I have a couple of air cooled engines around the house. One of them is a Generac, standby 13kw, air cooled generator (natural gas fueled). Manual calls for using 5W30 API SJ. I was speaking with one of the oil company customer service reps about using HDEO (diesel engine oils) in this type of engine. In a nutshell, he discouraged it, "because of the higher levels of sulfated ash, in these hot running engines usually result in excess valve deposits."
In previous years, here in Michigan, I had run across the Canadian border and bought some Esso XD3-0W30 that I have been using year round in this generator. It has a listed sulfated ash % of 1.49 (which is pretty high). It was cheap and worked beautifully - so far.
Questions for the experts:
1) Should I discontinue the use of this oil in this application, or continue?
2) What is the concern of excess valve deposits in air cooled engines?
3) Has anyone using Delvac, Delo or any of the other HDEO's experienced a first hand valve deposit problem from long term usage? If so how easy/difficult are these deposits to remove?
If I discontinue using the Esso XD-3 0W30, I have some Mobil 1 0W30 to substitute year round. The only drawback to the "thin" (cst@100C is 10.3), Mobil 1 that I have noticed, is it tends to get "consumed" quickly in this type of engine. In a 3 day power outage, the generator would shut down due to low oil level before the 3rd day (oil capacity 1.7 qt with filter). The Esso XD3-0W30 does not burn off nearly so quickly (cst@100C is 12.1). I have noticed that the current CJ-4 Esso XD3-0W30 now lists a sulfated ash% of 0.99.
Comments?
In previous years, here in Michigan, I had run across the Canadian border and bought some Esso XD3-0W30 that I have been using year round in this generator. It has a listed sulfated ash % of 1.49 (which is pretty high). It was cheap and worked beautifully - so far.
Questions for the experts:
1) Should I discontinue the use of this oil in this application, or continue?
2) What is the concern of excess valve deposits in air cooled engines?
3) Has anyone using Delvac, Delo or any of the other HDEO's experienced a first hand valve deposit problem from long term usage? If so how easy/difficult are these deposits to remove?
If I discontinue using the Esso XD-3 0W30, I have some Mobil 1 0W30 to substitute year round. The only drawback to the "thin" (cst@100C is 10.3), Mobil 1 that I have noticed, is it tends to get "consumed" quickly in this type of engine. In a 3 day power outage, the generator would shut down due to low oil level before the 3rd day (oil capacity 1.7 qt with filter). The Esso XD3-0W30 does not burn off nearly so quickly (cst@100C is 12.1). I have noticed that the current CJ-4 Esso XD3-0W30 now lists a sulfated ash% of 0.99.
Comments?