I am purchasing an ATV, which I am sure has a wet clutch. 10w40 is the recommended weight. I don't know a thing about motorcycle engines, so the question is.........forget about price, what is the best ATV oil on the market, for an application recommending a 10w40?
Best oil for ATV?
- Thread starter sbc350gearhead
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Amsoil 10W40
Mobil 1 10W40 MC oil
Rotella T 5W40
Delvac 1 5W40
And most any of the 15W40 HDMO's like Delvac 1300, Rotella T, Delo. Any of them will do a great job.
Then there is the great standby oils like Mobil 1 15W50 and Castrol GTX 20W50.
For the price and availability the Rotella T 5W40 is hard to beat.
Mobil 1 10W40 MC oil
Rotella T 5W40
Delvac 1 5W40
And most any of the 15W40 HDMO's like Delvac 1300, Rotella T, Delo. Any of them will do a great job.
Then there is the great standby oils like Mobil 1 15W50 and Castrol GTX 20W50.
For the price and availability the Rotella T 5W40 is hard to beat.
That's not necessary. Look for Allison C4 and/or Cat TO4 specs on the oil. Most 15W-40 oils meet one or both of those transmission specs that include wet clutch operation.
No need to pay rip off artist botique oil bottlers triple price for your oil to get a picture of a motorcycle on the oil can.
The Torco is good stuff but a little pricey for me, and to be honest I just forgot about it. The Torco oils are good stuff.
I'm very surprised that Torco MPZ was not
mentioned in this thread.
mentioned in this thread.
I've run Amsoil 4stroke/ATV 0w40 oil in my 03 Prairie 650 for 1800 miles now, and it's fantastic. They use so little, who cares what the cost is... I think its about 5 bux a quart, and it looks brand new when it comes out. The quad seemed to run a lot smoother when I switched from dino, and the front diff(which takes the same oil as the engine) is way slicker, the steering is much lighter etc. Great stuff. The only other choice I'd go with is mobil 1 mx4t, which is easily available, but more pricey than the amsoil 0w40.
I believe that the Prairie doesn't share the engine oil with the transmission, so you can use about anything in that motor, but I agree that the Amsoil 0W40 oil is pretty good stuff. I have also used the mobil 1 mx4t 10w40 in my XR200R with good results, but I am thinking of using the Amsoil 0W40 in that as well. It says that it is safe for wet clutches.
[ March 16, 2004, 11:14 AM: Message edited by: tmorris1 ]
[ March 16, 2004, 11:14 AM: Message edited by: tmorris1 ]
Try using the serach feature. There are already a few threads on oil for ATVs. Maybe search this subforum using "ATV" as the keyword.
--- Bror Jace
--- Bror Jace
Well Bror.....I did do a search, and although a few of my initial questions were answered, most of the atv oil suggestions, seem to be for cold weather use.
And I also was mistaken on the oil recommendation. The recommended viscosity is a 20w50 for some reason (maybe because it is air cooled). Would a synthetic 10w40 be a better choice? And a second ATV was purchased (I need to be kicked in the head) and it is liquid cooled, cvt tranny (no wet clutch I presume) and 10w40 recommended. Since no wet clutch is present, would a motorcycle oil still be the best choice, or a non API oil such as redline, etc?
And I also was mistaken on the oil recommendation. The recommended viscosity is a 20w50 for some reason (maybe because it is air cooled). Would a synthetic 10w40 be a better choice? And a second ATV was purchased (I need to be kicked in the head) and it is liquid cooled, cvt tranny (no wet clutch I presume) and 10w40 recommended. Since no wet clutch is present, would a motorcycle oil still be the best choice, or a non API oil such as redline, etc?
Since you put it that way probably the Maxima Maxim 4 10w-40 Synthetic or even their new 5w-40 .
It's built pretty stout
EDIT:
I see you posted it calls for a heavier vi oil . They make a 15w-50 as well , almost 3k ppm phos and over 2k ppm zinc
[ March 18, 2004, 06:30 AM: Message edited by: Motorbike ]
Motorbike, I have never heard of maxima. And I should say.....regardless of price to an extent. I am not going to pay more than 10 bucks a quart for oil.
I would think that a 0w40 has an awfully big viscosity spread for an aircooled engine that will never be used below 50 F. I am fearful of using GC in my lawnmower for that reason.
Bror......It is an 03 or 04. It is one of those cheap little kids ATV's and I don't even know the brand.
Would an automotive oil with friction modifiers work better in the ATV without a wet clutch?
What dino oil would work best for breakin, in the one that calls for 20w50? (I am going to assume that a 15w40 would work for breakin purposes on the other one).
[ March 18, 2004, 08:05 PM: Message edited by: sbc350gearhead ]
I would think that a 0w40 has an awfully big viscosity spread for an aircooled engine that will never be used below 50 F. I am fearful of using GC in my lawnmower for that reason.
Bror......It is an 03 or 04. It is one of those cheap little kids ATV's and I don't even know the brand.
Would an automotive oil with friction modifiers work better in the ATV without a wet clutch?
What dino oil would work best for breakin, in the one that calls for 20w50? (I am going to assume that a 15w40 would work for breakin purposes on the other one).
[ March 18, 2004, 08:05 PM: Message edited by: sbc350gearhead ]
Sorry sbc350, it’s just the “Search Nazi” in me that needs to put a reminder in a third of my posts. I didn’t even see your name as I glanced through the thread.
I guess I see this forum as a better resource if it has fewer, but more comprehensive threads. So, if those old threads didn’t answer your question, please resurrect them with your new question. In other words, keep fewer threads going longer.
What year machine calls for a 20W50? I guess I’ve just become biased against this stuff, especially in mineral oil form. Seeing as it’s a obsolescent grade no new cars call for anymore, I figure that the oil companies aren’t necessarily putting their best additives and VII in these oils. I’ve also heard that his grade is rather VII heavy anyway and is prone to shearing and sludging. I have similar biases against mineral 10W40s and UOAs on this site shows this stuff dropping out of grade rather quickly.
I’ve become a fan of the 15W40 oils over the past couple of years and I’m running Schaeffer’s 15W40 S7K in our 1983 Honda ATC 200E (Big Red). Runs great and no problems with the clutch except I can’t get the adjustment of the shifter quite right so there is a great deal of slack in the arm movement.
However, a 15W40 might not be ideal depending on the wet clutch material, the friction modifiers used by a particular brand, etc …
’bike, that oils sounds pretty impressive. Have any info on the “synthetic” base oil?
--- Bror Jace
I guess I see this forum as a better resource if it has fewer, but more comprehensive threads. So, if those old threads didn’t answer your question, please resurrect them with your new question. In other words, keep fewer threads going longer.
What year machine calls for a 20W50? I guess I’ve just become biased against this stuff, especially in mineral oil form. Seeing as it’s a obsolescent grade no new cars call for anymore, I figure that the oil companies aren’t necessarily putting their best additives and VII in these oils. I’ve also heard that his grade is rather VII heavy anyway and is prone to shearing and sludging. I have similar biases against mineral 10W40s and UOAs on this site shows this stuff dropping out of grade rather quickly.
I’ve become a fan of the 15W40 oils over the past couple of years and I’m running Schaeffer’s 15W40 S7K in our 1983 Honda ATC 200E (Big Red). Runs great and no problems with the clutch except I can’t get the adjustment of the shifter quite right so there is a great deal of slack in the arm movement.
However, a 15W40 might not be ideal depending on the wet clutch material, the friction modifiers used by a particular brand, etc …
’bike, that oils sounds pretty impressive. Have any info on the “synthetic” base oil?
--- Bror Jace
If you feel better use a 10W40 , but a 0W40 should work just as good or better even if the temp never gets below 50. I don't think the viscosity spread is that big of a deal with the synthetics. Mobil 1 makes a good 10w40 oil for motorcycles, annd a regular 0W40. I think 20W50 is a little thick and may even make your engine run hotter. I have an air cooled XR200R that I use Mobil 1 10W40 with good luck. It has a wet clutch so I use the motorcyle oil, but in your case a regular automotive synthetic would do the job. Polaris specs 0W40 synthetic in their air cooled atvs.
actually the prairie 650 does share its motor oil with the transmission, but there is no clutch in this tranny, these quads use a belt drive, but there is a high/low/neutral,reverse transmission. do motor cycle oild offer more protection to transmissions than normal automotive oils? one other question with the prairie, i had a 02 prairie 650, i know have a 04 prarie700, the rear diff calls for mobil fliud ML424, the reason is the diff shares oil with the rear brake witch is a oil bath multi disc type brake. this oil is a little hard to find around here, other than $15/liter from the kawasaki dealer, does any one know a equivalent? walmart sells TDH 'trans/diff/hyd' that is meant for wet brake systems i wonder if this would be ok [email protected]
Are you sure? I have never heard of an oil bathed disc brake, unless you mean inside the axel which would be bearings and not the brake bathed in oil.
The only advantage to using a motorcycle/atv oil is if you have a wet clutch system. Some automotive oil will cause some wet clutches to slip.
trust me it is a oil bath multi disc rear brake, it shares oil with the diff. it is the only quad on the market with this type of braking system.
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