Go to orileys and buy the quart bottle of Lucas 2 cycle oil for $10. It's got the correct ratings for your needs.
Pennzoil Marine Premium Plus 2-Cycle Synthetic Blend "TC-W3" okay in small air cooled engines?
- Thread starter nooch450
- Start date
I dont support snake oil companies.
Maybe their 2 cycle oil is ok.. but with the other junk they sell.. I vote with my money.
I'd rather give VP Racing my money for JASO FD rated 2 cycle oil.
I heard that Marine 2smoke oil gets fired in air cooled engines.
I've never decided I needed to test that theory as echo redarmor is probably just about the best 2stroke oil for the money, run it at 40:1.
So I took a trip to Walmart and picked up a few bottles of the VP Racing Full Synthetic 2 Stroke oil. I decided to use this going forward for peace of mind.... The other options for oil at this quality level are either more expensive or are unavailable locally. I am not convinced that this decision will make any difference however for the amount of oil I use as a homeowner the cost difference isn't going to kill me.... It is about 4x the cost of what I was using before!
I wish there was some long term testing available to show how the marine 2 cycle oil is insufficient. Throughout my extensive searching I have come across dozens of people who claim to have been using marine 2 cycle oil extensively without issues. Some of these posts have been from landscapers who are going through a lot of oil so the cost savings for them is important. I have not come across one test or person who has claimed that using marine oil has damaged or shortened the life of their air cooled equipment.
I see tons of info about how the air cooled 2 cycle oil is designed for higher flash points due to higher operating temperatures however I have found air cooled rated oil with lower flash points than the marine oil I was using. I've attached an example below. You can compare this to the data in my original post.
I wish there was some long term testing available to show how the marine 2 cycle oil is insufficient. Throughout my extensive searching I have come across dozens of people who claim to have been using marine 2 cycle oil extensively without issues. Some of these posts have been from landscapers who are going through a lot of oil so the cost savings for them is important. I have not come across one test or person who has claimed that using marine oil has damaged or shortened the life of their air cooled equipment.
I see tons of info about how the air cooled 2 cycle oil is designed for higher flash points due to higher operating temperatures however I have found air cooled rated oil with lower flash points than the marine oil I was using. I've attached an example below. You can compare this to the data in my original post.
I'm citing my first post on this thread:
Two-stroke oils just as four-stroke car motor oils differ in three major aspects:
1. Mineral/conventional vs synthetic blend or semi-synthetic vs full synthetic or 100% synthetic
2. Viscosity @100C - 8 cSt (SAE20) vs 14 cSt (SAE40) and anything in between
3. Gas : oil ratio (oil change interval for the four-strokes)
Any combination of the first two aspects defines the third aspect.
The first two Pennzoil oils you asked for are synthetic blend and mineral:
- Pennzoil Marine Premium Plus - synthetic blend
- Pennzoil Outboard & Multipurpose - mineral
The new oil you bought VP Racing is full synthetic.
So that might defines in this case why the oils look similar on paper, even the VP Racing is lower viscosity with lower flash point too, but to have different performance. However on this SDS says that the VP Racing has flash point at 108C (bottom of page 4):
https://vpracingfuel-my.sharepoint.com/personal/compliance_vpracingfuels_com/_layouts/15/onedrive.aspx?ga=1&id=/personal/compliance_vpracingfuels_com/Documents/VP Racing SDS/Small Engine Fuels - Oils/VP SEF Full Synthetic 2-Cycle Oil/United States/VP SEF Full Synthetic 2-Cycle Oil - United States - English.pdf&parent=/personal/compliance_vpracingfuels_com/Documents/VP Racing SDS/Small Engine Fuels - Oils/VP SEF Full Synthetic 2-Cycle Oil/United States
Probably the main difference in this case is that the VP Racing oil is fully synthetic, has higher viscosity index and has ash, which is missing in the marine oils. Also it says that the VP Racing oil is ester fortified. Google search or here on the forums about esters in 2-stroke oils.
It appears that VP Racing has low viscosity and flash point compared to motorcycle racing oils that are also ester fortified and their viscosity starts at at least 11 cSt @100C and their flash point at at least 150C.
Two-stroke oils just as four-stroke car motor oils differ in three major aspects:
1. Mineral/conventional vs synthetic blend or semi-synthetic vs full synthetic or 100% synthetic
2. Viscosity @100C - 8 cSt (SAE20) vs 14 cSt (SAE40) and anything in between
3. Gas : oil ratio (oil change interval for the four-strokes)
Any combination of the first two aspects defines the third aspect.
The first two Pennzoil oils you asked for are synthetic blend and mineral:
- Pennzoil Marine Premium Plus - synthetic blend
- Pennzoil Outboard & Multipurpose - mineral
The new oil you bought VP Racing is full synthetic.
So that might defines in this case why the oils look similar on paper, even the VP Racing is lower viscosity with lower flash point too, but to have different performance. However on this SDS says that the VP Racing has flash point at 108C (bottom of page 4):
https://vpracingfuel-my.sharepoint.com/personal/compliance_vpracingfuels_com/_layouts/15/onedrive.aspx?ga=1&id=/personal/compliance_vpracingfuels_com/Documents/VP Racing SDS/Small Engine Fuels - Oils/VP SEF Full Synthetic 2-Cycle Oil/United States/VP SEF Full Synthetic 2-Cycle Oil - United States - English.pdf&parent=/personal/compliance_vpracingfuels_com/Documents/VP Racing SDS/Small Engine Fuels - Oils/VP SEF Full Synthetic 2-Cycle Oil/United States
Probably the main difference in this case is that the VP Racing oil is fully synthetic, has higher viscosity index and has ash, which is missing in the marine oils. Also it says that the VP Racing oil is ester fortified. Google search or here on the forums about esters in 2-stroke oils.
It appears that VP Racing has low viscosity and flash point compared to motorcycle racing oils that are also ester fortified and their viscosity starts at at least 11 cSt @100C and their flash point at at least 150C.
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I'd discontinue using the tcw3 marine oil. Many years ago I unknowingly used marine 2 stroke and after a couple of seasons after pulling the spark plug the piston top was fairly carboned up. With my Stihl it's had vp racing synthetic and Stihl 2 stroke oil for 5 seasons and the piston top looks remarkably clean.
That helps alot. 2 stroke equipment that idles alot tends to carbon up the spark arrestor and whatnot.
