ATV oil poll

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BC

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Sep 5, 2002
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No BS now. What ATV do you have and what oil do you use in it?
Please list your reasons and any advise you may have recieved and from who.
I've spent a lot of time and emails gathering information. Without being windy, it amounts to the following.
Use a high quality automotive oil that does NOT contain "Energy Conserving" in the lower portion of the API circle.
Currently I have a 2000 Honda 450S and I use Havoline or Chevron Supreme 10W-40 winter and 20W-50 summer.
 
1994 Honda 300 Fourtrax. Amsoil 10W40 Motorcycle oil. Why? because I am impressed enough by Amsoil performance in my other stuff that I now use it in everything. I bought the MC oil wich is the same as the regular 10W40 full syn because I can also sell it to people who want to use it in their water cooled bikes. All my four stroke yard stuff (Honda) gets this oil changed once or twice a year. This is the recommended visc. by the way.

P.S.
Man you wouldn't beleive the people lately who would not buy a 2 stroke oil like Quaker State because it was not in a big bottle that said snowmobile oil or chainsaw oil or injector oil. Even though any of the TC-W3 type brands I carry say that they are for inject or premix or that the have a small pic of a boat or a sled or bike they think they must go to dealership and buy the "real" oil for whatever equip they own wich is usually 2-4 times the price of the same product from another brand wich likely outperforms anyways. Example is Amsoil AIO is like $28 MSRP CDN, and many OEM brands synthetics are $40-$55 MSRP around here. Of course there is the certification issue but their are other NMMA cert brands cheaper. Most of the people I deal with are using alot of older equip too so warranty isn't really an issue so much as price and quality. Sorry for the rant, but I guess its Amsoil for me then Mobil 1 or Castrol GTX when I can't get a hold of old Al's formula.
 
2002 Polaris Sportsman 700. I use Amsoil 10W-40 Motorcycle oil. Polaris recommends their own brand 0W-40 Synthetic. I'm in Alabama, and I don't feel that I need a 0W-40, also the 10W-40 will shear less. I also use Amsoil products in my Jeeps, and I can purchase the M/C oil cheaper from Amsoil than the Polaris 0W-40 stuff.
 
honestly, i use 20w50 in all motorcycle/lawnmower/small air cooled engine stuff.

i figures the extremly high heat created by an aircooled engine, needs a thicker oil. i dont care about fuel efficenty in small engines so 20w50 it is.
also i life in south florida,,, and its never cold here. the coldest it ever got was 60F during the day. and sence i down mow my lawn at night i dont care about 40F at night.
its usualy 80-90 here.


of all my lawn mowers/motorcycles/ other small engines, none have ever smoked, or had oil consumption.
my sandrail uses and aircooled volkswagen engine, it is pretty high performance and cylinder head tempatures reach 400 degreesF
 
crypto, I think it was MolaKule who had said he found some trouble when using 20W50 in a piece of small-engine equipment. I forgot the specifics.

I'd use one of the many 15W40 gas/diesel oils available like Pennzoil Long Life (has 180ppms of moly) or Chevron Delo400. Both of these are Group II+ base oils and will be very stable over long drain intervals.

I think it was blano or mcmechanic who said they've seen ATVs horribly abused with regard to oil choice and neglect and still seem to run fine. Unless you use something really thin or cheap, you shouldn't have any trouble.

I'm switching all of my air-cooled machinery over to Schaeffer 7000 blend 15W40.

--- Bror Jace
 
dude its just a $100 lawnmower, i wouldnt run good oil in mine cuz its not worth it really.

$4/qt oil doesnt make sence to me for use with my $100 mower, or other lawn equipment.

i just buy the 79 cent/qt generic 20w50, and i havent had any problems really. they do consume a wee bit of oil, but that doesnt bother me as the plugs all look nice.
 
cryptokid, you have a $100 mower? The last one we bought cost three times that. The bigger snowblowers can run $1,500 and I haven't even mentioned lawn tractors and ATVs.
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With money like that tied up in the smaller iron, I have no problem justifying an extra $3-5 in maintenance every year.
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Besides, for most of the people here, "good enough" just ain't good enough.
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--- Bror Jace
 
i totallt understand if you bought a nice new one.
my stuff came used though. and i honestly cant justify good oil for a $100 honda harmony push mower.
if i bought all my stuff new, it would be a different story however.
my dirtbike i got for free:) it gets whateever i have too.
 
I have a 2001 Honda Rancher 4X4 purchased new Jan 2001. Nice ATV and the price was right $4899.

Use Amsoil 10W-40 M/C Engine oil.

I changed the oil out it at a 5 hrs and its been running clean ever since. Never need to add any oil.

The only advice I listen to is my own.
 
Mike, I've seen used ATVs at a dealership (good condition) go for nearly that much. Nice toys ain't cheap!

cryptokid, Don't sweat it, you aren't the only one. I have a friend who house-sat for his dad a few years while the guy took a job in another state. While dad was away, the son took care of the place including mowing the lawn.

Now, my friend is more like me and likes to take good care of things while his dad is extraordinarily cheap despite raking in (easily) over $100K per year.
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So, son is talking to dad on the phone one day and casually tells him that he changed the oil in the push mower. Dad reacts like he had never heard such a thing.
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A little more info: The mower had to be 25+ years old ... and it was probably the cheapest model available back then. The oil was an old, odd quart which had been laying nearly the same amount of time.

The used oil coming out of the machine was an opaque gray color and had the consistency of gear oil. Kind of looked like liquid anti-seize.
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My guess? It had never been changed in its life. The mower smoked like crazy but still ran. Go figure.
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--- Bror Jace
 
Bror

My neighbor is a the Honda dealer and he sells a lot of the ATV's, also boats and snowmobiles. When I got mine, they had sold 20 in that day. Here's his web site

Where I live I can drive right out of my garage and hit the old rr grades and drive anywhere within a 100 miles. I have yet to trailer it anywhere just to ride.
 
I have a Honda TRX200 for the kids to ride.
The motor see's some harsh treatment, as only kids can give them....like starting it in 10 degreee weather and blasting off.
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I use Mobil MX4T 10w40.
 
IMO using a quality synthetic in a ATV is of as much value as peeing on a electric fence. These engines are operated in a dirt rich environment that limits the length of drain severly. A good ol HDMO will work just as good and is way cheaper. HDMO's also have the high levels of zinc and phosphorus so the engine will be will protected. Chevron Delo can be had ate wally world for around $1.25 per quart.
 
blano,
I use the synthetics not for an extended drain, but for the extra severe service protection. Also, if it's an SG or SH rated oil, and not SJ or SL rated, it does have the higher levels of ZDDP antiwear additives. When changing at the manufacturer's schedule of every 6 months, I only purchase 4 quarts a year. I feel its cheap insurance. Besides, even the OEM oil (Polaris) is synthetic.
 
47HO, that brings us back to one of the never-ceasing debates on this site: Which is more effective for severe service, a high quality (synthetic or synthetic blend) base oil or a stout additive package ... especially one with molybdenum?

I've actually been doing the same as blano for the past 1-2 years as I switched all of our air-cooled, 1&2 cylinder engines over to 15W40, mostly Chevron Delo 400.

I have a few running on Schaeffer Supreme 15W40 because of the moly additive package but if that brand isn't readily available to you I'd use Pennzoil Long-Life 15W40 which has about the same amount of moly (180ppm). Base oil (Group II+) should be about as good as Chevron Delo.
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I also appreciate the Schaeffer synthetic blend base oil as it might make the old 3-wheeler and generators we have a bit easier to pull over in cold weather. Probably worth the $3 per quart I pay for it.
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--- Bror Jace
 
I dont think a synthetic will provide any more protection than a quality mineral oil in a application like this. In my dads sportsman i have been runninga group3 synthetic(PC Duron 5w40) in the winter just because Polaris specs a 0w40 oil. Duron is cheaper than the polaris stuff and probaly of way better quality.
 
"I dont think a synthetic will provide any more protection than a quality mineral oil in a application like this."

I suppose I should clarify that I'm of the opinion that unless you are going to go with an exotic (read: Expen$ive!) polyol formula (Motul, Red Line, Synergen and probably a couple others) that I'd favor an oil with a better additive package rather than a synthetic oil and skimpy adds (like Valvoline's typical oils or old Mobil 1 Tri-Synthetic).

And yes, from what I've seen, most OEM brand oils are ridiculously overpriced while they shamelessly underperform.
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--- Bror Jace
 
I just cant see pouring in a high quality, high dollar synthetic into a atv motor only to have the oil contaminated by dirt and fuel. These motors for the most part are bullet proof. Honda and Kawasaki imparticular are really tough.
 
I just bought a 2003 Kawasaki Prairie 650. I run Amsoil SMF-103 high efficiency motorcycle/atv oil filters, and Amsoil 0w-40 4-stroke/ATV oil. 500 miles on it so far, and smooth as butter! I'd like to take an oil analysis, but wouldn't really know what to make of it, haven't seen any to compare!
 
Lightman

Check the archives for my comments on the Amsoil SMF 103 and how it compares to M1 and Toyo Roki.
 
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