Which HDEO for ATV'S

[SailorJerry]

I had never given a whole lot of thought to oil in my ATV's. I'd always just used 10w30 or 10w40 conventional auto oil, usually pennzoil or castrol gtx. About a month ago I decided to go with synthetic oil. I had used Mobil 1 5w30 in my Explorer for 10 years and had been very pleased with the results. A trip to the cycle assesory shop and a look at their $10-$14 per qt syn. cycle/atv oil was a no go. I started researching and learning info about oil and I learned alot (never knew about oil groups or all the ingrediants in additive packages). Armed with some knowledge I started to find out what other people used in atv's. Rotella syn. 5w40 was very popular. I went and picked up enough to do all 3 of my machines (all air cooled 300-450cc's)all are doing great with this oil. As I continued to read and learn it dawned on me most of the praise this oil was getting was from posts '07 and earlier when the oil was CI-4. The new CJ-4 has much less ZDDP. Delvac 1 syn has more ZDDP but when I finally located it it was 31.95 gal vs the $19 I paid for Rotella. It's also supposed to be all or mostly PAO true syn. instead of group 3. I've been mulling over the choice, then yestreday at Walmart I fould gallon jugs of Mobil 1 TDT for $21 it's not exactly the same as Delvac but is very close. What do you guys think? didn't find and UOA's on TDT , would you use info on Delvac 1 as a replacement for TDT when comparing to Rotella, comparing CJ-4 TO CJ-4. Thanks for any advice you can give.

 

[heavyhitter]

It has been proven here that the dino 15w40 varieties shear less than the 5w40 varieties.

I like Rotella T and Delvac 1300. Other choices are Walmart's Super Tech and Delo.

I'd suggest staying away from the 10w30 "car" oils The 5w30 as well as they contain friction modifiers and may cause clutch issues over time, assuming you have a wet clutch.

 

[JohnBrowning]

RTS has more then enough AW additives and it has no friction modifiers so it is wet clutch friendly. I think RTS is mostly G-III but all that matters is resutls so. So if the 5W40 RTS is working fine I would keep useing it!

 

[SailorJerry]

Heavy Hitter, Thanks for the response. I know the dino HDEO's are good but I really wanted to run a syn. partly because the area I live in Colorado can get [censored] cold at night. The 5w on the syn (Rotella or Delvac/TDT) leads me to belive the engine is going to turn over easier and start performing it's lube function quicker.I learned the oil lubes the tranny and gears are really tough on shearing the viscosity.Why do the dino's shear less? Any opinions on the Mobil products?

 

[BigCahuna]

If your atv isn't used everyday to keep the battery charged up, or on a battery tender it won't matter which oil you have in it if it won't start. I run 15/40 wt delo 400 all yr in my old golwing. It's used year round and is 27 years old.And gets a good warm up before riding. You can use whatever you like, but I wouldn't waste money on more pricey oil that gets dumped the same as the cheaper stuff.,,

 

[heavyhitter]

Originally Posted By: SailorJerry
Why do the dino's shear less? Any opinions on the Mobil products?


In theory synthetic should shear less, but the big brand HDEO's are really a group III dino oil. I would say that due to the more VII's in the 5w40 the longer strands are shearing more/faster than the 15w40.

A popular oil in bikes for Mobil One is the 15w50 but it will shear to a 30wt fairly quick in a shared sump.

 

[af0h]

Originally Posted By: JohnBrowning
RTS has more then enough AW additives and it has no friction modifiers so it is wet clutch friendly. I think RTS is mostly G-III but all that matters is resutls so. So if the 5W40 RTS is working fine I would keep useing it!


+1


af0h - Rob

 

[IndyIan]

I think the ideal oil regime is RTS 5w40 for the winter and 15W40 for the summer. I can't imagine using 15W40 in -20C or lower temps, before bitog I'd run 10W40 dino all year and it always did start at -20C but it wasn't sounding good doing it.

 

[TucsonDon]

Any 15W-40 is good down to about 15 degrees F. Below that, you'll probably want a 5W-40 HDEO unless you garage your vehicle and there's some heat in the garage.

But 20F and above? HDEO 15W-40. Pick 'em ... RTS, Delvac, Delo ... makes no difference. It's all good.

 

[boraticus]

I agree with much of the above. Particularly the wasteful aspect of using an expensive synthetic oil when a reasonably priced, high quality dino HDEO will do. I've used dino HDEO in old air cooled ATVs for over 25 years and now run it in two liquid cooled 500cc Suzuki atv engines, a Honda Valkyrie engine and a KLR650 engine. Never had a problem. It's your money. Spend it however you wish....

 

[SailorJerry]

I'm not sure that the $19 gal RTS is wasteful compared to the $13 gal dino Rotella, at least for where I live. What would be wasteful is the 12-$14/qt. specialty shop syn oils. I'm surprised nobody fired back their support/justification for these Maxima, Belray, and Silkolene products. I'm sure some people buy them or they wouldn't be stocking them.

 

[boraticus]

You're looking at close to 50% more for the RTS. That's significant. I have a lot of machines and use a lot of oil. The accumulative effect of paying 50% more unnecessarily would result in a fair amount of money better spent on something else.

$12 to $14/qt. is criminal. Obviously, there are sufficient numbers of mechanically ignorant, easily persuaded customers with more money than experience out there to support such exorbitant prices.

By the way, in Canada, Rotella T 15W40 dino is $19.00 for 4 liters. RTS is $28.00 at Chinadian Tire.

 

[whitesands]

Went to walmart yesterday and they had Delvac 1300 for $6 per gallon...Rotella 15W40 was $11.50 per gallon.

 

[mjoekingz28]

boraticus, do you not have any WalMarts in Canada?

I thought they were world-wide.

I'm in Mississippi but it is 15w40 year round for me. I probably won't ride AT ALL below 30 degrees. When I had a streetbike, 50 was the enjoyable cut-off, the wind is just too bad. But for some reason, it seems the faster you go the warmer you get cuz you get some friction from all that wind.

O'reilly's just had a B1G1 on Delvac I believe and it was $12.99 for 2 gallons. I passed as I only need one quart for my bike and the book says I can go 60 hours or 6 months on it.

 

[boraticus]

"boraticus, do you not have any WalMarts in Canada?"

Yeah. We have Walmart but they don't seem to stock the same brands of oil as the U.S. stores. I've shopped Walmart for Rotella and they had none. The only places I've found it is at Canadian Tire stores and Shell outlets. Sometimes the Shell outlets sell Rotella T 15W40 for $16.00/4 liter jug.