Outboard Engine Oil

[Greg Hanna]

Folks,

Does anyone have a particular expertise in engine oil?

The standard for marine engine oil is ?TC-W3? TC Twin Cycle-Water Cooled Spec 3.

It is funny when you check this out; it?s the same spec as scooter/motorbike oil. As scooter/motorbike is oil is more readily used and therefore it is slightly cheaper.

Now here?s the funny bit, scooter oil has been cleaned up to reduce the smoke in cities and is therefore better refined, but still meets the spec TC-W3. And yet costs less, probably due to supply and demand.

So are the oil manufactures charging us more for a dirty smelly oil badged under a marine title to use it up and make more money for them?

If we could use motorbike oil the engine smell would be less and probably sea sickness and even save a few quid!

Win Win!
Any Thoughts
G

[Andy Wade]

Folks,

Does anyone have a particular expertise in engine oil?

The standard for marine engine oil is ?TC-W3? TC Twin Cycle-Water Cooled Spec 3.

It is funny when you check this out; it?s the same spec as scooter/motorbike oil. As scooter/motorbike is oil is more readily used and therefore it is slightly cheaper.

Now here?s the funny bit, scooter oil has been cleaned up to reduce the smoke in cities and is therefore better refined, but still meets the spec TC-W3. And yet costs less, probably due to supply and demand.

So are the oil manufactures charging us more for a dirty smelly oil badged under a marine title to use it up and make more money for them?

If we could use motorbike oil the engine smell would be less and probably sea sickness and even save a few quid!

Goodness me, a conspiracy theory, that can't be true surely?

Oh yes it could, and don't call me Shirley...
;-)

[Nigel Hewitt]

Goodness me, a conspiracy theory, that can't be true surely?

8-)
And if an outboard did the hours that a two-stoke motorcycle does between breakdowns marine engineers would go broke.

[Greg Hanna]

So we are all being had!

Greg

[Andy Wade]

So we are all being had!


Reckon so.
At the end of the day, an outboard is nothing more than a small or a medium sized motorbike engine on a stick, and they cost a fortune to buy and run.
Remember the adage, "A boat is just a hole in the water that you throw money into".
We always used ordinary 2 stroke oil all the time, with no ill effects at all.


.

[terry allen]

You should only use TCW 3 in a water cooled outboard operating at "normal" temperatures and "normal" loadings.
Dont use anything else.You are not being had. Its all down to temperature and ash.

[Andy Wade]

You should only use TCW 3 in a water cooled outboard operating at "normal" temperatures and "normal" loadings.
Dont use anything else.You are not being had. Its all down to temperature and ash.


OK, I'll keep an open mind on this one,
But I'd appreciate you enlightening me about it, saying that "it's all down to temperature and ash" means very little to me, and I'd like to hear more so I can understand what you mean.
An information source would be helpful if you can provide a link to it please.


.

[Dave Woodward]

One thought on this is that an outboard 2 stroke is always getting cold water through it, while a bike 2 stroke willhave a certain temp of the water in the system, unless it's aircooled, then thing will be different
Maybe what's relevant.
Ash, ... we should be nice to the sea? maybe outboards don't get as thrashed as a bike and would gum up more?

Dave


:=You should only use TCW 3 in a water cooled outboard operating at "normal" temperatures and "normal" loadings.
:=Dont use anything else.You are not being had. Its all down to temperature and ash.


OK, I'll keep an open mind on this one,
But I'd appreciate you enlightening me about it, saying that "it's all down to temperature and ash" means very little to me, and I'd like to hear more so I can understand what you mean.
An information source would be helpful if you can provide a link to it please.


.

[sandman]

I don't think that cold water plays an important factor, as the oil viscosity for an outboard is the same as bike oil.
All two strokes suffer from one inherent problem that is being revved hard when cold. The aluminium piston will expand quicker that the steel sleeve in the barrel and cause the engine to seize. An outboard would take just take longer to warm up due to the constantly cool, coolant.
Basically two strokes should be warmed thoroughly before being revved hard, and they should be thrashed (fairly regularly) when warn to clear out all the gunge.
Two stroke bikes do seem to work better in cooler & humid environments anyway due to the added cooling, (they produce considerable heat compared to a four stroke) and they loose power quickly (or seize) if over heated because everything gets too loose inside and slaps around.

I'd go for either anti corrosion additive for the fuel / air system due to salty atmosphere or the 'ash' theory. Normal temp and normal loadings confuses me as well.
I must confess I know bikes better though.



One thought on this is that an outboard 2 stroke is always getting cold water through it, while a bike 2 stroke willhave a certain temp of the water in the system, unless it's aircooled, then thing will be different
Maybe what's relevant.
Ash, ... we should be nice to the sea? maybe outboards don't get as thrashed as a bike and would gum up more?

Dave


:=:=You should only use TCW 3 in a water cooled outboard operating at "normal" temperatures and "normal" loadings.
:=:=Dont use anything else.You are not being had. Its all down to temperature and ash.
:=
:=
:=OK, I'll keep an open mind on this one,
:=But I'd appreciate you enlightening me about it, saying that "it's all down to temperature and ash" means very little to me, and I'd like to hear more so I can understand what you mean.
:=An information source would be helpful if you can provide a link to it please.
:=
:=
:=.

[terry allen]

Further to my comments about ash and temperature. I will look for a couple of links to send you all. But in the meantime water cooled 2 strokes dont work very hard and they work at low temperatures. The oil is ashless at these temps so does not cause any problems such as gumming of rings. Also these engines normally do not have exaust valves whilst a lot of air cooled highly stressed engines do. ( An exaust valve is tied into the throttle so that the exaust valve "slides" opens to a greater extent when the engine is reving high, probably more than 6000 rpm) Its important not to mix these oils or use one instead of the other. EG a TCW3 oil would quickly kill a high performance 2 stroke.
Yes there are exceptions. Ive run outboards on Duckams 20/50. When nothing else was avaiable. And my old Excelsior bike engine which used a ratio of 16/1 ran on anything that I could find