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Can I use this in my BF8?

BF8Pete

New member
My early 2000s BF8 manual recommends 10 - 30 oil. More recent oil technology now exists so I wonder if I can safel use the fully synthetic 10 - 30 that I put in my diesel Discovery Landrover?
The motor spends its life on the back of our 23' trailer sailer which spends most of its life on the trailer. We go afloat several times a year and it always starts first pull and runs faultlessly. Same plugs for last 3 seasons. Any need to replace them while I am servicing?
Thanks,
Pete
 
Thanks for that. She's a lovely clean motor. No oil usage and no leaks. Yet. Any opinion on whether I should change the plugs?
 
Some of the seal material from several years ago was not compatible with the full synthetic oil of the time. So, as iang6766 points out, many experienced excessive oil leakage when they started using full synthetic oil. I haven't checked recently but up until 3 or 4 years ago I know that Honda was still recommending petroleum based oil only in all of their outboards.

Having said that, I've seen many folks here post that they have had great success using full synthetic oil in their 2003 and later model Hondas. So, it's hard to say what sort of chance for leaking you might be taking by switching oil. As far as the engine "internals" are concerned, it's a fact that almost all synthetic oil provides superior lubricity compared to petroleum based and there wouldn't be any danger of damage to hard parts by switching over. However, for many manufacturers and for this very reason, full syn oils are not universally recommended during engine break in periods.

As an aside, some people are under the impression that they can extend their oil change interval because they use synthetic. I would definitely advise against doing that.

Good luck and welcome to theforum.
 
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What I’ve found in my old auto engines is full synthetic may lead to oil leaks at some old gaskets , if that happened I’d just switch back to regular oil and the leaks stopped. My old stuff was pre say 1990.

Not sure if leaks were caused by old gaskets being incompatible with synthetic or if the synthetic is in some way “thinner”.

Wouldn’t hurt to change plugs, they are not that expensive.
 
Can't hurt to change the plugs, but based on your usage, it would be wasted money, in my opinion.

I use Full Synthetic High Mileage in my Honda's (BF2, BF5, BF75 (8hp), BF25 and BF40). Always had excellent experiences. I recently discovered that Amazon distributes their own oil (made by Keystone) Amazon Basics brand. I use the 10w30 and 5w20 Full Synthetic High Mileage in all my power equipment now. Independent tests have shown is out performs Mobil 1 Full Synthetic and it costs $20 for 5 quarts shipped free to your door (prime member only). Quarts are a great price as well.
 
Whatever you use, change the oil every 100 hours or end of every season, whichever comes first. Given that guidance, using synthetic oil is often a waste of money. But no harm to the engine.
 
Whatever you use, change the oil every 100 hours or end of every season, whichever comes first. Given that guidance, using synthetic oil is often a waste of money. But no harm to the engine.
Thanks Chawk_Man. I'm actually economising as I'mgoing to use something I have on the shelf all the time rather than buy another pot of different oil for the outbard.

Thank you all for your suggestions. I love forums such as this for the ready advice from around the planet and the spirit of sharing. I have the one boat with one motor and very little experience so I am unlikely to be a contributor. In the same vein I hope to not be a pest. If you never here from me again it is probably because my motor is running sweetly!
Thanks to all,
Pete
 
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