Straight 30

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For hotter climates (South Carolina or Georgia) what are the pros and cons of using straight 30 in an air cooled engine? With the extreme heat, I don't anticipate a problem with engine start up, and with the oil being single grade, shearing would not be an issue either.
 
From the manufactures manual (B&S) loss of power, and oil consumption can be caused by using a multi-weight oil during summer/warmer weather. Also I have seen the inside of air cooled engines that were run on multi weight oils, and synthetic at that with thick heavy varnish areas. I assume the multi weight oil burns off easier or during the engine warm up period, it may also shear easier ? I really don't have all the answers, however I do know my air cooled engines ( I have several old cast iron Kohlers, B&S etc) call for straight weight oils I run either Delo 400 or Rotella straight 30 in these engines even during winter months.
 
I ran straight 30 weight in my vfr for about 400 mile , it was frietening how thin it drained out at full temp.

it was like water or a very thin ATV oil, no drip in 30 seconds, I couldnt belive it. 10w30's do not thin this much.

I did it in the winter 45 to 60 degrees , it also seemed to have some oil drag too it. How can that be running so thin?

That was castrol stright 30 weight
 
Originally Posted By: outoforder
For hotter climates (South Carolina or Georgia) what are the pros and cons of using straight 30 in an air cooled engine? With the extreme heat, I don't anticipate a problem with engine start up, and with the oil being single grade, shearing would not be an issue either.



Your right on the mark....the only improvement is to go with a synthetic straight weight such as Amsoil diesel or commercial oil selections.
 
I am not talking about a synthetic here, but isn't regular straight 30 kind of like the "cream corn" of oil? It is still good, but just doesn't meet the spec of a multi-grade oil. I read and article once that talked about how SAE 30 could basically be like a 20W50 that didn't meet the cold temp spec so they bottle it as 30Wt.
 
I should clarify that it's my air cooled yamaha v-star I was thinking of running straight 30 in for the summer.
 
Yeah its speced for a 20w40 oil like most air cooled Yamahas. I would not use a straight 30 in it then unless its cool out.

I run 15w40 in my 2007 Virago and boost up to a 20w50 or 15w50 in the hot summer.
 
20w50 is heavy and drains heavy even when hot.

The 30 weight group II castrol atleast in my bike, drained like a cup of coffee, that thin. and this was not hot summer but winter on a water cooled bike that never saw more than 175 degree water temp during the 400 mile run I had it in there.
 
Last edited:
Here ya go, put this in instead:

9f42cbf0.jpg



It has 100 years of race proven protection... in your V-Star!
 
I'd much rather use a 20W-50 in an air cooled engine in the hot summer. Remember, you need oil thick enough to lube the hottest points inside the engine.
 
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