OK - Now its Oil!

[rufcut]

I am completley confused on oil mix. Who is right, the oil maker or the two stroke motor maker?
How do you know if it is a synthetic or oil base?
Is the oil maker responsible if I blow up my two stroke?!
Thanks again to the saw gods,
Rufcut

 

[sedanman]

This is one area where I don't take chances, I'll let other people test the claims of "super lubes" I'm sticking with name brand (power equipment manufacturer) oil. A six pack of oil is about $6.00........ cheap insurance in my book.

 

[Walt Galer]

Howdy rufcut,

Sorry ol' boy. You are totally on your own! There is no way to tell what you are getting once you stray from major brand air cooled engine manufacturer endorsed product. Note I said major brand. There are no standards. Most two cycle oils are made from reprocessed base stocks, and blended to the specification agree'd on between the blending outfit and the manufacturer's service /technical dept. The off brands are product by people who don't know a starter rope from a handlebar.

The attempts at standards, TC, TCW, TCIII, ect. seemed to have gone nowhere. (Other than TCW means "water cooled" and you best stay away from it!).

The oil industry has degenerated into a bunch of thieves and that is all there is to it. When this bunch gets together with chainsaw manufacture's, you have a party beyond belief! (No pun intended, right?) Those clear bar and chain oils are reject hydraulic oils (that could not make it's required grade) blended with visa-tac and sold to the public under some recognized brand. Not even the major brand names are any help on this product. The colored ones have only been dyed. It stains your clothes if nothing else, but must be red to be sold in Quebec! What I am saying is quite simply, nothing makes any sense! (Other than good oil costs money).

Regards,
Walt Galer

 

[tony marks]

im stayin w echo stihl or husky. dont know if the off brands are as good or not ,and aint gonna find out with my saws. later now

 

[rufcut]

Old saws

OK, I'll be buying Husky and Sthil oil, but what about my old Mac 55, as I recall it was a 1-16 mix. Should I mix the Husky oil at that ratio for the Mac?
Thanks.

 

[tony marks]

im sure u will get advice from those who know more than me.
my mechanic says the new oils are fomulated to provide better
lubrication at recommended mix. ive only had one very old motor that went sour with stihl 50-1 mix . but im not sure what caused the problem ,and the machine was not worth enough to find out. so ill be watching this post. i would recommend a higher octane gas tho.seems to run cooler. later now

 

[dbabcock]

What about synthetic two stroke oil, like Amsoil? I've heard that Amsoil uses a synthetic base molecule unlike many that use a petroleum base in their synthetics. The only bad things I've heard about synthetics is that because they are so slippery, they tend to not stick to key parts during the times that te engine isn't running and that if you break in an engine with synthetic, that you should continue using synthetic and vice versa. Other than these things, all I know is that it doesn't smoke as much.

 

[rufcut]

Let me add to the confusion here. If I do run a 1-16 mix and I happen to need one of my 1-50 mix saws, will the richer mix hurt the saw other than mabe fouling the plug?
Thanks

 

[John in MA]

16:1 mix in a 50:1 saw wouldn't be a good idea. In addition to the fast plug fouling, the saw would be running lean due to less gas in the mix.

I run my old saws at whatever ratio the maker suggests for thier own brand oil. I also don't believe in those 100:1 oils that are around.

 

[sedanman]

My old xl-12 wants 16:1 but that's with actual motor oil. I run it at 32:1 with Stihl oil and haven't had a problem. If it blows up, it is nearly 40 years old, how long could it last anyway?

 

[LAZERMAN]

Rufcut, JohninMa is right it will foul the plug faster and on some of the high end pro. saw it will actually cause the piston to crack, because of the excessive oil in the cylinder. So basically stay with a good name brand oil, and mix it according to what the bottle says and you should be O.K....

 

[mbopp]

Some musings from TGF:



Posted by: Marty ([email protected]) on Thu, Dec 13, 01 at 10:30

The new standards that most quality mfgs. use for 2 cycle lubricants are JASO M345/FC and ISO-L-EGD. The best oils will meet and exceed these standards and wll say so on the labels. These oils are intended for use with air cooled 2 cycle engines and include much improved additives for anti-seize, anti-scuff, fuel stabilizers,etc. It is the additives and not the base oil stock that determines the best mixing oils.

FWIW,
Mike

 

[rufcut]

I understand what you guys are saying, and actually I cut with the 357xp and use the old Mac if I get stuck, so I'd be running 50:1 in it for short periods.
Thanks

 

[Dennis]

I just mix used engine oil with stale gas...

 

[DDM]

I own a tree service and happened to be in a Northern tool store and noticed they had bar oil
for 1.99 a gallon So trying to be cost conservative {Cheap} i bought a case and ended up burning up 3 Stihl bars So ive learned my lesson
i havent run anything but Stihl bar or Mix oil Since Although i never used anything but the stihl
fuel mix anyway but figured bar oil was bar oil.
Lesson learned.

Later,
David

 

[tundraotto]

mbopp: its the balance of a good base and a good set of additives that makes a good oil...synthetics make sense in my opinion....however there is no excuse for thin oil/fuel ratios whether using synthetic - you will just p__s the advantage away...

JASO L-EGD standards are apparently the most stringent as the majority of 2 stroke hi-po engines are manufactured in Japan. (ie. motorcycles). i have no knowledge of any synthetic that does not pass these tests as i have no knowledge of any mineral oil that passes these standards - you would enlighten me by proving me wrong...

PS.. DENNIS!! - did you run my saw on stale fuel and used motor oil!!!! - lmao

 

[Rick Stafford]

O.K.,here we go- "ECHO" and "HUSQVARNA" are the only to oils at 50:1 with "89 OCTANE" fuel that are warrented against a "LUBRICATION FAILURE" in any 2-cycle air cooled engine.I said it before but I learned alot about oils talking to ANDY at echo.I started using echo oil in my shop 5 years ago when I could no longer get any mcculloch mix.Iave ran 50:1 with 89 octane fuel in EVERYTHING that comes through my shop beit a 056 or 064 or husky rancher to a SP125 OR MAC 55 !! No problems what so ever. Todays oils do much more with less,think about it ???

 

[rufcut]

So why the 89 octane fuel?
Thanks

 

[Rick Stafford]

87 octane pre-ignites and causes the fuel to combust or ignite under compression before the ignition actually fires.For most of us in mechanics terms it means "the ???? engine is pinging".Something you'd hear from a v-8 gas engine climbing a hill thats not tuned well !!!! 87 octane will actually take out the rod bearing on the crankshaft and freeze it up.I have seen this on 3-4 string trimmers and a couple of saws.

 

[Dennis]

Lol...I personally use Husky mix oil at 32:1 for break in..then run 40:1 for daily use...I am thinking about synthetics for my race saws....

Otto...isnt that what you sent me?