Another winterizing question

[Mick14 0]

I've been useing synthetic oil since reading MPH's "tests",but now my question is ,should i change the oil before putting the tractor away for the winter or wait and change it in the spring ?

[timack 0]

I'd change it now, don't let the dirty stuff sit in there...

[ikipp 0]

Problem with synthetic oil. Lubricates great; viscosity flow is great in cold weather or warm weather. However, there is a problem that syns share with dino oils. Dirt and acids are in the old oil. Also, the additive package, chemicals manufacturers put in oil, may wear out at the same speed as the additive package in dino oils. The very best way is to change oil before storing for winter. Some guys do and some guys don't. The couple quarts of oil isn't going to cost much and it isn't to much work to change the oil.

[GWGAllisfan 159]

Another problem is depending on the synthetic, sometime they don't swell seals like the mineral oils do, so older gaskets may leak after changeover. I'd agree on the change in the fall. Get all the oxidized oil out.

[Mick14 0]

thanks guys,any draw backs to going with "dino" for the storage,and back to the synthetic ?

[BLT 725]

My 2 cents, run your engine hot. Drain oil as the oil at that point has the viscosity as 'hot tea' and a lot of crud will come out. Re-fill with you syn oil, run it, park it and a couple days later give the internal parts of the engine a blast of fogging oil, either thru the dipstick tube port or the breather hole.

[OldFarmTractor 5]

Dino oil?

[richp 0]

It means dinosaur oil. Manmade versus the stuff under our feet (petroleum based).

[ikipp 0]

OK I have a question for all you guys interested in oils. Is it an old wifes tale that syns tend to cause leaks in older engines and that the seals get leaky. Oil manufactures claim that isn't the case, but I've heard the following for years. Don't use syns in an older engine because seals will start to leak. What is your experience? Thanks.

[Mick14 0]

Sofar i've had no leaks in my '64 B&S or '75 kohler since changing over,but i'm using fairly heavy weight Syn.,,2 seasons on the B&S with 20-50 weight.

[ikipp 0]

I've been using syn for many years and have had to oil, seal leaks. Also, no excessive use of oil.

[mowerman1193 0]

I have used synthetic oil for a few years as well with no problems..I think the wifes tale is more like this..Synthetic oil flows better than dino oil, thus if you have a small tiny leak with dino oil then you will have a bigger leak with synthetic oil..I say if your seals are good then you should be ok..I don't think the synthetic oil does anything to the seal..I think the seal was getting bad in the first place and is real knoticable with synthetic..

[firefoxz1 4]

Ira: I think Kevin answered that one correctly. If you had a small leak with Dino it may get worse with Synthetic, thats all. Change the oil before you store it as acids do build up in the oil as you use it. Also condensation can build up during storage so ??. Maybe change it with dino now and to synthetic in the spring.

[GWGAllisfan 159]

The reason small leaks when using mineral petroleum oils become large leaks is precisely because most synthetics don't swell seals and gaskets as well (as much) as regular mineral oil. This was a bigger problem several years ago, since oil blenders have learned how to additize the synthetic base oil with ingredients that make up for it's lack of seal swelling. So old worn seals will shrink somewhat and often leak more. Not an old wifes tale: In the lubricant manufacturer's world it is well known. Now another confusion is that the definition of synthetic under went a slight change a few years back so all oils marketed as synthetic may not be completely man-made from smaller molecules as the original definition of synthetic meant. In fact this was the basis of a lawsuit between I believe Mobil and Castrol that went to the FTC. Hope this helps