Synthetic oil bad in a lawnmower? Any truth in this self proclaimed experts statements?
- Thread starter 350Rocket
- Start date
Damm, what a load of BS. I have two Honda small engines one V-twin 20HP and one single 8HP, along with a generic lawnmower and a Yamaha golf cart. All these engines have used 15-50 M1, 15-40 diesel oil, M1 10-40HM and now M1 10-30. Some are 20 years old and never an oil related problem. All are small engines with no oil pump or filter except the 20HP Honda. They are happy with most any type of oil as long as it is clean and changed reguarly. Probably going to use 10-40 Supertec syn next, depending on availability.
Check The oil level before every start. Top off if necessary. The rest is what we argue about 
Yea... no problem for me. Using it nearlt eliminated my oil consumption on an older techumseh gen set.
I use what ever on my regular 2 trash picked Toro "Personal Pace" mowers (which i love by the way). I have a ton of oil that was purchased in the 1980's. so I just run that. if it blows up, i have a nother spare mower engine but they run fine. I have a big yard and just dump the oil when it looks dirty and add another 7 oz. I rotate using them and when one breaks, I have the other one and never fil to cut the lawn.
Run rotella synthetic in my 9 hp diesel genset yanmar.
I use what ever on my regular 2 trash picked Toro "Personal Pace" mowers (which i love by the way). I have a ton of oil that was purchased in the 1980's. so I just run that. if it blows up, i have a nother spare mower engine but they run fine. I have a big yard and just dump the oil when it looks dirty and add another 7 oz. I rotate using them and when one breaks, I have the other one and never fil to cut the lawn.
Run rotella synthetic in my 9 hp diesel genset yanmar.
I've used just about every weight, and type of oil in my mowers. The oldest being a 1997 Craftsman. So being that's my story of use and abuse, when should I expect it to do it's impersonation of a Nuclear meltdown?.,,
Sounds like a nice generator. What’s the model number?
I am not going to read every post in this 12 page thread. The theory posted in the OP's opening post is weird. So much I could not get through it.
I work on small engines and have never seen an engine failure from using cheap (Store Brand) oil motor oil. The failures are from running with low oil or never changing the oil in years. Not 5 years as the Briggs no oil change engine is supposedly target for but longer. I know engine life is estimated by hours of run time. I have heard the average walk behind mower is used 50 hours per year. So in 5 years that is 250 hrs of run time. I have seen American engines with some oil changes(like every other year) perform well long over that estimate.
What intrigues me is why Synthetic oil does not burn as much as dyno oil? When Synthetic oils first became popular, I recall people saying you will burn more or will loose more through seal/gasket leaks.
I know Briggs says in its publications it's Synthetic oil will burn less than their conventional oil. I read people on here saying their ODPE oil consumption has gone down when they use full Synthetic. I do not doubt anyone reporting this. I just do not understand why.
I am curious, so Why is that?
I work on small engines and have never seen an engine failure from using cheap (Store Brand) oil motor oil. The failures are from running with low oil or never changing the oil in years. Not 5 years as the Briggs no oil change engine is supposedly target for but longer. I know engine life is estimated by hours of run time. I have heard the average walk behind mower is used 50 hours per year. So in 5 years that is 250 hrs of run time. I have seen American engines with some oil changes(like every other year) perform well long over that estimate.
What intrigues me is why Synthetic oil does not burn as much as dyno oil? When Synthetic oils first became popular, I recall people saying you will burn more or will loose more through seal/gasket leaks.
I know Briggs says in its publications it's Synthetic oil will burn less than their conventional oil. I read people on here saying their ODPE oil consumption has gone down when they use full Synthetic. I do not doubt anyone reporting this. I just do not understand why.
I am curious, so Why is that?
Higher flash point.
Since it's more resistant to heat and oxidation, I don't know why it wouldn't be the better choice in an air-cooled engine. Mine's been getting Mobil 15w50 since it was new in 2004. Running like a champ.
With all of the neglect that most lawn and garden equipment is subjected to, using synthetic oil is the least of the issues they are faced with.
Do you mean lower Noack volatility?
I am guilty of two sins with my OPEs.
First, I use a 20W-50 grade.
Second, it's syn Valvoline bike oil, bought cheap on clearance.
Some refined oils have greater consumption than others, and often it depends on the engine. I think you are wrong to assume any synthetic motor oil will have less consumption than a refined oil, or that all synthetic motor oils will have less consumtion.
It's simply magic.
I am not assuming. This is in Briggs & Stratton Documents and others here have said that is their experience. In this thread no less.
You seem confident you understand this topic. School us on this topic better than your above vague and general comments. Is Briggs and stratton wrong? I want to learn.
So you are saying what is getting in to the cylinder chamber is not burning with the gas ingniting. While dyno oil with a lower flash point will?
Marketing often writes those documents.
