another oil ?

[shawn]

I was reading some old threads last night to kill time and came across a few about what type of oil to use.  I have 700 hours on my 01 x22 and have been using Mobil 1 5w30 synthetic.  Every time i change the oil (50 - 75 hours) it comes out really dark.  Should i try conventional Mobil 1 instead of synthetic?

[toyotafreak]

Your Mobil1 could easily go several times that, but I agree the darkness is a little annoying - you'd think $5 oil would stay looking like vegetable oil. I know that I used to use Castrol Syntec (full synthetic) in my pickup and it too looked very dark after a normal 5K interval in a 4-banger. I've been thinking lately that the Mobil1 that comes out of the S22 each winter (about 50 hours) and the Sequoia (5K) is a little less dark than I expect.

Shawn, you're doing the best you can for that M1UZ (assuming you're running a good filter too), so don't look at the darkness as a bad thing.

[cyclone]

It's doing the right thing keeping that crap in suspension and running through the filter instead of caking in the heads and oilpan.

Boat engines run cold compared to car engines, they will tend to get unburned gas in the oil. The 1uzfe was supposed to have regular oil in it for the first 200 hrs, to seat the rings. Dark oil is a sign of blowby.

You could run conventional oil in it for a couple of 50 hr changes, that would help the rings seat better. Old dudes put a handful of Bon Ami powder down the carburetor to seat rings, but I wouldn't go that far:)

[Rambling Wreck]

My oil was black as the Ace of Spades when it came out in the Fall (total hours = 130). I put conventional oil in for the winter - planned to run it an hour or so and change toMobil 1 synthetic. Now I am wondering if I should run the consventional for 50-70 hours before changing. Opinons?

Also, why do boat engines run colder than autos? Duh - obviously the thermostat- but the question is why not put a 180 degree thermostat in and let it run at the temparature for which it was designed? Are there differences between this engine and the Lexus car engine that require it run cooler?

[cyclone]

no, I think that it's just because the water in the lake never heats up like your coolant does. If you had a 180 deg thermo, it would never open up and your engine would get hot spots. That's my guess, anyway!

[eagle1wi]

I agree with Pete, once your thermostat opens it is getting 60 degree lake water, not 140 degree coolant that was already in your radiator like in a car.  I bet we have lower thermostat temps because you don't want your engine coolant cycling from 180 to 60 and back all day long.

Man I have as many hours as shawn and my oil still comes out like Wesson oil at 75 hour intervals. 

[toyotafreak]

Eagle, what oil do you use?

I changed fluids in the truck (Castrol dino) and Sequoia (Mobil1) and they're both looking dark as night at 5K intervals. No Wesson there, for sure. I'll be doing the S22 this weekend hopefully (rigged up a special MacGuyver hose rig to feed the fake-a-lake and also stream water on the drive shaft so the strut bearing doesn't get torched running dry in gear. Also put a shutoff close by so I can just lean over the gunnel and turn the water on/off instead of running over to the front of the casa. I'll post some pics so Pete can laugh at my white-trashiness.

[eagle1wi]

I have used Castrol Synthetic (in the past) and Mobil 1 Synthetic for the last few changes.  My cousin shakes his head in disbelief when I pull the stick after a season of skiing because it it so golden.  He can believe it runs that clean and he is a Ford/Lincoln/Mercury mechanic that sees DOHC engines all day long, but not many 1UZ's since they rarely get them on trade.  Cars are a different story, my GS300  - now totaled - seemed to keep synthetic clean longer but it would get dirty in time.  The boat just doesn't seem to do that.  Maybe I should run this oil all season and take a pic of what I have in the fall.

I wonder if you wakeboarders are harder on the oil because of the extra weight you are tugging around at low speeds.  We are usually going 32-36mph unweighted in an E21 with just a couple people.  My guess is that some of you are "loading" the engine more because of how you use your boat thus breaking down the oil more.

Just a thought, any other skiers out there or am I a lone wolf?

[sailtl]

I am a skiier. I only average 60-70 hours before an oil change. I probably error on the safe side but I do get a lot of dilution. I pull an average of 3 hours per day 3-4 nights a week and pull all events.
After about 60 hours I start getting some low oil pressure chirping from the buzzer. Change the oil and it goes away. I use Mobil 1 in my Epic 21.

[toyotafreak]

Man, I wish I could log those kind of hours - my boy and I would probably be giving Mr. Blindside a run for his money :-)

[cyclone]

Sailtl,
You should replace your oil pressure sender. No way you should get low oil pressure alarms after 60 hrs. Old oil actually increases in viscosity.

[eagle1wi]

Pete is correct old oil will get thicker and be harder to pump. 

Sailtl, are you sure that it isn't a low voltage alarm?

Do your guage servos "reset" when this happens?

Pete, is that the $10 sending unit you are talking about that goes on by the oil filter?  I have never done mine, maybe cheap insurance.

[cyclone]

It's actually 20$ from Overtons. Shawn posted the p/n at one time. It is marine specific simply because it is made for a higher oil pressure range than cars usually have.

[sailtl]

I will double check this season and see if it is a low voltage alarm. I do get gasoline dilution in the oil. You can smell it on the dipstick. It is not bad enough to burn with a match but it is there.

[cyclone]

I'd change plugs to make sure your burning all the gas you can, and maybe switch to conventional oil for a while to seat the rings better.