New Oil - Should be Excellent for Small Engines!

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As many of you familiar with my posts already know, I have been a fan of using Motorcycle oils in small air-cooled engines, over PCMO or HDMOs, for the following reasons:

1) The type of engine (small, high-revving, air-cooled) is closer to the operating environment of a motorcycle than a Passenger car or even a diesel engine - therefore motorcycle oils (in theory) should be well-suited to this type of use.
2) Motorcycle oils contain significantly elevated levels of anti-wear additives, well-above PCMOs, and most HDMOs.
3) Motorcycle oils contain additional anti-corrosion additives to reduce corrosion during times of non-use. This is also a good fit for most small engines.

I've been using Amsoil MCT (10W-30 Motorcycle oil) for this purpose. Amsoil has come out with a new motor oil that I believe should be even better! It's called ZRT 10W-30. See the link to it here.

In comparing this oil to the MCT I've been using, revisiting the points above:

1) Small, High-Revving engines: In comparing MCT with ZRT:
a. Flash Point - ZRT: 453 vs. 450 for MCT
b. NOACK - ZRT - 5.2 vs. 5.89 for MCT
c. HTHS - ZRT 3.6 vs. 3.52 for MCT

Judging from this, it should be well-suited to hot, air-cooled, high revving engines.

2) ZRT contains elevated levels of Zinc and Phosphorus - 1200-1400ppm according to Pablo, which is similar to MCT

3) ZRT contains additional rust and corrosion inhibitors, just like MCT

4) UNLIKE MCT, ZRT contains friction modifiers (I confirmed this with Amsoil Tech Support). This should allow the engines to rev more smoothly, and possibly improve fuel economy.

5) ZRT is a heavy 10W-30, at 11.8 vs. 10.9 of MCT.

ZRT has a lower TBN than MCT (9.0 vs. 11 for MCT), but in the UOAs I have done, TBN is not a significant issue in small air cooled engines. When I ran both Mobil 1 and MCT for an entire season, TBNs of both oils still came in at over 9.0.

So: I think I have found the new oil I am going to use in my small engines at the end of this season!
 
At ~$9.40/qt I would hope it's got significantly elevated levels of everything good, compared to a ~$3/qt HDEO!

Seriously though, Amsoil makes an excellent product. I've used and was happy with their products over the years.

For my lawn mowers and such? Ain't gonna happen.

Joel
 
May be a good choice. That's a thick 30W, almost a 40. Might give it a try after I finish the 6qts of HDD 5W-30 I'm using now in a couple of Honda OPE's. $7.55 per qt. for a PC.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: JTK
At ~$9.40/qt I would hope it's got significantly elevated levels of everything good, compared to a ~$3/qt HDEO!

Yeah, seriously. These small mower engines will run practically on anything for longer than you want to keep them. I don't see the point of spending so much money on a mower engine oil. It's not a Porsche.

But again, we're talking about BITOG here... we're all nuts.
smile.gif
 
At 3000 to 3600 rpm, lawn mower engines are hardly high revving.

At almost $10.00/qt. it's three times the price of any decent HDEO that will provide more than sufficient protection.

I'm with JTK on this one..... Not going to happen unless the price drops closer to $3.50/qt.
 
For what it's worth, several of the machines I use this oil are $4,000+ commercial lawn mowers...Perhaps still not truly worthy of $10 a quart oil, but a significant investment nonetheless.
 
How often do you change oil on these commercial mowers and are you planning to change it less frequently with this Amsoil? Just curious...
 
OTOH, an oil like this would be ideal for a small "sealed" hydrostatic trans-axle that a PITA to change oil on, but I believe Amsoil has a specific product for that. I'd gladly pay for ultra-premium for an application such as that.

Joel
 
I like ACD and have been running that for years. At retail price a gallon comes out to be 8.68/qt. Given the price delta, I think I'd go with the oil you have listed. You are sure there are no VIIs?

While it doesnt need it from a zddp standpoint, I like the anti-corrosive package in this oil and would consider it for use in my low-use applications.
 
Originally Posted By: btanchors
For what it's worth, several of the machines I use this oil are $4,000+ commercial lawn mowers...Perhaps still not truly worthy of $10 a quart oil, but a significant investment nonetheless.


I've got a $20K motorcycle and a couple $10K ATVs another motorcycle in the $8K range all being run on Rotella 15W40. I don't lose any sleep using HDEO in those machines and I bet there are many thousands of people using the same oil sleeping just fine.

From my experience, ten dollar/qt. oil is unwarranted for anything but the most extreme conditions.

I personally don't think lawn mowers fall into "most extreme" category.
 
Originally Posted By: btanchors
As many of you familiar with my posts already know, I have been a fan of using Motorcycle oils in small air-cooled engines, over PCMO or HDMOs, for the following reasons:

1) The type of engine (small, high-revving, air-cooled) is closer to the operating environment of a motorcycle than a Passenger car or even a diesel engine - therefore motorcycle oils (in theory) should be well-suited to this type of use.
2) Motorcycle oils contain significantly elevated levels of anti-wear additives, well-above PCMOs, and most HDMOs.
3) Motorcycle oils contain additional anti-corrosion additives to reduce corrosion during times of non-use. This is also a good fit for most small engines.

I've been using Amsoil MCT (10W-30 Motorcycle oil) for this purpose. Amsoil has come out with a new motor oil that I believe should be even better! It's called ZRT 10W-30. See the link to it here.

In comparing this oil to the MCT I've been using, revisiting the points above:

1) Small, High-Revving engines: In comparing MCT with ZRT:
a. Flash Point - ZRT: 453 vs. 450 for MCT
b. NOACK - ZRT - 5.2 vs. 5.89 for MCT
c. HTHS - ZRT 3.6 vs. 3.52 for MCT

Judging from this, it should be well-suited to hot, air-cooled, high revving engines.

2) ZRT contains elevated levels of Zinc and Phosphorus - 1200-1400ppm according to Pablo, which is similar to MCT

3) ZRT contains additional rust and corrosion inhibitors, just like MCT

4) UNLIKE MCT, ZRT contains friction modifiers (I confirmed this with Amsoil Tech Support). This should allow the engines to rev more smoothly, and possibly improve fuel economy.

5) ZRT is a heavy 10W-30, at 11.8 vs. 10.9 of MCT.

ZRT has a lower TBN than MCT (9.0 vs. 11 for MCT), but in the UOAs I have done, TBN is not a significant issue in small air cooled engines. When I ran both Mobil 1 and MCT for an entire season, TBNs of both oils still came in at over 9.0.

So: I think I have found the new oil I am going to use in my small engines at the end of this season!


As I've seen your post earlier your manual states 100 hrs OCI. The Amsoil ZRT I'm sure can be extended to 200 hours as the UOA resulted with a tbn of 9.

An OCI of 250 hours on a commercial usage would be feasible with the Amsoil ZRT ... with external elements such as good air filtering.

I'd rather see a UOA at 200 hours...most commercial usage ranges 400-600 hours yearly.

If it cost you $20 yearly with a top of line oil .... one has his values, no problems here!
 
I can't see how the new ZRT product will give you any real world improvement over what you are already using with Amsoil MCT. The thinner, MCT (10.9 cst@100C) you already using, will run cooler, and flow faster than ZRT (11.8 cst@100C). If oil cost is no factor, for small air cooled engines, I'd take the thinnest cst@100C oil I could find, with the same HT/HS every time.

As a matter of fact, I am about to soon, change my Generac, standby home generator over to Amsoil MCT 10W30 for the summer - bought a few quarts for cheap in an oil trade with my neighbor. (13KW, 3600 rpm, air cooled, 2 QT oil capacity w/ filter). We had previous summer power outages of over @ 90F temperatures, (using the manufacturer recommended Mobil 1 5W30 car oil) for over 48 continuous hours. Oil was "used up" to the point that the generator would shut itself off, when the oil level dropped to prevent engine damage. At which point, you needed to refill it and restart it. My wife would not do this, during a power outage, if I am out of town. I don't anticipate any such problems using a motorcycle oil, this summer.

On the other hand, generations of small air cooled engines, have racked up thousands of hours using nothing but cheap, straight 30 wt. Just change it frequently.
 
Looking at the motorcycle uoas, not many oils hold up better than HDEOS. Which by the way are used is some very very expensive engines with excellent results.
 
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