What 2-cycle oil should I use, MTD Snowflite 20in w/ 3HP Lauson? Engine

Joined
Dec 19, 2019
Messages
5,066
Location
Muncie, Indiana
1664680128315.png

1664680145700.png

1664680235645.png

I normally don't screw with 2strokes, and don't know a whole lot about selecting a 2stroke oil. This evening someone gave me an old MTD Snowflite unit, it seems to be in okay shape, it was just stored for years, I can't tell if it had any gas left in it or someone had filled the fuel system with 100% oil , after draining out the blue-ish green-ish liquid that was in the entire fuel system and blowing the jets out in the carb and putting it back together, I can now hear the diaphragm moving when I hit the primer, the fuel line had seen better days but wasn't absolutely rotten and the diaphragm didn't rot so maybe someone poured 100% oil into the unit to try to preserve it, I dunno, it only had a very hint of the smell of old gas, nothing like what I've seen in 4stroke carbs that have sat, but maybe 2 cycle mix doesn't turn to the waxy nasty mess like straight E10 does, but then again, I dunno, I don't really mess with 2cycle engines.
I know in general air cooled engines should use API TC, and not TC-W3, but I don't know what's a good choice would be.
 
Holy smokes, what museum did you drag that thing out of? I'd go full blown 21st century and use a JASO-FD oil specifically made for outdoor power equipment. I like Red Armor or the VP 2-cycle oil that you find at the hardware stores. Any brand will work but I do think you get a cleaner running engine with the JASO-FD rated oils.

It's asking for a mix ratio of 32:1 (4 oz. oil per 1 gallon of fuel) but I'd feel perfectly comfortable mixing at 50:1 with the modern oils. I have used everything under the sun in my outdoor power equipment and I am presently using Amsoil Saber along with Opti-2 since they were free and are taking up space in my shop. They are 100:1 lean mix products that I mix at 70:1 and they're working well in my string trimmer and leaf blower. My blower gets used a lot this time of year with the transition of the season and it seems to love the Opti-2.

You know it's the Fall season when pumpkin spice is offered in everything from candles to lattes and the snow blowers are coming out of hibernation.
 
It's asking for a mix ratio of 32:1 (4 oz. oil per 1 gallon of fuel) but I'd feel perfectly comfortable mixing at 50:1 with the modern oils. I have used everything under the sun in my outdoor power equipment and I am presently using Amsoil Saber along with Opti-2 since they were free and are taking up space in my shop. They are 100:1 lean mix products that I mix at 70:1 and they're working well in my string trimmer and leaf blower. My blower gets used a lot this time of year with the transition of the season and it seems to love the Opti-2.
I was looking at that VP, since it recommends 50:1 to be used in place of 50:1 and 40:1, I was thinking 40:1 would probably be a good ratio in place of 32:1. Probably best to use ethanol free fuel, the stations around here that sell it are sparse, all at least 20miles away, I was trying to look up what 100LL may cost at a local airport, but then found out one of them may actually sell 94UL, I need to check if they'll sell to some guy that just needs a little in a gas can or if they'll only sell to pilots.
 
If you can buy UL94 for a reasonable price then that would be great. I wouldn't use 100LL (or any leaded product) that is going to be exhausting just a few feet from my nose.

You certainly don't need a 94 octane fuel in that old 2-stroke but the quality of UL94 would be unsurpassed by anything you're going to find on dry land. It's not a common fuel so I'd be surprised if your local airport has it but it'd be worth a look.

As for mix ratios... they're not that critical. Fifty-to-one or 40:1 won't make a speck of difference. Get something that smells good and slap a VP racing fuel sticker on the side and start slinging snow (hopefully a few months away).

edit: I just checked the FBO listing and you're one lucky dog. Reese airport is listed as having UL94 at $6,70 a gallon. Not bad!
 
Last edited:
I was looking at that VP, since it recommends 50:1 to be used in place of 50:1 and 40:1, I was thinking 40:1 would probably be a good ratio in place of 32:1. Probably best to use ethanol free fuel, the stations around here that sell it are sparse, all at least 20miles away, I was trying to look up what 100LL may cost at a local airport, but then found out one of them may actually sell 94UL, I need to check if they'll sell to some guy that just needs a little in a gas can or if they'll only sell to pilots.

Why not try some 40:1 true fuel to see if it works. This might be easier than chasing E0 fuel.

If you can get E0 fuel I’d use that over Av gas.

Just my $0.02
 
Why not try some 40:1 true fuel to see if it works. This might be easier than chasing E0 fuel.

If you can get E0 fuel I’d use that over Av gas.

Just my $0.02
I think I'm going to go to Lowe's an buy a quart of VP's 50:1 premix that they say is ok to use in 40:1 applications, given that this machine was produced sometime between 1976 and 1985 based on the sticker saying it conforms to the b71.3-1975 safety standard, and I looked up something about decoding old MTD model numbers that leads me to believe it was manufactured in 1979. I've seen recommendations for newer equipment with similar 3hp Tecumseh motors that recommend 40:1 so I think the VP 50:1 mix will be fine, I'm guessing in the 70s they just recommended using a ton of oil because the oil was generally pretty crappy back then.
 
Couldn't find the VP premix at my Lowe's so I bought 40:1 Trufuel, it was smoking a lot at startup because I had sprayed some plaster down in cylinder when I had the plug out because I thought a little bit of some type of oil wouldn't hurt since it's sat about 30 years unused. it smoked less after a few minutes, maybe there's a little oil still burning off, or I need to fine tune the mixture screws since I had to take the needles out when I cleaned the carb, they were both about 1 1/4 turns out which according to the manual is about the most opened they should ve so maybe they need turned in about an 1/8 to 1/4 of a turn.
 
Couldn't find the VP premix at my Lowe's so I bought 40:1 Trufuel, it was smoking a lot at startup because I had sprayed some plaster down in cylinder when I had the plug out because I thought a little bit of some type of oil wouldn't hurt since it's sat about 30 years unused. it smoked less after a few minutes, maybe there's a little oil still burning off, or I need to fine tune the mixture screws since I had to take the needles out when I cleaned the carb, they were both about 1 1/4 turns out which according to the manual is about the most opened they should ve so maybe they need turned in about an 1/8 to 1/4 of a turn.
Many snowblowers amd snowmobiles would also fall in this category that I've worked on I wait till the cold temperatures settle in to really fine tune it.
 
Many snowblowers amd snowmobiles would also fall in this category that I've worked on I wait till the cold temperatures settle in to really fine tune it.
2x Cold winter air is denser. Tuning the carb now will result in a lean mixture in the cold weather. Lean is mean, I've burnt a lot of pistons in 2 smoke snowmobiles in the quest for mo' power in sleds in my younger days.
 
Couldn't find the VP premix at my Lowe's so I bought 40:1 Trufuel, it was smoking a lot at startup because I had sprayed some plaster down in cylinder when I had the plug out because I thought a little bit of some type of oil wouldn't hurt since it's sat about 30 years unused. it smoked less after a few minutes, maybe there's a little oil still burning off, or I need to fine tune the mixture screws since I had to take the needles out when I cleaned the carb, they were both about 1 1/4 turns out which according to the manual is about the most opened they should ve so maybe they need turned in about an 1/8 to 1/4 of a turn.

I think 40:1 is better given the time it has sat. A little extra lube usually doesn’t hurt. I even run 45:1 in all my new stuff. My Stihl saw and Ryobi blower. They don’t seem to mind it at all. Personally I run 91 E0 with Stihl grey bottle oil.

Just my $0.02
 
I think 40:1 is better given the time it has sat. A little extra lube usually doesn’t hurt. I even run 45:1 in all my new stuff. My Stihl saw and Ryobi blower. They don’t seem to mind it at all. Personally I run 91 E0 with Stihl grey bottle oil.

Just my $0.02
I'd run whatever the cheapest E0 I could find is if it were more available the problem is, that the only place around here that isn't an airport that sells E0 is a little full service station in a small town and they have ethanol free premium which is already $1 or more than E10 87 everywhere else, so I guess if I can get 94UL from the airport I'll take it even though it's like $1.5-2 more a gallon than it'd be at the one place if it's quicker and saves me the gas from not having to drive like 20 miles out of my way. All the other E0 stations I know of are 30+ miles away.
 
It's asking for a mix ratio of 32:1 (4 oz. oil per 1 gallon of fuel) but I'd feel perfectly comfortable mixing at 50:1 with the modern oils.
I would ease my way into that by running 40:1 for awhile to see how it goes. The oil will be fine at 40:1 but fuel to air ratio is going to change. You may end up running to rich on the fuel as you lean out the oil.
 
That old thing benefits from being produced in an era when they expected people to tune their equipment to perform a task. It should have a high speed, low speed, and idle speed mixture screw that will afford the air/fuel ratio be adjusted to accommodate varying fuel/oil mix ratios.

carb 1.JPG
carb 2.JPG
 
High speed adjustment, back it out (richening) until it starts ''blubbering'' and turn in until it slowly until it just clears up. Do this at the low cold temp you are running it at. It will be safe at warmer temps until it gets too warm and the blubber returns.
Better to retune or hose a spark plug than a piston.
40-1 with modern oils is just fine for old antiques that ran back in the day stuff at 20 or 30-1 mixes.
Had an old Artic Cat with a 20-1 mix sticker on it that ran fine at 40-1 with modern synth. oils for many miles. 500cc twin motor that normally lived at 4500 - 5k rpm in use.
 
Last edited:
Considering how much time has elapsed, I suspect that all the oil in the fuel system came from the oil that was originally mixed and the gasoline having completely evaporated.
I would NOT use a 50:1 mix in an old Tecumseh 2-cycle engine. You would be asking for trouble IMO. I have seen too many of these (and old Lawnboys) seized-up from doing this. 40:1 with E0 or 32:1 with E10 is the least amount of oil that I would use.
 
I would ease my way into that by running 40:1 for awhile to see how it goes. The oil will be fine at 40:1 but fuel to air ratio is going to change. You may end up running to rich on the fuel as you lean out the oil.
+1

If it was mine I'd use a good 40:1 mix and see how it runs. 50:1 would be fine with modern oils but depending on the carb it might run too rich fuel wise.

A lot of the machines that originally called for 32:1 were spec'd back when oils weren't what they are today, or even when the procedure for 2 stroke engines was to mix SAE 30 into the fuel.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JTK
Outboard motor oil would be the proper choice as it is a low output and low RPM engine.
 
Use winter gas, not some exotic gas that is old summer blend because it's a slow seller.

The winter gas thing on the label is legit. It is most meaningful for old carbureted engines starting in very cold weather.
Winter gas has a higher reid vapor pressure allowing the gas to evaporate more at cold temps to help the engine start.

TC-W3? Lawn-Boy was a rare exception and specified it as they wanted the mowers to use an ashless oil. If you use a traditional 2-stroke oil in a Lawn-Boy at 32:1, the spark plug will foul sooner.
 
Back
Top