Puzzlement over Yanmar engine oil

For Beta engines, when I fitted mine several years ago I phoned Beta and they insisted that it MUST be a Mineral diesel oil, 15w/40 - which my local motor factor(DSC in Diss) sells - Comma from memory?
 
An all too common plaint - no-one bothers to sell the oils recommended by marine diesel manufacturers. They have to small a mark-up (€4.60/4l cf €17.80/4l for the cheapest semi-synthetic.
In fact Yanmar specifically state that using a non-recommended oil voids their warranty - apparently these expensive high-detergency diesel oils are responsible for valve-seal wear.
Take heart, Comma, Morris and even Burma Castrol in the UK sell such oils - look in agricultural merchants not motor car outlets. I found that in Greece Shell garages carried the appropriate oil under the trade name of the local patio gas supplier.
At prices like that there are no reasons for not changing engine oil frequently and with a light heart!!!
 
Iv been using 15/40 mineral oil for ages , I read that synthetic oil wasn't recommended for these comparatively low tech engines , Iv been using mineral oil for 15 plus years in our yanmar engines with no problems .
 
ostra4 said:
Iv been using 15/40 mineral oil for ages , I read that synthetic oil wasn't recommended for these comparatively low tech engines , Iv been using mineral oil for 15 plus years in our yanmar engines with no problems .
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It's not so easy to obtain a 15W-40 synthetic oil and they seem to be expensive. Synthetic oils are heading in the opposite direction and 0W-5 oil is now available and it wouldn't surprise me if some car manufacturers soon start to recommend it for new engines. I'm using 0W-20 in one car but OW-5 seems a bit too radical even for cars.

I've not heard of a 0W-0 oil yet but I'll bet it's in development. I guess after that they need to change the rating system or go -ve! :ambivalence:

Richard
 
RichardS said:
It's not so easy to obtain a 15W-40 synthetic oil and they seem to be expensive. Synthetic oils are heading in the opposite direction and 0W-5 oil is now available and it wouldn't surprise me if some car manufacturers soon start to recommend it for new engines. I'm using 0W-20 in one car but OW-5 seems a bit too radical even for cars.

I've not heard of a 0W-0 oil yet but I'll bet it's in development. I guess after that they need to change the rating system or go -ve! :ambivalence:

Richard
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It's very easy to find a synthetic oil that 'meets' 15W40. Something like a 10w50 will have a lower cold viscosity and a higher hot viscosity. I.e. it will have a more constant viscosity over the temperature range.

This might raise a giggle or two?:
http://www.apriliaforum.com/forums/...-oils-all-OK-oil-experts-come-and-have-a-read!
 
lw395 said:
It's very easy to find a synthetic oil that 'meets' 15W40. Something like a 10w50 will have a lower cold viscosity and a higher hot viscosity. I.e. it will have a more constant viscosity over the temperature range.

This might raise a giggle or two?:
http://www.apriliaforum.com/forums/...-oils-all-OK-oil-experts-come-and-have-a-read!
Click to expand...

Of course, you've put meets in inverted commas because you are aware that that is not what I meant. 10W-50 is not the same as 15W-40 and if it's not in my local Halfords, which it's not, it's not easy to find.

Now, let's get back to the serious stuff ...... :)

Richard
 
RichardS said:
Of course, you've put meets in inverted commas because you are aware that that is not what I meant. 10W-50 is not the same as 15W-40 and if it's not in my local Halfords, which it's not, it's not easy to find.

Now, let's get back to the serious stuff ...... :)

Richard
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You have internet
You can do better than Halfords!
People like Opie Oils will send you almost any oil you could possibly want, apart from own-brand stuff of unknown parentage.
Euro car parts have a good range and prices too, often free delivery offers.
 
Supermarkets are a good source of mineral motor oil. I get mine from Tesco but have seen suitable oils in various European mainland supermarkets. Sometimes they are sold as flushing oils but fully meet the CF spec.
Incidentally after running large diesel fleets in U.K. And overseas I am convinced that engines benefit from having minimal idling time and frequent oil changes. What kills them is lack of use and leaving them in neutral whilst running. You can tell those who idle frequently as they fill the lock / fumigate be marina with blue smoke .
 
RichardS said:
It's not so easy to obtain a 15W-40 synthetic oil and they seem to be expensive. Synthetic oils are heading in the opposite direction and 0W-5 oil is now available and it wouldn't surprise me if some car manufacturers soon start to recommend it for new engines. I'm using 0W-20 in one car but OW-5 seems a bit too radical even for cars.

I've not heard of a 0W-0 oil yet but I'll bet it's in development. I guess after that they need to change the rating system or go -ve! :ambivalence:

Richard
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These ultra-low viscosity grades may be OK for modern cars with hardened crankshafts and hard aluminium-tin bearings but it must be remembered that their only purpose is fuel economy. I have seen too many research reports of older engines running on oils with viscosities higher than these blowing up on the dynamometer. My opinion is that 15w-40 is the lowest to go to with an older engine, although I have no idea whether newer Volvo or Yanmar engines do have hardened shafts. The most recent engine I have stripped was a D2-40 that had copper-lead bearings, which suggests the shaft is unhardened. I run my old BMC 2.2 litre on 20w-50 and the Yanmar 3GM30F on 15w-40.
 
vyv_cox said:
These ultra-low viscosity grades may be OK for modern cars with hardened crankshafts and hard aluminium-tin bearings but it must be remembered that their only purpose is fuel economy. I have seen too many research reports of older engines running on oils with viscosities higher than these blowing up on the dynamometer. My opinion is that 15w-40 is the lowest to go to with an older engine, although I have no idea whether newer Volvo or Yanmar engines do have hardened shafts. The most recent engine I have stripped was a D2-40 that had copper-lead bearings, which suggests the shaft is unhardened. I run my old BMC 2.2 litre on 20w-50 and the Yanmar 3GM30F on 15w-40.
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Indeed. My relatively recently designed 3YM30 (well, designed in the last 15 years anyway!) is still 15W-40 recommended so that's what I use.

Richard
 
RichardS said:
Indeed. My relatively recently designed 3YM30 (well, designed in the last 15 years anyway!) is still 15W-40 recommended so that's what I use.

Richard
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I remember as an apprentice and motorcyclist (over 50 years ago!) reading a book which was along the lines of designing a race motorcycle engine, it talked about the "porcupine" engine, manx nortons etc! It even gave details on making a new conrod with precise details as to where to tack weld the bits before full welding! Going back to one of your earlier posts about 0 weight oils, this book made the bold statement that water was as good a lubricant as anything as long as there was enough of it pumped through the bearing!
Stu
 
skipper_stu said:
Going back to one of your earlier posts about 0 weight oils, this book made the bold statement that water was as good a lubricant as anything as long as there was enough of it pumped through the bearing!
Stu
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Indeed. With a plain bearing like a main journal the pressurised oil should effectively keep the bearing surfaces apart at a microscopic level so if you could force fluid in at sufficient pressure to ensure a total lack of bearing contact, then you could, in theory use any fluid ...... even air which behaves like a fluid in this context, albeit an extremely thin fluid so perhaps SAE -1000W--5000! :ambivalence:

Richard
 
RichardS said:
It's not so easy to obtain a 15W-40 synthetic oil and they seem to be expensive. Synthetic oils are heading in the opposite direction and 0W-5 oil is now available and it wouldn't surprise me if some car manufacturers soon start to recommend it for new engines. I'm using 0W-20 in one car but OW-5 seems a bit too radical even for cars.

I've not heard of a 0W-0 oil yet but I'll bet it's in development. I guess after that they need to change the rating system or go -ve! :ambivalence:

Richard
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I don't think sae 0 exists.? SAe hot viscosities seem to go down to 20?
ISTR the sae scales are different for engine oil, gear oil and motorbike fork oil. I.e the same oil would have a different sae number if you put it in the gearbox.
Some bikes are using 10w60 for engine oil now. Runny when cold, still viscous when hot.
But forks are tending towards low numbers like saew2.5, on the grounds that change in viscosity is the thing to avoid. If it starts off thinner than water, heating it up won't change things as badly.
When you get to cars that want SAE 0W20, we normally need to worry about more than just viscosity. There are other issues like not poisoning the cat or blocking the DPF. My car is still worth a few £ so I'll pay the extra for a Motul oil that meets the BMW spec.
With my bikes, every time I check the valve clearances and find they are still in spec, I feel the expensive synth oil has been a bargain.

In the old days I used to top up my Sierra with oil drained from my bike.
 
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