Re: Comparison of 12 Sterndrive Oil Candidates -- Dino & Synthetic
Oil and lubrication is just a hobby. Facinates me to no end. I also like to see if the claims and recommendations by manufacturers are for their own benefit or ours.<br /><br />Danny, I think M1 is a great oil. Here are some things these numbers tell me. Lubedude, chime in as you are certainly more of an expert at this than I am.<br /><br />-Some oils are thinner or thicker 40's than others from the start. There is a window where these twelve 40 grade oils can fall. Look at this chart
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/visc.html -- at the second column and the SAE motor column. You can see that 40's will fall anywhere from 12.5 to 16 or so. There are different scales. The one I used in the first post is 100 C Cst. So all of these twelve 40 grade oils fall anywhere between 14 to 15.9.<br />-The first two additives listed, Magnesium and Calcium are dispersants / detergents. It is interesting to see one oil load up on one but not the other, or both. Merc was the only oil that had such a high Magnesium level and also the lowest of Calcium.<br />-The next, Phosphorus, Zinc, and Molybdenum are anti-wear additives. It is my understanding that moly is the most expensive. Only a few have it and Redline is loaded with it.<br />-Boron is an anti-wear additive as well and it also helps with acid reduction. The Merc oil was loaded with Boron as was many of the Mobil products.<br />-Flashpoint. Not all the oils show this value because not all labs provide it. Generally, the higher number the better. The value is how hot the vapors will ignite with an open flame.<br />-TBN - total base number. The oils ability to neutralize acid. When the TBN is used up (and it will deplete as the oil is used) the oil can no longer neutralize acid as it once did when new. The higher the better because the higher you start the more room you have to deplete. I am going to note on the 12 oil link above that different labs tend to generate different numbers for TBN. For example, the Merc oil in my VOA was 6.5. There is a UOA showing the TBN as 11 from a different lab. I believe the Merc oil is competitive in TBN -- just different labs / different measureing methods for TBN.<br /><br />I wouldn't have any hesitation using any of these 12 oils in a boat. Decide what looks best to you and perform a UOA at the end of the season to see if it is doing its job. Since a boat engine runs at such high rpm it will tend to shear oil down. You certainly don't want to be running an oil that started as a 40 grade and now is a high 20 grade by the end of the season.<br /><br />For example, here is a used oil analysis on the Merc oil in a boat -
http://theoildrop.server101.com/cgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=000301 <br /><br />Notice all the additives dropped down from the VOA. The wear metals were insignificant in the VOA are now present after running the oil. Notice the viscosity has dropped down to an 11.5! From the earlier chart this is right in the middle of 30 grade. And this is only after 15 hours of use!<br /><br />So by doing a $12 UOA, you can compare it to the VOA (my original post) and see how the oil and your engine is doing. Pretty inexpensive for such information about your particular situation).<br /><br />Here is a link to a $12 (many are $25 to $30) lab (I'm not affiliated, just satisfied):
www.analaboratories.com
<br /><br />You would be hard pressed to find a better oil for I/Os than Dello 400. Loaded with additives and nearly a synthetic by todays standards. Easily would go 150 Hrs in a solid I/O.<br /><br />A test on an oil with only 30 hours is actually quite meaningless. Lets see what it looks like with 100+.