New to Me Boat

Joined
Jan 22, 2003
Messages
103
Location
Louisville, KY
Guys, We just picked up a Cherry 1996 Sea Ray 215 Express Cruiser with 320 hours. It was pretty much spotless, which sold my wife. It has been in one family its entire life and has been well maintained. My question being a member this forum for so long is "Which oil do i Need?" He has used Pennzoil Platinum 5w-40 for a while. I use the Ultra Platinum 5w-30 in my 3.6L Wrangler JKU. And love it. Should I stick with the 5w-40 or go to the Diesel 15w-40 T6? Does the 96 Mercruiser 5.7L need the high Zinc? I want to give the boat the best and keep it for a long time and keep that smile on my wife's face!

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Congratulations on the new boat! I too have a new to me boat. My aunt and uncle gifted me their very low hours 2001 Tahoe Q3 a year ago. It's got the 4.3 GM block Mercruiser, Recommended oil is 25w40. Costs a little more than HDEO, but WalMart has it for $24/gallon. (Quicksilver) I figure that I'll just stick with that going forward, I'm not going to try and second guess the owners manual just to save $10 per year on oil. $10 is only like 30 minutes of gas anyway, right?

Good luck and enjoy the boat!
 
Congrats to you guys too!! Definitely not looking to cheap out. I want best quality period. The Mercruiser/Quicksilver VOA’s I’ve seen don’t seem to have a whole lot of ZDDP and that why I wondered if I should go with the T6 given the age of motor. But since he’s been using 5w-40 Platinum and it’s worked well, maybe stick with that?
 
The very least I would use would be 5w40 but would give serious consideration to 15w40, 20w50 or the Merc 25w40. Does the engine have Raw Water Cooling or do you have a heat exchanger. Boat motors never get to coast, if they are in gear they are working hard and most live the majority of their lives above 3000 rpm. The marine oil might have a stronger water dispersent package too.
 
boat engines run cooler, like 160F. Super thick oils are not needed but high corrosion resistance is. Motorcycle oils, collector car specific oils generally have higher corrosion resistance. Do you run fresh or salt water. If salt then I would would put in some storage oil when you finish flushing out the salt by running fresh water thru it.
 
boat engines run cooler, like 160F. Super thick oils are not needed but high corrosion resistance is. Motorcycle oils, collector car specific oils generally have higher corrosion resistance. Do you run fresh or salt water. If salt then I would would put in some storage oil when you finish flushing out the salt by running fresh water thru it.
It has been in fresh water it’s whole life. Going to keep it at Lake Cumberland in KY. Part of the winterizing process is to fog the engine as well
 
in that case you can use any name brand oil and will have good results. No real need to find the best oil, and if you did next year it will be reformulated and there will be a different (best) oil

Rod
 
10-4, they suggest changing the oil as part of the process so fresh oil is in there in winter. They use the 25w-40 Merc. I am storing indoors at their facility and am going to have them do the winterization and inspect everything from top to bottom and replace what needs replacing before next season. But will hopefully get out a few more times before then.
 
The 5W part is good if you cold start the boat in freezing temps. a 15W-40 , 50 or 20W -50 would be a great choice. Let the engine warm up before WOT cruising. Over maintenance is a good thing to do with a boat.
 
boat engines run cooler, like 160F. Super thick oils are not needed but high corrosion resistance is. Motorcycle oils, collector car specific oils generally have higher corrosion resistance. Do you run fresh or salt water. If salt then I would would put in some storage oil when you finish flushing out the salt by running fresh water thru it.
The thromostats are set cooler, but oil temps can be much higher. Boat engines run under higher loads, and all the time. No downhills or coasting. The main concern is shear, that's why Merc recommends the 25w40 or a monograde.
 
So which has been shown to have the best corrosion resistance? Stick with Mercruiser?
Per this website, a FC-W certified marine oil has better corrosion protection. https://www.discoverboating.ca/resources/article.aspx?id=767
So it doesn't need to be Quicksilver/Mercury brand. Mystic (Citgo) makes good oil, Mag1 might have an offering. (I've used lot's of Mag1 marine gear oil in my outboard) SuperTech 25w40 hasn't been available for a year or two. West Marine carries Sierra and also their own house brand too. Looks like Pennzoil also has FC-W on offer.
 
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