My 2¢ on oils

[DoubleT]

I got as far back on posts as Tims Question and the replies on motor oil, and had a few comments.

When I was just a pup I was told by my stepfather (who was raised on a PA farm, and has sold/serviced BMW motorcycles about 40 years) NEVER change brands of oil in an engine that has used the same brand for a very long time. This I had forgotten until I bought a used pickup with 126k miles from a used lot. Two days after purchase I changed oil using Pennzoil, and the engine almost immediatly lost all power/compression. I later met the original owner who told me the truck had nothing but Havoline oil in it since break in. My theory is that it has something to do with the different cleaning additives in one oil removes the protection additive of another from the wear surfaces.

Also in the replies to Tims' threads, someone made a point that hadn't dawned on me. Basically it was that these little engines use splash lubrication, and the oil will not splash when cold. My walk behind blower is normally left in the garage, but there has been a few times where I left it out, and used the wifes hair dryer to warm the engine just to be able to start it. Since this Big Ten will likely always be left outdoors, I will be using either a silicon pan heater, or magnetic block heater on it.

For those not familiar, a silicon pan heater is just a small square rubber heating pad about 1/16 in thick, that we use silicon to stick it to the bottoms of oil pans on our vehicles in the cold climates to preheat the oil. It will require removing the engine on thes small tractors to install it though.

The magnetic heater is just that. Not as effective as the pan heater, but will heat anything you can stick it to, and is portable. Often there is no suitable place to put it on a small engine, my snow blower included, but it looks as if it will work on this AC.

[DoubleT]

Iwas always told by the older more knowledgable mechanics that Pa. oil any brand but it has to have come from Pa. was superior as a lubricant to other oils. Something about the molecular structure of that oil vs. all others.Just my 1 cents worth! dlc

[JBLACK]

Pennsylvania crude is a grade of crude and does not mean it came from Pennsylvania. I was told it is the only grade of oil that is a sufficient lubricant with out additives added. All other grades require additives to lubricate. And that's just here-say and I won't claim it to be a fact. Tim