Outboard Motor Oil

[blakstr1]

My question is how many of you use off brand oils for your boat?  I haven't been able to bring myself to use anything by Opti-Max oil for mine, I guess its a peace of mind thing, thats all its had run through it since it was new.  Its pricy but I guess to me its worth it..

[smbassman]

I have stuck with Opti oil and use Quickclean in every tank just like is recommended.  Last spring I burned a cylinder.  I was at the BassCat owners tournament in Arkansas the day before the tournament when the cylinder went.  The Mercury support trailer was there and after they found the metal shavings on the #6 plug, the first question they asked was "What oil do you use?" - I answered opti/dfi oil only (I had a full jug with me to prove it), and I showed them the bottles of quickclean I had and explained that I used it every tank as recommended.  4 hours later I was breaking in my brand new '05 fully dressed powerhead. 

The way I see it is all motors have the potential to have problems and those problems cost a bunch of money to fix, so why add the extra confusion of using something other than what is recommended.  Once out of warranty, it would take a lot more than a few people saying thay have used such and such oil with no problems.

P.S.  My opinion might change though because I was at BPS a few weeks ago and they had Opti oil for $34.99/gallon.  I had been buying it for around $20/gallon last year.  Was there a major increase due to the price of oil?

[Cheetam]

I was always under the assumption (I must have heard this from someone) that using any oil in your motor other than the manufacturers recommended brand will void your warranty...

[blakstr1]

I was always under the assumption (I must have heard this from someone) that using any oil in your motor other than the manufacturers recommended brand will void your warranty...

thats what i've been told too, but you see Penzoil and others sponsoring the pros...maybe they don't need to care about warranties but...

[smbassman]

The outboard motor companies cannot void warranties based on not using their oil.  There is some law that if they do this, they must provide the oil free of charge.

So they have minimum requirements like TC-W3.  It gets confusing when there are regular oils, semi-synthetic, synthetic and they are all TC-W3.  Then you consider the Opti oil is not even TC-W3 rated but it still the recommended oil.  Go with Evinrude and they have to program your motor based on the oil you use. Too many options and too much risk!!!  

[ronhuntfish]

The tracker marine by Bass Pro used to sell bulk Opti oil for $17/gallon untill last year. Now they will not sell the bulk and raised the jugs from $25/gal to $30/gal.  I found somewhere that had    2 1/2 gal for $60.

[yukonjack2]

i'm working on a wholesale purchase of Evinrude XD50 - for me and anyone running a DI HO.  If it pans out, I'll check on OPti as well.

[Cy]

I only run BRP oil in my Johnson.  I like the XD-50 for my carb engine.  I don't know what the guy that owned her before me ran but I have had good luck with the XD-50.

Cfruel

[yukonjack2]

Cfruel - I am sure xd50 works great, but I don't think there is any advantage to running the semi synthetic in the carb versions.  I would ask BRP directly, cause you can save some cash running the xd25.

[Revtro]

I thoroughly checked all my paperwork for my motor and nowhere in any of the warranty information does is say that burning different oil will void the warranty.  It think that's a wive's tale.  I use the Merc oil (premium plus) in my EFI and haven't had any problems yet.

[huston]

What's wrong with Quicksilver Premium Plus?

[smbassman]

I don't think there is anything wrong with Premium Plus.  The topic was about using different oils other than the manufacturer's recommended oil mainly for cost savings.

[DOWD]

If you like the XD50 in your DI, try the XD100, no smoke at all. I run only XD100 in my ETEC. The motor sips the oil. I used 6 or 7 gallons in 105 hours of motor run time. On my 04 DI, I used 9 gallons in 85 hours. The ETEC is sweet.
One of the best I like about it, is the easy of winterizing it. A few turns of the key and move the throttle, and the thing is winterizing itself!

[MBell]

Quicksilver is mercury, it is just a brand name that they can sell at non-dealers like wall-mart or tackle shops.  I think the deal is only mercury dealers sell the mercury stuff, dealers sell a lot of quicksilver stuff as well so it's the same stuff. 
-Matt

[Skulley]

I have a Johnson Motor and I have always used the Johnson Oil.  I usually take a 5 gallon jug to Prop N Sail and they fill it from their 55 gallon drum.  It is more economically feasible for me to buy it like that in bulk.  A gallon jug of Johnson Oil will run any where from $14 to $16.  Buying it like I do usually saves me a few $$$$. 

BD