Oil for Propane Motor

[zam]

Can anyone tell me what oil I should use in a propane powered pickup? Would normal gasoline oil be ok or should I use an oil for a diesel engine?

I'm new to propane, although I like it cause its cheaper than gas to buy, and I'm wondering what oil I should use?

 

[G-MAN]

A regular SL gas engine oil will do fine. You'll be amazed at how clean the oil will be compared to running gasoline. Propane combustion byproducts and blowby don't have all the "nasties" that gasoline introduces into an engine, and the oil (from this angle) is not stressed nearly as much by a propane powered engine.

 

[mkosem]

would a natural gas engine oil work for that application? I know schaeffer #114 and #114S are for natural gas. Would it be a similar environment?

--Matt

 

[Pablo]

G-man is correct.

Also Amsoil does make an oil for propane/NG engines BUT does NOT recommend it for modified gasoline engines.

[ February 24, 2003, 02:44 PM: Message edited by: Pablo ]

 

[MolaKule]

Pablo,

I thought Amsoil's oils were for Natural gas engines only, since NG engines require low-ash formulations.

 

[Pablo]

quote:

---

Note: AMSOIL Synthetic Natural Gas Engine Oil should not be used in automotive engines that have been modified to use propane or natural gas.

---

Above is direct from the webpage.

Maybe I didn't write it correctly....

I do wonder if the oil is ok for a stationary dedicated, original build propane engine? The engines would be the same internally I would think, just different demand regulators for the differing fuels...

 

[zam]

So, the next question is if the oil stays cleaner longer can I go to a longer drain interval. Of course, I understand the need to do analysis (after reading this board for a while) in order to establish the correct drain interval for my application but I would think if the oil stays clean longer that I could change it less often.

 

[G-MAN]

quote:

---

Originally posted by zam:
So, the next question is if the oil stays cleaner longer can I go to a longer drain interval. Of course, I understand the need to do analysis (after reading this board for a while) in order to establish the correct drain interval for my application but I would think if the oil stays clean longer that I could change it less often.

---

Yes. When I was in college, I had a girlfriend whose father ran a gas company. He had all of his vehicles, even his personal cars, converted to run on propane. He changed the oil and filter every 12,000 miles (regular oil, not syn). I was at their house one weekend when he was changing the oil in his Mercury (460cid V8) and I swear the oil looked like brand new when it came out of the engine.

If you were to use a good synthetic, and did oil analysis, it's no telling how long you could run the oil.

 

[cryptokid]

i heard somwhere the rule of thumb is 10x longer than gasoline, oil will last when used with propane. this is for small engines like forklifts, lawn mowers, floor polishers etc.
how a car engine is i would assume, similar but in reality i wouldnt know.

 

[Steve S]

On a propane engine the same oil is used as on gasoline.I have worked on forklifts and most run on propane.The oil change interval is recommended to be the same as on gasoline . Because the manufacturer doesn't know how the engine is run. There will still the condensation problems of short milage use etc.Yes the oil comes out looking different but to me its not new looking. To do extended oil changes ,analysis is a must to do.

Using a heavy duty oil of the proper viscosity would be good.

 

[Shannow]

Extended drains depend on what your oil is wearing out from.

Temperature and oxidation must be the same (same engine, same oil pump, same PCV etc). Not so many carbon contaminants, and fuel blowby is gaseous, so it won't go black as quickly.

I'd still guess that the oil additives are depleted nearly as fast as a petrol engine, maybe giving propane a margin of safety over petrol.

[ February 25, 2003, 07:17 AM: Message edited by: Shannow ]

 

[TooSlick]

Zam,

I'd run a 15w-40 diesel oil or a 5w-40 synthetic diesel oil like Delvac 1 or Petro Canada in this application. I've seen some fleets that do this and it works very well.

TooSlick