M1 0W-30 was "too thin" (?) for my new Toro

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I bought a new Toro (20332)self-propelled mower with the 6.75 "torque" motor. I ran the break-in oil (Brigs 30) for probably 3 hours of usage. Then I switched out to M1 0W-30.
The problem was that it would puff an embarassing cloud of smoke on start up with that 0-30 oil. So, I switched to good old cheap Wal Mart synthetic, 10W-30 and the problem went away. Do you guys think that it puffed smoke becasue the motor wasn't yet broken in, or was the oil indeed too thin? What I think is that these motors are made with loose tolerances and they need thick oil, if that makes sense.
 
I have been using M1 5w-30 EP in my mower for a few years now and it has been fine. The viscosity of the two are very similar. Maybe the M1 0w-30 has more VIIs in it so it burned more.
 
Hmmm....

M-1 0w-30
cST @ 40*C 63.1
cST @ 100*C 11.0
VI 169


Amsoil ASE 30WT/10W-30
cST @ 40*C 67.0
cST @ 100*C 10.6
VI 146

There is no reason from what "I see here" in this comparison of Amsoil that is "made" for small engines...and for the M-1 to puff smoke...I use Amsoil 5W-30 in my Tec and Honda 9 Hp and it runs fine.

Obviously the M-1 0W-30 was not forming a good seal around the rings for some reason. Synthetic 10W-30 for the summer and 5W-30 for winter is the way to go. Pick your brand. I like the 1200 ppm of ZDP in the Amsoil.
 
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these motors are made by machine, so the tolerances are exceptional. i too would use 5w30ep sooner than 0w30, but i actually prefer WalMart ST synthetic 10w30 for my mower and snowblower, because a synth 10w30 has the flow properties of a dino 5w30 when cold, but is more shear stable, will stay in grade better, and simply be more durable. i actually bought 3 jugs of M1 0w30 when Wally Mart dropped the price, but after realizing that Mobile oil is not really any significantly better than any other SM synthetic, I returned them, and exchanged them for an even exchange of 4 jugs of ST synthetic. 4 synthetic oil changes for the price of 3.
 
Originally Posted By: Captain_Klink
these motors are made by machine, so the tolerances are exceptional. i too would use 5w30ep sooner than 0w30, but i actually prefer WalMart ST synthetic 10w30 for my mower and snowblower, because a synth 10w30 has the flow properties of a dino 5w30 when cold, but is more shear stable, will stay in grade better, and simply be more durable. i actually bought 3 jugs of M1 0w30 when Wally Mart dropped the price, but after realizing that Mobile oil is not really any significantly better than any other SM synthetic, I returned them, and exchanged them for an even exchange of 4 jugs of ST synthetic. 4 synthetic oil changes for the price of 3.


Agreed...tolerances are exceptional..much better than I thought...

After a few weeks with my "new" Briggs 20 HP V-Twin it is showing signs of being a very strong and excellent engine. Well designed and it starts and runs well. Had another hour run today and the oil was only at 180*F. Runs best with ASE 10W-30 Amsoil.

It sheared down Briggs 30wt (Blackstone) to a 20 wt in an hour.

These puppies really need a good synthetic oil.
 
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Originally Posted By: Nayov
I bought a new Toro (20332)self-propelled mower with the 6.75 "torque" motor. I ran the break-in oil (Brigs 30) for probably 3 hours of usage. Then I switched out to M1 0W-30.
The problem was that it would puff an embarassing cloud of smoke on start up with that 0-30 oil. So, I switched to good old cheap Wal Mart synthetic, 10W-30 and the problem went away. Do you guys think that it puffed smoke becasue the motor wasn't yet broken in, or was the oil indeed too thin? What I think is that these motors are made with loose tolerances and they need thick oil, if that makes sense.


Did your first oil change have a sparkle?

I found out that Briggs does not ship with oil in the unit. So don't assume that the oil that was in there was Briggs. usually a shop set it up wit oil as there are shipping laws that restrict shipment with oil in the crankcase.

My UOA from the "factory fill" was a cheap 99 cent oil...absolute junk.
 
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Pete591Did your first oil change have a sparkle? . [/quote said:
Actually it was surprisingly sparkle free (both o/c). Even now I don't see any on the d/s. I don't know if that's good or bad or it's still breaking in (doubt it as it's been 10 hours, maybe, so it should be fully broken in).

On my 3 year old snowblower I still see sparkles.
 
I still see sparkles on my 23 year old snow blower (very heavily used) with a 8 HP Tecunseh engine. Always run a dino 5W-30 in it. Nary an engine problem. Probably has close to 500 hours on the engine under some very heavy loads.
 
I run the Mobil 1 EP 5w-30 in my Old 6.5 Quantum mower with over 2K hours on it with only a puff here and there on startup. I run 0W-30 in my Tecumsah 5HP snowking with only a little usage. But with the snowblower I run it hard in the winter through snow banks and stuff and it bogs down but keeps going.
 
I used Mobil 1 0W30 this past winter in my snow blower it worked well. I had some from my Mobil 1 days that I wanted to get rid of. I will run it this winter as well since I still have enough for another 2 seasons. Hopefully when I'm done with it Pennzoil will have a 0w30 in PP that will be readily available.
 
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