In a pinch, for something like a weed wacker or backpack blower or chain saw, can automotive synthetic motor oil be used in place of two-stroke oil?
What's the difference between two-stroke oil and regular motor oil anyway?
The difference is the residue left after that oil burns and the additive package . Modern 2 strokes are finely tuned high performance machines and they need the specific additives in the right base oil . Cheap out on the oil and you're going to be buying a new unit .
Check your owner's manual. My two stroke weed wacker said straight 30 weight no detergent motor oil was fine, but you'll want to check your own model's manual.
Supposedly produce less soot and carbon to gunk up the combustion chamber and exhaust port.
If you're going to run anything but 2-stroke oil I'd only do it in an emergency.
On Sat, 2 Jul 2022 21:17:38 +0100, Bugsy snipped-for-privacy@zimage.comBUGSY wrote as underneath :
Technical differences you'll have to research, and good luck with that! The oil companies are secretive! SAE30 single standard MINERAL oil was always used before the market-ers got at it in the 1980s (NOT MULTI SAE oils)! Thats what I always use in any twostroke that doesnt specify 2T synthetics, eg. more modern super high performance motorcycle 2T engines. The advice from long ago was to never use the multi grade nn-W-nn oils because of the synthetic gloop additives used to achieve the multigrade characteristics and the same applies to the synthetic 2T oils (which are usually thin and pump-metered to the engines from a separate tank) and very pricey. SAE30 mineral is still available - I have to get it by the 5L. C+
I know of 3 places here that carry it ... and this is a small town of 4,000 population .
That's good advice to do what you're told for anyone who is clueless but what's actually in the 30-weight non detergent oil that's not in the
2-stroke oil that matters to a small air-cooled engine is the question.
I agree with Charlie+ because the oil manufacturers probably have bigger advertising budgets than their manufacturing budgets because in the end it's all probably the same stuff.
But how would we know what makes oil coming out of the ground into something labeled as "the best two stroke oil in the world" on the bottle?
Is SAE30 no detergent oil the same as "mineral oil"? I thought mineral oil (like the stuff at the pharmacy) is different?
I also thought that up until recently people mixed regular non-detergent single weight oils into the gasoline at a 30/40/50:1 ratio and it worked.
What are "2T synthetics?" Answering my own question is Mr. W:
Huh? What is that sentence saying?
I always thought a two stroke was all about the number of strokes, and not about using the "crankcase as part of the induction tract" (whatever that means).
I agree they must put some kind of "gloop additive" to get that spread between cold and hot viscosity which probably isn't good for the engine (whether it's a 2-stroke or a 4-stroke engine) when it heat carbonizes.
The advertisers only tell you the good stuff but they never tell you the bad stuff where there must be "more gloop additive" to make the spread wider and that means more bad carbonization at the same time.
I've seen clear mineral oil sold in the pharmacy for drinking as a laxative. Is that the same stuff?
I wonder if it matters.........
I don't know the answer to the question so I went to Mr WP to ask.
To summarize that better, it looks like.
I suspect it would be better than motor oil as motor oil contains a lot of additives. Motor oil is not made to be burned and when it does deposits will build up. Just reading that older additives with phosphorus and zinc have been phased out as they degrade catalytic converter function.
I do not know what they put in two stroke oil but recall years ago buying a cheap gallon of it to use in my Lawn-boy mower and it was very finicky in not liking it. Their brand oil had no problem.
A two-stroke engine uses the crankcase during the intake stroke as illustrated by this animation:
Bring on the castor oil...
Hell, if vegetable oil will work, why not chicken fat ;-)
Echo brand owner's manuals and product literature say their 2 stroke power equipment (leaf blowers, chain saws, etc.) need oil that meets ISO-L-EGD, JASO FD specs.
Curious how few of the 2 cycle oil brands list what specs are met on their packaging/containers whereas most automotive motor oils do.
Found this 40-min video about two stroke oils from an Echo Product Manager.
2-Stroke Oil: Explained (by Jason Wilk, Echo Product Manager)Jason Wilk says it all starts out the same bubbling out of the ground. He says the difference is the additives used in the oil. I'm not sure what he's selling so here's another one to compare with.
2 Stroke Oils Explained
Oil is oil which is dead dino juice bubbling out of the ground, but I, for one, like to question the differences to see if they make sense.
Sometimes they do. Sometimes they don't.
For example, there's a difference between blue and green dish detergent but does it matter? Not for doing dishes, right?
Yet, there's a difference between dish detergent and laundry detergent, and beleive you me it matters (yes, I've done it... and don't ask how long it took to get all that suds out of the washing machine after the 20F code!).
Somtimes it matters. Sometimes it's just advertising. Lots and lots of ads.
Take Techron advertising. Does Techron matter? Not really. Especially not if you use
What happens if you do not use
Same with using 87AKI gasoline rather than 91AKI in a pinch (especially with knock sensors in all modern engines). Does it matter in a pinch?
Not really. But the question is whether it matters to substitute motor oil for 2T oil. Does it matter?
Searching if it matters, brought me here.
Haven't listened to them yet as I have to run but this was also nearby.
His tests may tell us what really matters when testing 2T oil. At the same YT page are these which seem to be useful for the question.
What To Use If You Run Out Of 2 Cycle Oil
Project Farm tests that stuff in the real world for you. In his short term tests, he found no meaningful differences.
Will 4-stroke oil damage a 2-stroke engine? Let's find out! Project Farm:
He also ran a small bicycle engine for about an hour and popped the head off, and found it to not be all that much different in those tests too.
Of course, it's always better to have two stroke oil on the shelf so you don't have to use motor oil in place of the two stroke oil in an emergency.
But which one?
Cheap 2-Stroke Oil Better? Let's find out! Amsoil vs SuperTech 2-Cycle Oil. Project Farm:
AmSoil synthetic did slightly better than SuperTech conventional oil on carbon buildup - and AmSoil did MUCH better on corrosion. The AmSoil engine was about 10 to 20 degrees cooler. But Amsoil left more residue.
The rest was about the same. The question is whether that tiny difference is worth the 4x cost.
Paraffins that won't burn cleanly. So you'll cloud the neighborhood with stinky smoke and have to clean the cylinder afterward. After you finish mowing the lawn you'll have to clean the windows too.
--scott
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