretty obvious to me that the B&S oil recommendations are years out of date. They draw a clear distinction between "conventional" and "synthetic" ... where no clear-cut distinction exists anymore.
I might have agreed with them years ago when viscosity index improvers were less stable and the base oils were Group I versus Group IV & V. Is the difference between Group II+ (Penbnzoil, Chevron , etc ...) and Group III (most mass-market 'synthetics') really great enough to warrant a distinction in an owner's manual?
I have done only 1 UOA on a piece of power equipment and that was a twin-cylinder, water-cooled Honda Tractor using Schaeffer 15W-40:
http://theoildrop.server101.com/cgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=000977#000000
I was quite happy with the results. And just think, air-cooled engines run even hotter.
--- Bror Jace
I might have agreed with them years ago when viscosity index improvers were less stable and the base oils were Group I versus Group IV & V. Is the difference between Group II+ (Penbnzoil, Chevron , etc ...) and Group III (most mass-market 'synthetics') really great enough to warrant a distinction in an owner's manual?
I have done only 1 UOA on a piece of power equipment and that was a twin-cylinder, water-cooled Honda Tractor using Schaeffer 15W-40:
http://theoildrop.server101.com/cgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=000977#000000
I was quite happy with the results. And just think, air-cooled engines run even hotter.
--- Bror Jace
If I were running a machine in an application which was marginal, I'd run a good Group IV or V synthetic oil in 0W-30, 5W-30 or 10W-30. Yes, as TooSlick and others point out, it does free up a touch more power and that may make a difference if your machine is just a bit "iffy" for the job at hand.
And theguru makes a great point ... running synthetic oils will only cost you about $2-5 more per year ... and you might even make a buck or two of that back from getting slightly better fuel economy.
If I felt my Schaeffer 15W-40 blend wasn't gettin' the job done for some reason, I might use a slighter thinner, full synthetic oil in my power equipment.
--- Bror Jace
And theguru makes a great point ... running synthetic oils will only cost you about $2-5 more per year ... and you might even make a buck or two of that back from getting slightly better fuel economy.
If I felt my Schaeffer 15W-40 blend wasn't gettin' the job done for some reason, I might use a slighter thinner, full synthetic oil in my power equipment.
--- Bror Jace
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