There are many brands of oils to use in your boats now days. Has anyone had any bad luck with a brand or never had a problem with another? There is WalMart for $12 a gallon and then Quicksilver for $30 a gallon. Is there that much difference in all of the brands?

There is a great difference. My Evinrude runs perfectly on Evinrude brand, but fouls on less than one tank of Quicksilver,and in just a few minutes on the cheap oil. Stick to the recommended brand. It is worth the difference in cost.

+1

I found over the years to buy the best oil you can afford and buying the motor's mfg. oil is always a good idea. These oils are always formulated to work with the fuel and air delivery system for maximum performance.....I have on occasion used Penzoil outboard oil as well with good result. Cheap oil will cost you in the long run because it doesn't burn as clean and can lead to fouling and in most cases piston gauling which turns into a huge "CHA CHING" at the cash register at you local boat dealer, the reason for that........most of these of cheap oils are missing critical additives.......one of the reasons they are cheap.....

I have used Penzoil before and it worked. had a Johnson and used Evinrude oil and did good. A friend of mine said he used Citgo from Academy and it seemed to work for him and I know it is cheaper. Is there some type of additives you can put in with the mix to help keep the internal parts clean? Little prevention now to save big in the end.

Why buy cheap oil and add expensive additives? Just buy the correct oil in the first place. Penzoil and Citgo were the brands I had trouble with.

DaddyL I don'y know if you can add to these cheap oils or not but if you stick with something like a citgo, penzoil, etc they will probably give you good service.
They have a reputation to uphold where someone making something cheap for the big box stores to sell has a lot less skin in the game and whole lot less to loose if their product inflicts damage on someones outboard. Case in point, several years ago I bought a gallon big store brand name oil and used it in an early omc oil injected motor. I poured the oil in my tank and went to Montecello for a tourney and before the day was over my engine seized up.....
These engines; because of the speeds in which they are rotating, are extremely sensative to having the correct additives present at all times......found that out the hard way.....

I think it would be best to stick with one brand versus changing all the time based on price. When my boat was brand new, 1997, I used Evinrude oil exclusively for about 2 years and bought in bulk from Travis Boating in Lewisville. Stopped making the drive and switched to Pennzoil and have used it the past 12 yrs with no issues.

I've got a gallon of Citgo oil sitting in the garage that was given to me about 3 years ago, never opened.

I have been using Penzoil full synthetic in my XR6 for the last 12 years. I have never had it in the shop and the plugs are clean whenever I change them which isn't very often. It's pricy but I will probably continue to use it when I get my next Bass boat.

I use Yamalube in my 25 horse yamaha simply because they threw in a case of it when I bought the motor. It doesn't seem to burn as clean but I hate to changesince that is all I've run in it. I'm on my forth case and haven't had any problems.

My dad has always run the cheapest oil he can find. He has always had more problems with his equipment than I have.

I've used the cheap oils (walmart,acdemy) for the past 11yrs on my 150 with no problems. There are only 2 companies that make 2 cycle oil. 1st run expenseive oil 2nd mid grade 3rd cheap. They really all come from the same place

Used Penzoil full synthetic in all 3 of my 250xs motors I have owned and never a single failure.

l deal in the oil & gas refining industry and 10w40 is 10w40, no matter who you get it from as long as it meets the SAE requirements for the specfic weight. If you look at a Pennzoil, Mobil, Castrol, West Marine, Walmart, same weight, same SAE rating, the oils should be the same as required for that name brand to bottle and sell that product. This goes for all standard dino or synthetic oils. All manufacturers have to meet the same standards as required by the American Petroleum Institute. It is not unusal to have a large refinery that is formulating oil for many "Name Brand" products, same specs, think of it as "Outsourcing." This is stand practice in the industry.

Now, with this said, some manufacturers may add specials formulas or anti-corrosive materials, especially when used in Saltwater due to salt and moisture, but that will be listed on the label. The are some really good oils, such as Amsoil that exceed miminum requirements, but then again you are paying extra $$$ for that as well.

Lets talk about Gasoline, same as above. Once there was a "Name Brand" gasoline 88icompany that purchase Gasoline from another refinery and before the vessel left port, the captain had to wait til someone showed up from the "Name Brand" company to add a 5 gallon mixture to a 10,000 gallon order, so..... now "IT IS" Brand Name X.

Now, if you talk to a Oil Rep, there going to tell you that their's is the best. I use Walmart oils in all my cars, but a name brand in my truck because it is diesel and walmart doesn't carry one.

My Mercury reccomend Quick Silver but I use Penzoil since day one,no problem and I think Quick Silver normally buy oil from other . Penzoil full synthetic is about half price compare to Quick Silver

I've got a question that falls in line with the original. What is the difference, if any, in the Mercury oil you can go buy in bulk from the local boat dealer, and the Mercury oil (Quicksilver) that you can buy in gallon jugs at WalMart, BPS etc...? Thanks

Should be the exact same oil.....

Yep, I kind of figured that .....when I lived in Greenville I noticed quickly that the same trucks wre providing all the gasoline for diffrent brands of fuel, not to mention there is a huge gasoline storage facility just west of town that fuel transporters work from. I figured if there was any diffrence in the fuels it would be something that was addded later after the fuel was delivered. The oils are probably the same way...... different companies add things to these oils or have the producer do it. I think what it boils down too is certain engines have to have certain addititves to operate correctly and the early OMC(for you young guys Johnson and Evinrude) oil injected motors built in the late 80's and early 90's were extremely sensitive to this......

I don't know about now but there was a time that the only difference between Citgo oil and Quicksilver oil was the color additive. You can look on the bottles and compare the information.

I have always been a Mercury guy and used qucksilver, but had to use the other at times when quicksilver could not be found. I had no problems.

I actually found this out by a friend that used to race boats and he used the Citgo brand oil. Yes he worked for Citgo as well.

Good Post........

I can't back it with science or explain the business end of it, but I can tell you this. I am cheap. In 99 I bought a new 225 Opti. I kept the boat, guiding out of it several years, up until last year. I put a little over 2 thousand hours on the motor running SuperTech oil from Walmart. Never had one mechanical failure, none. Bought a 250 Yami in 04 on my main guide boat. Ran the same oil until sold in 2010. Never had a oil related issue, electrical and a few others, but no oil probs. I was on the water around 300 days a year with these engines. Now I have a 4 stroke and will never ever ever buy another stupid bottle of 2stroke oil again

i have been running pennzoil for years and have had no problems.

As others above, I've run Pennzoil Full Synthetic in my Yamaha V-Max 200 since 2002, no issues.

Anybody remember Dale from Dale's Marine? I asked the same question with my old boat, which had a 1990 Yamaha 115. He told me that all 2 stroke oils have the TCW3 additive. Yamalube has one of the highest amounts of TCW3, as does Evanrude, or Murcury. Penzoil, that Bill Dance used to push ALSO has TCW3, but the bare minimum. Go with the good stuff. Besides, I'd hate to have something go wrong with my VMAX 150 and the repair shop finds I used cheap oil.

I believe TCW3 is a certification not an additive.

Due to the nature of two-stroke marine engines, two-stroke oil lubricates the engine parts as it passes through the engine and is then burned along with the fuel. Two-stroke oil is either physically mixed with the fuel or, in the case of direct fuel injection, is combined with the fuel in the combustion chamber. This is in contrast to four-stroke engines which have oil sumps circulate the oil by pumping it throughout the engines.

The long term objectives of the two-stroke engine industry have been to reduce emissions which contain burned and unburned oil that have passed through the engine, and to develop a quality of oil that reduces the mixture ratio to fuel while extending the life of the engine. That means significantly reduced emissions to satisfy EPA requirements, less warranty problems, and increased customer satisfaction due to engines lasting longer with less maintenance and overhauls.

TC-W3® lubricant, an NMMA-owned trademark, has evolved over the years through much testing and research, and has proven to be the level of quality needed to satisfy the above objectives. And, going a step further, now that two-stroke engines have moved towards higher cylinder temperatures and compressions, this type of lubricant also helps to meet the EPA emissions reductions.

TC-W3® has demonstrated the necessary lubrication performance quality needed for these more demanding cylinder/engine conditions.

The TC-W3® standard is a performance-based qualification program. The requirements include various bench tests for fluidity, miscibility, rust, compatibility, etc., as well as engine tests to evaluate the prevention of ring sticking and carbon buildup on pistons and other engine parts. The engine tests include one Johnson 40 hp, one Johnson 70 hp, and two consecutive Mercury 15 hp tests, all of which are run under severe conditions for 100 hours each. Two additional engine tests are also conducted to ensure a high level of lubricity performance. The testing process is comprehensive and expensive, but worth the outcome for consumers and manufacturers.

Once lubricants have demonstrated the necessary lubrication performance qualities needed for TC-W3® certification testing by NMMA-approved laboratories, NMMA licenses those two-stroke lubricants to be marketed to the public. TC-W3® oils are licensed around the world and are recommended for use by two-stroke engine manufacturers.

that is right,,,,also citgo makes merc oil[,citgo is owned by hugo chavez the dictator of venezuela , which is why i will not use it....quote=lost]I believe TCW3 is a certification not an additive. [/quote] THIS SHOULD BE post and quote to the post about tcw3 being a certification not an additive

All Tech 2000 stuff at Walmart is made by Quaker State.

Walmart supertech TCW3 oil is a quality conventional oil and does the job extremely well. That said I use penzoil full synthetic as I am a believer that synthetic is better. I have never had a fouled plug only changed them once since june 1996. Gonna do a compression check and leak down here soon just to see what the numbers are. I do know that I have never had any carbon issues using syn. oil and I prefer the grey color in my prop exhaust compared to the black from conventional oil. Synthetic burns cleaner, cleaner= better for me.

i didn't know who made the walmart brand, but i did know there are only a few refineries that make the oil and bottle it for a lot of brands. if you check you can get what ever brand you like in the cheaper version bottle. they are from the same refinery.

Why would someone spend 20k on an engine and try to save $2.00 on a gallon of oil? Doesn't make sense to me. This argument reminds me of something that came up many years ago. I bought a new motorcycle and wanted to buy a new helment also. A friend of mine was with me who raced bikes. I asked him if there was a difference in the $20 helmets and the $100 helmets. He said "if you have a $20 head, get a $20 helment!" I bought the $100 one. I use the good oil too. There is a difference IMHO.

Years ago I hauled base oil to blending facilities that canned/bottled 2 cycle oil. I watched several differently labeled containers running down a conveyor and they were all filled from the same tank.While talking to the manager of the facility I found that the only difference in the dino oil blends was the dye. That said I run WalMart/Citgo or whatever is on sale. To do any different is to become a victim of marketing. The "good oil" as the above poster implied is Quicksilver/Tech 2000/Citgo/Penzoil/etc.

I have been buying Yamalube, I am begining to wonder now?

Spot on there Cmack. Run what you are comfy with if paying more for Dino oil is your thing do it if paying less is your thing do it. TCW-3 standard has forced the carp 2 stroke off the market. 2 stroke and 2 cycle are the same.

No doubt the oil is not unique, its the additives that make it different. Just like gasoline. Yamaha oil smells different then Merc oil, same base oil, different additives. That being said I would be fine using any TCW3 oil in any current outboard.

My 2002 Merc 250 XB Pro has used Penzoil full synthetic after break-in period and no problems....clean plugs, no heavy smoke, clean prop....

I haven't used anything else, so I can't report on the other brands...

Don't know if this is true or not. But my neighbor took all his penzoil out of his boat because the bass cat dealer told him the full synthetic clogs the screen and deprives the motor of oil. Gave me the whole gallon. Don't know if i should use or not. Anyone heard this before.

I don't know too much about 2 cycle oil, but I do know this much: if you have a Mercury Optimax or other direct-fuel-injected two stroke, you should be using DFI oil ... TCW3 will not be your friend in the long term. DFI oil is more expensive no matter what the brand name.

If you want to save money on oil, wait for it to go on sale at your preferred store or buy it by the case at a discount ... or register with your store for coupons by mail ... pick up store gift cards on ebay ... but why take a chance of damaging your outboard just to save a couple dollars on oil?

Ok, I posted the original question. There are numerous opinions about the brands of oils used. Additives some have that others do not. I have had one guy swear you do not change things up, keep running same brand of oil all the time, another says he uses whatever he can find cheap and has no problems. He has boats in Mexico, and two different places in the U.S. and has run numerous 2 cycles. Never had a problem changing brands as long as being certified. So, keep same brand or alternate not bad?

What brand are you now useing ?

There are great differences between boat oils in brands.It has wide variety of quality. Renowned brand oil makes the boat well.

Evinrude/Johnson

Very informative thread. Thanks especially to you guys with knowledge about the formulation and testing protocol necessary to meet TCW-3 lubricant requirements by the NMMA.

So, what is the bottom line on this tread??

Which oil?

Any Marine Mechanics here that could give us any input??

More OIL less rust plugs are cheap

I use the E-tec full synthic for this reason in my carbd 150 johnson.
It dose not smoke or leave any residue of carbon on the plugs!
The down side is th cost but well worth it.

THIS

I only run the high dollar DFI oil in my optimax. I'm not sure if its any better than any other oil, but for about $60 a year price difference, I'm not gonna risk it.

A wise man once told me in a discussion of oil: Make sure it has some of some kind in it!

Amen to the four-stroke!