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Mercruiser 25W40 Oil

A

alreadygone

Contributing Member
Can't bring myself to pay

Can't bring myself to pay outrageous price dealers ask for this stuff! Especially knowing there's as good or better for MUCH less!!

What are the rest of you using?

Engines are 225hp 350ci Mercruiser
 
"Same engine.
Chevron SAE 40.

"Same engine.
Chevron SAE 40. West Marine... $10/gallon.
Not the cheapest, but I like the jugs it comes in... makes it easy to take the old oil to the recycle center.
Oil is oil... use the viscocity recommended by the manufacturer of the engine. Make sure what you buy is SAE certified SF/SP/AP, etc. Other than that, it's all slippery and comes out of the same factory... good ole mother earth. All the other C.R.A.P. associated are marketing strategies.

I'm sure this will spark the sythetic oil advocates into a long, heated discussion.
It's good stuff too, and costs more; but gets dirty and needs changed, just like petrolium."
 
I agree with Troy. I've se

I agree with Troy. I've seen a lot of hype about oil over the years. Wound up using generic brand oil for the last 20 years. As long as it has an API rating API-SM it will serve you well. Pay attention to the manufacturers viscosity recommendation. Those who have diesel engines should use oil that is rated for use in diesel engines and not just gasoline engines.
 
I maintain a Ford F-250 Superd

I maintain a Ford F-250 Superduty with the Powerstroke and it calls for 15w-40. It is seriously rated oil so I put it in all customers V8's. This way I can stock one oil for most of my work. I like the Valvoline All Fleet
 
Bondo. Im disappointed to see

Bondo. Im disappointed to see that you're one of the "Believers".
 
"15W-50?! I'd have to put

"15W-50?! I'd have to put that in with a spoon, up here in great white frozen north!"
 
"See, Troy: I TOLD you the wat

"See, Troy: I TOLD you the water never gets above 60 up there!

I run a good quality automotive 10 W 40 in my Chrysler 360s. Change oil and filter before winter layup. No problem.

Jeff"
 
"Eddie,.......... I'm afra

"Eddie,.......... I'm afraid I Don't understand,..???.....

Troy,.....There's Feet of ICE here Now,........ Not Much Boating going on......
And,... It's Syn-oil,.... Pours Quite nicely,.. Even Cold...."
 
"Bondo.... Although Mobil 1 is

"Bondo.... Although Mobil 1 is certainly a quality product, it will do little if anything more for diesel or gasoline reciprocating engines beyond petroleum based oil. At 3 to 4 times the cost of conventional oil, many of us would like to see a better return on our money.
What I meant by "Believer" was that many synthetic users believe that it has super qualities that promote engine life greatly or enhance performance noticably. Even the manufacturers of synthetic oil do not make this claim although earlier advertisement suggested that it might."
 
"Doesn't seem to be too ma

"Doesn't seem to be too many people visiting this site from the south.... I have a theory on that:

It's because they're all out boating!
snow.gif
"
 
In Florida they have so much $

In Florida they have so much $$$$ they don't work on their boats. Just spend time talking and e-mailing thire brokers.
 
"i have used synthetic since d

"i have used synthetic since day one 99 chevy s10,it has 94,000 + miles burns no oil. have a friend that used mobil 1 in his dirt race car in ny and never had an oil related failure, turning 7500 rpm most of the time. i'm currenly living in southern va. lived in ny. 18yrs."
 
"To make a point clear,if I sa

"To make a point clear,if I saw any advantage to Merc's oil I'd pay the price and be happy! Same is true of synthetics. Their only real advantage is in extended service life, and I have no intention of leaving ANY oil in boat engines for long service periods.

Fastjeff,

Merc says that if you use anything but their 25W40 it should be single grade, either 30W or 40w depending on ambient temperature. With 20w40's or 20w50's being a third, less desirable option. Am leaning toward Troy's severe service Chevron.

Tom,

Not sure what it might have to do with marine service, but my '95 S10's up to 206,000+ with plain old Penzoil 10W30 and still uses no oil.

Yall don't see much postin frum suthern boys cuz most a usns caint reede!

Bob"
 
"tom f.....With all due respec

"tom f.....With all due respect, you haven't shown us anything."
 
"who ever doesn't "bel

"who ever doesn't "believe" in synthetic oils is missing out... i've built LOTS of HP motors, and I also use it in every car i own, NEVER had a mechanical failure, NOR have i had a car that smoked, also my engines are clean inside.... I've actualy tested different oils and Mobil 1 is worth every penny. Im a courier, I drive 300+ miles per day, imagine the abuse i put a vehicle thru
not to mention the road racing i use to do and those bikes really put oil to the test...."
 
"Good for you Chev-hell, good

"Good for you Chev-hell, good for you tom-f!
I don't drive 300 miles a day, nor do I ever intend to. I put oil (spelled 'ole' for all you suthen' boys... of whom I will soon gleefully join the ranks) in all my engines. I change it every 5000 miles or so. I change the oil in the boat about every other month, depending on how much I use it. Last time I checked, no smoke, no pistons flying out of the side of the engine block, or anything like that. The jeep with 160K miles on it stopped using oil the very instant I got around to fixing the leak at the valve cover gasket, and the other two vehicles don't have enough miles on them to change the oil yet... So why do I need to spend $5/qt instead of $1/qt? For the price of one oil change, that's almost enough gas to get me to Jeffrey's Ledge and back.

Can any of you 'believers' attribute any engine failure, ever, to lubrication failure caused soley by the use of a petroleum based oil instead of a sythetic blend?"
 
"Troy, don't confuse them

"Troy, don't confuse them with facts. Half of what I ever learned about mechanics is dispelling commonly believed myths. The time honored practice of changing oil regularly is the key to engine longevity but there will probably always be those who buy from the snake oil merchant. Note that synthetic is good stuff. It just won't perform miracles and is for most part of no benefit at much greater price."
 
"Boy, I sure opened a can of w

"Boy, I sure opened a can of worms!!! Still interested in what others are using in their BOATS! As I said synthetics are great for extended drain periods,,,, but that ain't gonna happen.

Bob"
 
"Bob, no problem. You asked a

"Bob, no problem. You asked a good question. This ain't the only mechanical subject that you will find people swearing by what they believe on both sides of a fence. You can and should check out the advise using your own good sense."
 
"I've been an automotive s

"I've been an automotive service technician specializing in brakes, wheel alignment, tires, and OIL CHANGES, for the past 36 years!! Don't really give a &@#+ about anyones automotive experiences. I realize there aren't that many differences in marine and automotive specifications, but the ones that do exist are CRITICAL!!!!

Still like to know oil preferences of other posters and why. If you use synthetics, that's ok. I'd be interested to know that also.

thanks,
Bob"
 
"Ok, This is my reasoning for

"Ok, This is my reasoning for my believing in Synthetics.... Keep in mind when i was a teen, I'd look at the sunday ads. notice oil on sale, but some "Mobil 1" oil that cost $3/qt.. (20yrs ago) I thought that's just stupid.... well needless to say in my mid 20's I did a fair share of road racing (motorcycle) and One of my bikes was an 89 GSXR750. This bike was oil-cooled so it really put oil to the test. This bike was my race bike AND daily driver figure that... Anyway, one day I after adjusting the valves and seein build-up from oil starting to develop, I changed to Mobil1 I immediately noticed better oil-pressure while hot and more consistant, Then I noticed it took 3x as long for it to start to break down and darken up... Then at the next valve adjustment (every 4k yes, it sucked) the head became cleaner and cleaner, till it was like new again, no sludge anywhere. Now, usualy these bikes were good for about 10-15k miles if you rode em on the street, I ended up selling this bike with 50k miles on it without any mechanical failure and almost no wear!! That is really what made me switch.. and agin since the late 80's i've used it.. I even tried a couple other synthetics that gummed up the motor
so i went back to it...

another situation that just really helped re-inforce my belief was my last 454 in my chevelle, it's around 600hp and i really abuse it, well, I had a lifter that was too loose (solid roller) fail (teach me to use Herbert Chiles lifters again) and the roller actualy pushed up into the lifter and was just grinding on the cam... this went on for about 6k miles!!! yes, 6k rag miles before I finaly dug into the motor to see why it was out of tune..... The cam had very little damage as did the lifter, it still ran ok if you tightened it down... the oil is what saved the cam and the rest of the engine in my opinion....

so that's why i Belive, not because somone "sold" me on it, because im cheap, and that oil is freeking expensive (go to wal-mart it's cheaper there) and it's worth the extra $$ to not buy a motor early and have the hassle of having a car/truck down for a while...

did anyone notice GM uses it from the factory now in the vettes??? they probably know a bit more than we do also about oils.."
 
I've heard the miracle sto

I've heard the miracle stories long before synthetics were widely availiable. People will swear that Brand X was vastly superior to Brand Y. That was many years before Chev-Hell was born. That's why you have to look for objetive evidence and consider the source. The tough part is when you're having beer with a OK guy and you know he isn't making any sense. Say nothing. Smile. Buy the next round.
 
"Eddie,

This bit of incorre

"Eddie,

This bit of incorrectness may get me kicked off this board,, oh well---

Arguing on the internet is like entering the special olympics,,,,,,,Even if you win- You're still retarded!

Bob"
 
"Bob, I'm sure you're

"Bob, I'm sure you're far from stepping out of bounds and you're right."
 
"Eddie, I could care less if y

"Eddie, I could care less if you use Mobil 1 or not, really makes no difference to me, and my "story" is true, I don't work for XOM so why would i care to "sell" you on it? and since you need to have hard evidence, read some of the actual studies done. some things in this world created after you became a "genius" do work, sorry you don't think they do."
 
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