oils

[fishsniffer]

i bought my boat new in 05 i have done all the lubricant changes myself and have only used mercury quick silver products...is this smart or am i wasting money..i will only use the high output gear lube in the lower unit but i can cut oil change and filter(oil and water seperating fuel)prices in half with sierra filters and oil i can get at the auto parts store.

[sslopok]

When I got my boat I used the cheap stuff. My 90 horse merc 2 stroke smoked alot and was hard starting. I switched to the quicksilver oil and have been much happier. My boat is a lot happier too. I won't use anything else. The price is worth it in my opinion.

[MY2SONS]

i bought my boat new in 05 i have done all the lubricant changes myself and have only used mercury quick silver products...is this smart or am i wasting money..i will only use the high output gear lube in the lower unit but i can cut oil change and filter(oil and water seperating fuel)prices in half with sierra filters and oil i can get at the auto parts store.

The way I look at it is oil is the life blood of my engine. I only use oil recommended by Mercruiser. There's some things you can probably skimp on, but oil is not one of them. Not to sound cliche, but take care of your motor, and your motor will take care of you.

[N II Deep]

I have been using the Sierra filters for the past 15 years with no issues, oil's in my opinion is what you feel comfortable with.

[miltcop]

I agree. Oil is the blood line. I have yamaha outboards. I use yamaha oil.

[JWheeler]

Okay, while we're on the subject. I had a 99 S - 10 with vortec 4.3L in it. Ran great. Put nothing but Royal Purple Synthetic 5w30 in after the warranty was up, sold it with 230K miles on it. I do not run it in my 4.3 marine motor, but have thought about it several times. Any thoughts good or bad?

[Paulywood]

I know a lot of guys use Amzoil in their boats. I have been using Mobile1 synthetic 30 weight in the boat and have been happy with it. It seems to hold up better than the Quicksilver. That being said, I don't see any issues using the Sierra's. I have used them before and I know a lot of marina's use them when they service boats.

[killerbe20]

Okay, while we're on the subject. I had a 99 S - 10 with vortec 4.3L in it. Ran great. Put nothing but Royal Purple Synthetic 5w30 in after the warranty was up, sold it with 230K miles on it. I do not run it in my 4.3 marine motor, but have thought about it several times. Any thoughts good or bad?

i think they may make a marine version

[Yoda]

Oil is a personal prefrance thing, I'm a big fan of Amsoil products, I think the Filter is more important than the oil used. The NAPA Golds are Wix filters, watch for the Spring and Fall sales from NAPA on filters and you can get them for about $5 ea. Both our trucks have been converted over to Synthetic Oils and the Boat will be on it's next oil change, With that being said our charter boat is sitting with about 2,500hrs on it, and it has had nothing but Dino Oil thu it since it was new, Rotella T 30 or Volvaline 30. I'm just tired of feeding the oil companys anymore money..

[Line Dancin]

I asked my Mobil rep once when i was in the trucking industry what the difference was in mineral oils. He had told me that the biggest difference was the detergents that are put into oil, and how much detergent. Then he had said that in a marine engine you want to have the better detergent/better oil. Reasoning for this is that in an io or inboard the oil needs to hold as much sediment in the oil as possible since most marine engines either dont have a drain plug or the drain plug never get pulled out. THis is the only way to get as much sludge as possible out. I never asked about synthetics as Volvo doesn't recommend synthetics for my engine and outdrive. As far as what is suitable there is a number on the bottle in a circle that says the specs of the oil as long as you match that spec you should not have a problem as it has to meet those standars for detergents.

As far as filters they have to meet specs also check what materails your filter is made of and the micron of the filter. Just because it threads and is the same size. on doens't mean it is correct Match those and you will be fine. Now there is also a long life filter which i prefer. The long life filter have reinforcements so they dont "crush". ALso the long life filter use all material and no cardboard in the filters, unlike some of the other brands out there.

[Daybreak]

For the guys with 15+ year old engines, I would caution you on running synthetic oil. I run Mobil 1 in everything I own....except my boat. Older engines had much larger clearances and I think synthetic is just to thin resulting in excessive blow-by. I run standard Valvoline 30W....but I do use the Mobil 1 filters. As Yoda said, the filter is the most important part of the equation. Plus, I did 6 oil changes last year during the season on twin inboards at 7 quarts each. 84 quarts of Mobil 1 each season would be a bit much $ !