castrol gtx 10w30 getting too hot ?

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I've been using 15w40 in small lawnmower/generator engines for awhile now with no issue...I've even used 10-30 when I was out of 15-40 with no issues. The oil should be up to the task, so I'm doubting the oil was the issue.

From the way it sounds, it had some issues with crankcase ventilation and running too lean. In an air cooled motor working hard, I can see that causing overheating and killing the oil. I would guess that those issues, mixed with an unknown additive, more than likely caused what you're seeing there.
 
Originally Posted By: jamesonel
230 total hrs on engine.i always blow off my machines after every grass cutting. refuel,regrease etc.2 new coils,carb rebuilt 2 times,1 brand new carb,new head gaskets,valves reset to specs,new air cleaner and pre foam (externally vented),new spark plugs ngk and gapped,oil changed 4 times and filter (within a month)i will add something that may have some bearing on things.i had a friend add some oil additive in my oil and some to the gas tank on a couple ocassions,trying to sell me his product.could that have gummed up my oil pan.dealership said rebuild was more than a new engine.gt 245 john deere 20 hp kawasaki replaced with 23 hp kawasaki.$1390 for engine $1,000 labour.please add some opinions.thank you

try to give the engine a 15-20 minute break every 3-4 hours of use, because it is air-cooled. No longer than 4 hours.
 
A properly running engine should not need a break, he is cutting 6.5 hours , any engine should handle this with no problems what so ever. Generators run days on end without issue .
 
Originally Posted By: hemitom
A properly running engine should not need a break, he is cutting 6.5 hours , any engine should handle this with no problems what so ever. Generators run days on end without issue .


Agreed, if it needs a break would be far more often than 4 hrs, as max temp is achieved within 15 minutes of heavy usage...
 
Originally Posted By: TFB1
Originally Posted By: hemitom
A properly running engine should not need a break, he is cutting 6.5 hours , any engine should handle this with no problems what so ever. Generators run days on end without issue .


Agreed, if it needs a break would be far more often than 4 hrs, as max temp is achieved within 15 minutes of heavy usage...
It will be mentioned in the owners manual how long before giving it a break is required.
 
Has anyone had good luck with castrol gtx in air cooled engines. i would like to hear you experiences. thank you.
 
Originally Posted By: Jim Allen
Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
ILSAC oils FAIL in small sump unfiltered HD OPE applications. There is EVERY reason why it would not work. Briggs 3.5 hp mowers are easy, the bigger stuff is not. I will agree the OP should look to leaky floats, etc for oil contam.


RE ILSAC oils failing in aircooled small engines: Could you elaborate on this some more? I have heard this from a couple of other sources but you may well be able to explain it better. I have long used 10W30 HDEOs in my small engines... with no issues thus far but I'm always open to optimizing if appropriate.
Simply ILSAC low HTHS and vii added to light base oil casing thermal breakdown. HD OPE use minimal or no vii and are stable and spec/report higher HTHS for their respective service categories. High sump temps and load require high(er) HTHS and increased DP performance of an HDEO.
 
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I don't think the 10w30 weight is a problem, it simply needs to be a more robust oil designed for more abuse than a passenger car engine can put out. GTX is a weak oil compared to a HDEO like 10w30 rotella T5.

What is the attraction to freaken GTX? Do you get it for free or something!?
 
Originally Posted By: SOHCman
I don't think the 10w30 weight is a problem, it simply needs to be a more robust oil designed for more abuse than a passenger car engine can put out. GTX is a weak oil compared to a HDEO like 10w30 rotella T5.

What is the attraction to freaken GTX? Do you get it for free or something!?


No doubt a victim of Castrol's "resists thermal break down" advertising...

By chance I have same 10w30 in a 3.5Hp Briggs pusher but it never runs more than 45 minutes and rarely more than 30... Mower that does most of the work has M1 0W-40...
 
Originally Posted By: TFB1
Originally Posted By: SOHCman
I don't think the 10w30 weight is a problem, it simply needs to be a more robust oil designed for more abuse than a passenger car engine can put out. GTX is a weak oil compared to a HDEO like 10w30 rotella T5.

What is the attraction to freaken GTX? Do you get it for free or something!?


No doubt a victim of Castrol's "resists thermal break down" advertising...

By chance I have same 10w30 in a 3.5Hp Briggs pusher but it never runs more than 45 minutes and rarely more than 30... Mower that does most of the work has M1 0W-40...

Probably, I personally run rotella T6 in both my 6.25 brigs and a old 12 horse Kawasaki powered JD rider. I would never even consider using a run of the mill oil in a hard working air cooled OPE engine. It's like... Oil abuse!
mad.gif
 
I have been using Castrol GTX HM 10W30 in all my outdoor equipment for the last 2 years, just because that is what oil I have in the garage.

I run the riding mower for about 1 1/2 hours each time I mow my yard. Rainy season sometimes I mow twice a week, and its hot here in Naples. FL.

I changed the oil with a Purolator Classic 5 months ago and it still looks clean on the dip stick.

I always check the oil level before each mow and never have to add any.
 
i would like to know if i can find a comparison of rotella compared to castrol gtx,or john deeres 4 PLUS or TURF GUARD.iwould like to see how much of a difference there is if any.reason being i have about 60 1 gallon jugs of castrol gtx 10w 30 in my shop.i am running 5 garden tractors gt245 john deere and gx345(20 hp kawasaki engines ) and some quads also.too much equipment to get into it.thank you for your replies.any good experiences with castrol gtx please share it with me.
 
i would like to know if i can find a comparison of rotella compared to castrol gtx,or john deeres 4 PLUS or TURF GUARD.iwould like to see how much of a difference there is if any.reason being i have about 60 1 gallon jugs of castrol gtx 10w 30 in my shop.i am running 5 garden tractors gt245 john deere and gx345(20 hp kawasaki engines ) and some quads also.too much equipment to get into it.thank you for your replies.any good experiences with castrol gtx please share it with me.
 
Sorry, I have no experience with Castrol in any of my small engines (lawn equipment, pumps, and generators), but I have used it in automotive applications without issue.

My feelings with your issue is you had maybe two "problems" coincide, one was your friends additive, and the other was possibly plugged breather or air ducting causing an overheat.

There should be no need to "take a break" every so often as the duty cycle is rated by the size of the fuel tank. On my Kawasaki in my Deere mower it does have an high-temp light, and yes it is air cooled.

The Deere TurfGard I use in all of my small equipment is still rated SM, and according to Deere specifically formulated for them for use in air cooled engines. With saying that the reason I use it is my local dealer is for the most part my auto parts store, I am rural. I would not hesitate using Castrol GTX, or most other PCMO's available in the retail market in my small equipment.
 
you guys have been great.i really appreciate your opinions and personal experiences,any more input would be welcomed, please dont hesitate to pass it on to me. thanks again.
 
Originally Posted By: jamesonel
i really appreciate your opinions and personal experiences,any more input would be welcomed, please dont hesitate to pass it on to me.


I think a lot of the recommendations here to go to an HDEO, including a 10w30, are pretty sensible. A straight grade would work, too, but that's less than optimal, really. Back in the day of higher ZDDP oils, on our farm equipment, including riding mowers, we tended to simply use PCMO 10w30. I put some straight 30 in for one OCI in the garden tractor back in the early 1980s, and my dad was very unimpressed; he despised heavy oils for gassers and hated straight grades.

For a riding mower, I'd be likely to use a 10w30 HDEO or, possibly, a 15w40, depending upon manual recommendations. If it were a push mower, I wouldn't sweat it so much. Those have almost become throwaway appliances.
wink.gif
 
i may have an answer for all my problems.i did the original break in recommended by john deere.mechanics there state run john deere break in fluid for 20 hrs at 3500 rpm.then drain and you are ready to go.now put your own oil in and change every 100-200hrs.i did put an oil additive in which made things real slippery AND WORSE.i had oil blowing into the carb with massive white smoke,positive pressure in crankcase,surging,oil cloud at start up.it all points to BLOWBY.i feel my rings had not seated and i was getting alot of fuel and deposits blowing past the rings into the crankcase filling it with sludge.my compression was 120 each cylinder.leak down test was perfect,SO HOW COULD THE RINGS NOT SEAT?when the engine was taken apart alot of sludge was in the oil pan,screen on oil pump 95% plugged with sludge.carbon and sludge where baked into the oil rings.i believe that the sludge was sealing my cylinders not the rings.i could barely get the rings off the pistons.i dont think my castrol gtx gave up i feel that it was burning in the cylinders creating sludge.i think with a really good cleaning and a hone job and new rings i may have been back up and running.any thoughts let me know.john deere gt 245 20 hp kawasaki air cooled.230 hrs only.
 
Originally Posted By: jamesonel
SO HOW COULD THE RINGS NOT SEAT?when the engine was taken apart alot of sludge was in the oil pan,screen on oil pump 95% plugged with sludge.carbon and sludge where baked into the oil rings.i believe that the sludge was sealing my cylinders not the rings.i could barely get the rings off the pistons.i dont think my castrol gtx gave up i feel that it was burning in the cylinders creating sludge.


Do you have a comparison of compression with a known good engine??? Sludge isn't going to seal the piston rings... Oil burned in the cylinder is going out the exhaust as smoke...

Sludge is oil breakdown plain and simple, you can look for all the answers you like, but if the same OCI is continued I'll bet you'll have same issue with new engine... In my opinion you ran the oil at least 2x longer than you should have...
 
I don't have much experience with Kawasaki OPE engines, other than changing a crank case seal a few times. I have mostly worked on Kohler Commands and Briggs Vanguards. I would never put any additive in an air cooled engine. The operating conditions are tough as it is, additives will do nothing in the least or cause failures in the worst.

I have run GTX, Citgo, Chevron and many other 10w30 oils in Kohler Commands and Vanguards. BUT, these were all pre SM oils. Once the SM oils came out, most OPE engine manufacturers started recommending SL or earlier oils. This is about the time I started using HDEO oils.

My latest favorite is Amsoil ACD. I have been very impressed with this oil. The fact that it is reasonably priced, just makes it that much better. I have a 1995 Kohler Command 12.5hp single that just passed 1700 hours this cutting season. The only thing I have had go wrong was a coil. In a 120 hour season I don't even have to add oil. I have been using ACD in it for the past 500 hours. Rotella T 5w-40 is another fine choice.

Another factor is that blow by in an air cooled engine greatly increases crankcase temperatures. If you had ring sealing issues, no oil would have solved the sludge problem. 1600F combustion gasses cause a huge spike in crankcase temps.

On a different note, on these later model emission strangled engines, run the best quality fuel filter you can get. And change it often. It does not take much to partially block a passage and lean out the engine. Ethanol free fuel helps quite a bit too.
 
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