Temporary use of menhaden oil for 2 stroke TC-W3 oil

[Fgwebbiii]

I recently had a situation where my oil injected 1996 Evinrude ocean-pro 150 horse outboard developed an oil leak and lost all its oil. When the alarms went off i knew i had a problem and was able to fix the oil leak, but i was out of oil with no backup. My question is in such a situation where i was 30 miles out and needed to get in ahead of bad weather (as opposed to waiting for help that would take 4 hours), could I use menhaden oil in place of TC-W3 two stoke oil?

has anyone ever done this? If so, how long did you go and what were the consequences of such usage, if any?

Theoretical answers are welcome but I'm really interested in practitioner "coot scouts" who have actually done this.

Thanks

 

[boobie]

Re: Temporary use of menhaden oil for 2 stroke TC-W3 oil

What's menhaden oil ??

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: Temporary use of menhaden oil for 2 stroke TC-W3 oil

Fish oil.

So you carry menhaden oil and don't carry extra TC-W3 when you go 30 miles out? Or are you squeezing fish? Do you carry tools? Come on guys, all of you that have done this, post up. Is it still April 1st?

 

[Fgwebbiii]

Re: Temporary use of menhaden oil for 2 stroke TC-W3 oil

I take full responsibility for not having extra oil, but i am serious about the question. If i had thought about it at the tme i would have done it.

Since then, after i realized i had a gallon of menhaden oil, I starting searching the internet for this usage as a temporary solution, but to my surprise i was unable to find any discussion on the topic. I would be surprised if nobody had ever been in this situation and done it.

 

[Papa gone fishing]

Re: Temporary use of menhaden oil for 2 stroke TC-W3 oil

OK....I'll give you the definitive answer. You would have roached the entire engine...bearings, pistons, cylinders, and crankshaft in a matter of minutes if you would have tried to use menhaden (fish) oil for 2 stroke lubricant. It would be no different than using vegetable or olive oil mixed with the gas. The lubrication and heat resistance properties wouldn't come anywhere close to the bare minimum required to keep the engine from severe damage.

I retired in 2010 after 30+ years as a Master Service Tech...and yes I've seen what can happen when people use the wrong oil in a 2 stroke...It's never pretty. Hope this helps, and I hope everyone reading this keeps some basic emergency tools and lubes on board.

Papa :fish2:

 

[boobie]

Re: Temporary use of menhaden oil for 2 stroke TC-W3 oil

Fish oil is what WD-40 is made out of and you don't use that for lubrication in a 2 stroke mtr.

As an after thought, that mtr will run on straight gas at 1200 rpm or lower for up to 5 hrs. That's what happens to the new E-Tecs when they run out of oil. The EMM will not let it go over the 1200 rpm limit. This was also proved in the old OMC test lab in Waukegan IL years ago. But don't take it above the 1200 rpm.

 

[twocyclemania]

Re: Temporary use of menhaden oil for 2 stroke TC-W3 oil

This is a really strange question you've posted. I believe menhaden oil is from bunker fish (very oily) that I use for crabbing. Never heard of anyone having the oil version. If I was in a life or death situation I would probably try to use it and run the motor as slow as possible to make headway. I don't know the viscosity but I'd think it was too thin. Try the same question on a lubrication / oil site where someone with technical knowledge can give you a better idea. I'd really hope you'll post an answer because this is interesting.

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: Temporary use of menhaden oil for 2 stroke TC-W3 oil

Why are you surprised? EVOO is a better choice. Both are heart healthy, but neither is a replacement for the right oil.

Look, now you know that leaks can happen. Were you offshore when this happened? And are you carrying an extra jug of TC-W3 now?

 

[twocyclemania]

Re: Temporary use of menhaden oil for 2 stroke TC-W3 oil

Looks like I posted this a couple minutes too late. 'Papa' and 'bobbie' have the answer.

 

[Fgwebbiii]

Re: Temporary use of menhaden oil for 2 stroke TC-W3 oil

I yield to papa's 30 years experience about wrong oils and toasted motors. But i would like to know if papa's reference to toasted motors was absolutely known to be caused by menhaden oil.

The reason i want to confirm is because in my research on the topic prior, i found some white papers on the various blends of racing two stoke oil where they use caster bean oil for it's superior lubrication and adhesion on hot spot properties. Caster bean oil is considered a vegetable oil. it was making wonder if it really could work in a pinch.

Papa gone fishing, please confirm. Thank you.

 

[Fgwebbiii]

Re: Temporary use of menhaden oil for 2 stroke TC-W3 oil

Thanks for the extra information about keeping it under 1200 rpm. I had heard something along those lines years ago, but never heard the 1200 rpm number.

 

[Fgwebbiii]

Re: Temporary use of menhaden oil for 2 stroke TC-W3 oil

After further thought, i suppose menhaden oil is neither mineral nor vegetable based oil but rather an animal fat. I don't know for sure, but it does give you something more to think about if you haven't actually tried it.

 

[TD_Maker]

Re: Temporary use of menhaden oil for 2 stroke TC-W3 oil

Well, I suppose if I was 25 miles out, no radio, no cell service, storms coming up, seas are building, and had someone bleeding to death in my boat, I would dump the mehaden oil in the oil tank and hope for the best.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Temporary use of menhaden oil for 2 stroke TC-W3 oil

Boobie, I had heard about the e-TEC running at low RPM w/o oil. Can a carb'd 2 cycle Johnny really do that? For five hours? Why 5 hours?

 

[nwcove]

Re: Temporary use of menhaden oil for 2 stroke TC-W3 oil

Fish oil.

So you carry menhaden oil and don't carry extra TC-W3 when you go 30 miles out? Or are you squeezing fish? Do you carry tools? Come on guys, all of you that have done this, post up. Is it still April 1st?

rofl......squeezing fish. :laugh:

 

[boobie]

Re: Temporary use of menhaden oil for 2 stroke TC-W3 oil

Chris, that's what I was told by the boys from OMC Engineering at Waukegan ILL some years back before E-Tec. They said there was enough lube in the straight fuel at 1200 rpm or lower so it wouldn't seize. Go above that and it's toast.

 

[Dave Brick]

Re: Temporary use of menhaden oil for 2 stroke TC-W3 oil

I take full responsibility for not having extra oil, but i am serious about the question. If i had thought about it at the tme i would have done it.

Since then, after i realized i had a gallon of menhaden oil, I starting searching the internet for this usage as a temporary solution, but to my surprise i was unable to find any discussion on the topic. I would be surprised if nobody had ever been in this situation and done it.

This is just weird.

It sounds like you are looking for a peer-reviewed study proving or disproving the effectiveness of fish oil as an engine lubricant, and you are surprised no one has published.

Try it on your motor, and publish your results.

(I'm sorry for the apparent harshness, but this really strikes me as weird and kind of trollish.)

I store my extra jug of (TC-W3) oil on the boat. Always. It doesn't do any good in the garage.

 

[boobie]

Re: Temporary use of menhaden oil for 2 stroke TC-W3 oil

Good post Dave Brick. Well said.

 

[emckelvy]

Re: Temporary use of menhaden oil for 2 stroke TC-W3 oil

Here's some interesting info I found:

Whale and Train Oils

These include cod-liver oil, tanner's cod oil from different fish, menhaden oil, porpoise oil, shark oil and whale oil.

The whale and train oils are obtained from the blubber of various species of whale, the polar whale, the humpback whale, the common whale. The blubber varies in thickness from 8 to 20 inches around the body of the whale, and after being cut into pieces, is boiled with water for about an hour, to liberate the oil from it. The specific gravity of the oil is from 0.920 to 0.931, at about 60? F., or 20? to 22? Baume.

A large amount of oil of similar character as the foregoing fish oils is obtained from endless varieties of the smaller salt and fresh water fishes, which is used in the manufacture of soaps and lubricating oils, and known in the market as "Fish Oils." They are all oxyhydrocarbons and belong to the class of " fixed oils."

Read more: Whale and Train Oils8

Whether or not an Oxyhydrocarbon is mixable with gasoline, and has a lubricity comparable or even close to a petroleum distillate-type of oil, is a question for the chemists out there. Me, I'm just an electrician!

But this electrician figures that an experiment you could do is to take a quantity of fuel, and mix in some of your Fishy Oil and see what happens. Obviously if it won't even mix with gas, there's no possibility of it working without other additives and that's not too handy if you're stranded 40 miles out there!

If the first test passes, mix yourself up a batch, find an old cheap Johnrude off the Craigslist, and start the experiment!

Cheers........ed

 

[nwcove]

Re: Temporary use of menhaden oil for 2 stroke TC-W3 oil

If the first test passes, mix yourself up a batch, find an old cheap Johnrude off the Craigslist, and start the experiment!

Cheers........ed

!!! lol it would be much better to go out and buy a NEW merc/ yammy or otherwise and do the test, than to destroy a perfectly good vintage omc for this experiment!!!!!!! jmo