Engine Oil and spark plug type?

[Creeper Gear CC]

Ok I looked thru three faqs but didn’t see it. What oil is recommended for the old 10hp Kohler? This one I just picked up has some really black oil on the dipstick. Also what spark plug y’all use?

 

[digger]

Ok I looked thru three faqs but didn’t see it. What oil is recommended for the old 10hp Kohler? This one I just picked up has some really black oil on the dipstick. Also what spark plug y’all use?

Anything slick on the oil, Kohler recommends Low Ash. Autolite 216 on the plug.

 

[Creeper Gear CC]

Anything slick on the oil, Kohler recommends Low Ash. Autolite 216 on the plug.

Thanks digger

 

[digger]

Thanks digger

Your Welcome.

 

[mgwin]

The manual says 30 wt. When it is cold, they recommend 10w-30. Since mine stay in my cozy basement, and it don't get cold in NC, I just use the 30 wt. My dad used Havoline 30 wt. In everything he had for years with no problems. I still use Havoline 30 wt. In all my old stuff. My 1987 Chevy S10 has 240,000 miles on it, and the motor has never been touched! Thank you Havoline!

 

[Creeper Gear CC]

The manual says 30 wt. When it is cold, they recommend 10w-30. Since mine stay in my cozy basement, and it don't get cold in NC, I just use the 30 wt. My dad used Havoline 30 wt. In everything he had for years with no problems. I still use Havoline 30 wt. In all my old stuff. My 1987 Chevy S10 has 240,000 miles on it, and the motor has never been touched! Thank you Havoline!

Guess what? Advance Auto doesn’t even sale Havoline. So weird. Smh

 

[mgwin]

Yes, 30 wt. Havoline is rare these days. The only place I could find it was at O'Reileys auto. (Hope I spelled that right.)
Today's engines have a tighter tolerance, and require different weight oils. My newer GMC calls for 0-w20 synthetic.

 

[mfrade]

Everyone has their likes / preferences. For me, the oil I use recommend is Mobil 1 10-30, and I prefer Bosch ignition products. I don't remember the plug number off hand, but you can cross the Champion or Autolite numbers easy enough.

 

[Cubstudent]

Hi guys, Just wanted to explain the real reason oil specs have changed to thinner and thinner by the cat makers. The tolerances have not changed thru the years,the reason they need to do it is to get thier mpg down to meet EPA requirements for the year of production. You can fact check that with Alldata and go back 25 years on any engine and see that right up to today,bearing and piston clearances haven't gotten tighter. It's good for us that today's oils are as good as they are or we would have engines failing using such thing oils. I personally still use 5w30 or 10w30 in all my gas card from 97 thru my 2015 Nissan. I have 5 cars in between that are all still great . Just wanted to clear that up as I always see that statement and it really isn't correct . Thanks

 

[dkirk]

The choice of lubricating oil is an emotionally driven decision, usually not based on fact, but on brand loyalty, recommendations of friends/family, etc. This mentality can be witnesses in "The Great Oil Debates" that have occurred in the past on this forum.

Lubrication technology is an ever developing chemical science that yields products much superior to oils available 20 years ago. This holds for automotive, aviation and 2-stroke engine lubricants. Synthetic oils have greatly contributed to longer engine life and extended change intervals due to the stability of the chemical structure, additives such as oxidation inhibitors (very important in air-cooled engines), corrosion inhibitors, boundary additives, viscosity index improvers, pour point depressants, and foam depressants (important in splash-lubricated engines). The use of multi-viscosity synthetic oil in air-cooled engines was conclusively proven beneficial to me when I worked at Tecumseh products and was involved with endurance testing different oils on small air cooled 4-stroke engines. We were examining oils that could safely extend the recommended drain intervals of 25 hours. The multi-viscosity synthetics would easily outperform straight mineral oils by a factor of 3...in other words, at 75 hours, the synthetic viscosity and apparent cleanliness was the same as the straight-weight mineral oil at 25 hours. These tests were severe - on some hot summer days, oil temps would approach 350 deg F. The mineral oils would quickly turn black (due to oxidation) and thicken, where the synthetics remained virtually unchanged.

The attached picture is of an engine crankcase side cover, run on endurance for approximately 80 hours on straight 30 weight mineral oil without changing. The oil had oxidized to the point that it turned into a black grease and thus could no longer provide splash lubrication. The engine failed due to seizure of the crankpin bearing causing the con rod to break. This testing made a deep impression on me.

I don't want to sound like a know-it-all and my advice is to run whatever you think is best for your engine. My personal choice is Mobil 1 10W-30 which I run year-round in my K-301, and have since installing the engine back in 2001. Changed at 30 hour intervals, the engine has remained remarkably clean internally, consumes very little oil between changes, and continues to start and run without any issues.

 

[mgwin]

I like the sound of what you guys are saying!
Since my 33 year old S-10 is still going strong with the crappy old 30 wt. oil, my newer GMC engine with the 0w-20 synthetic oil should have no problem lasting 99+ years with no issues!!!

 

[jmacdonald]

dkirk I wonder is it too late after running "regular" motor oil for years to suddenly switch over to a synthetic. Would I start to see the synthetic getting by the rings or is it just something I need to try and just see what happens on a particular engine ?

 

[kswingle]

I knew a guy that was putting in 10 w 30 in his 1650 cub and it cooked the cam and had to get rebuilt! Like a 1,000 bill. Ouch!

 

[digger]

I knew a guy that was putting in 10 w 30 in his 1650 cub and it cooked the cam and had to get rebuilt! Like a 1,000 bill. Ouch!

I promise you that putting 10w30 in it, did not cause any issues!

 

[mfrade]

I promise you that putting 10w30 in it, did not cause any issues!

I doubt you'd convince them otherwise. But I agree with you, 10/30 oil didn't cause a failure.

 

[dkirk]

dkirk I wonder is it too late after running "regular" motor oil for years to suddenly switch over to a synthetic. Would I start to see the synthetic getting by the rings or is it just something I need to try and just see what happens on a particular engine ?

Jim, I think you would be perfectly safe in switching to the synthetic The 10W-30 essentially has the same viscosity as straight 30 weight when the oil is up to operating temperature so you should not see an increase in oil consumption. The old wives tale about synthetics causing oil seals to leak has been addressed by additives that don't allow seal shrinkage. I encourage you to try it on your next oil change and let us all know how it works for you.

 

[twthompson]

I have been following this discussion. Let me please add my question. I was once told by someone that it is OK to switch from non synthetic to synthetic. But once you changed to synthetic that you have to stay with it? Any thoughts on this?

 

[digger]

I have been following this discussion. Let me please add my question. I was once told by someone that it is OK to switch from non synthetic to synthetic. But once you changed to synthetic that you have to stay with it? Any thoughts on this?

I've heard that too.

 

[mfrade]

I have been following this discussion. Let me please add my question. I was once told by someone that it is OK to switch from non synthetic to synthetic. But once you changed to synthetic that you have to stay with it? Any thoughts on this?

I can see no reason for that. I once drained off my oil in the cub and when I turned to refill the crankcase I discovered that I didn't have a quart of Mobil 1 but I did have a quart of SAE 30 Valvoline. So I ran that 'cause I wanted to get the grass mowed. I ran the SAE 30 for the remainder of the summer ( 7 or 8 weeks) and when I switched out the mower deck for the snow equipment, I changed the oil and installed the mobil 1. Never an issue. Back in the 80's I was working for an ARCO gas station. And they had come out with a graphite oil. It had all the problems mentioned above, Seals leaking / couldn't switch once it was installed, it didn't "blend" well with other oils, not to mention the graphite would settle out! I think that gave a black eye ( no pun intended) to synthetic oils in general but, syn oil has been around since World War 2. It was developed because the equipment just couldn't survive using regular mineral & petro oils.

 

[dfrisk]

MIKE - I used Arco Graphite oil mostly in my rebuilt K241 Kohler in my Cub #72, about half of the 1400 hours I put on that engine were with 10W-40 Arco Graphite oil in it. That engine has been rebuilt AGAIN and is my 70. I might be mistaken but I thought Arco Graphite was a conventional oil. It did leave a thin layer of black guess you'd call it sludge on the bottom of the oil pan, maybe .030"-.060" thick. Can of Brake-Kleen and several paper towels cleaned it enough to go into my parts washer. I didn't want my solvent turning black. The last half of that 1400 hours I used Rotella 15W-40 diesel rated oil in that engine. The detergents that clean the soot out of diesel engines cleaned the accumulated graphite out before I rebuilt it.
Everything gets synthetic oil now, mostly Mobil 1, but the K321 I rebuilt years ago gets Rotella T6 5W-40 diesel oil.
Son switched my old '96 F250 Powerstroke from straight mineral oil T1 15W-40 to T5 synthetic blend 10W-30 about 2 yrs ago. I'd run 2-3 changes a year of T1 10W-30 in winter. But the semi-synthetic blend T5 was a great match for his usage, think it was 7 miles to/from work. Month ago He moved and has 110 mile round trip commute. He drove the truck a month and now drives his girl friend's Toyota Corolla. Truck is getting close to 315,000 miles on it. It leaks a little oil, the dipstick adapter on the side of the oil pan leaks, but doesn't really burn any oil.
I think it's safe to say ANY motor oil made today is several times better than anything available 40 years ago.