What type oil do you use in your scooter and why? By mapbike (Read 29,374 times)

[mapbike]

I have read several different opinions on best oil brands & Weights for the GY6 engines and just thought i would get some more input and explanations from the pros on the subject here.

Shan

( I'm running Valvoline Max Life 10W-40 Semi Synthetic with a small amount ( About 2Tbsp ) of Greased Lightning anti friction Teflon oil additive)

[jhbietz]

This is what I use in all my scooters. I had never heard not to use full synthetic so after break in switched to this. You will notice its a diesel oil so it still has the anti scuffing compounds like zink that the standard oils don't.
I testing the theory that you shouldn't use synthetics on break in with my Tank 150 since I have a 250 sitting on my workbench waiting to go into it. I drained the oil and refilled with synthetic right out of the crate. So far so good at over 700 miles.

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[Smorkle]

My MC-54-250B says on it to use 15W40 and I've mostly used Castrol but they didn't have that this last time so I got Rotella T.

[kiwiscoot]

I found on our 2007 Xingyue/ITA XY150T that the scoot started to leak oil and drink it after going to synthetic oil. I've since gone back to "dino" oil and added an additive that's suppose to stop oil leaks. Seems to have done the job as the oil does not leak out anymore and doesn't dissapear either.
Since then I've read that some older cars had the same problem when going to synthetic oil. The oil seals shrink in the synthetic oil and leak. Don't know if ours has old style seals as it was probably manufactured sometime between 2006 & 2007. I'm going to stick to dino oils for it and just change them every 2000kms.
happy scooting
Kiwiscoot

[anhoa]

SuperTech 15w40 from Wally World..cuz 10$/gal so not too expensive..about 2.50$/change. Change oil every 1K miles.

Anhoa

[Bashan]

If y'all haven't read the Scooter Doc Manual you should at least check out the first section. I asked all of the banner folks their opinions on what oil to use and why. You'll be surprised at the varied schools of thought from people in the business of scooters. If you read on there's sections on gear oil, plugs, and valve adjustment. The rest of the manual covers much more on service including CVT and brakes. I wonder how many of you didn't even know that was there along with a myriad of other tech references......hmmmmmmmmmmmmm? By the way, I use good ol' 10W-30, anything decent on sale. My scoots don't burn a drop. Rich

Scooter Doc's GY6 Manual

[kiwiscoot]

Now look I didn't know about this and I thought I knew everything that was on Scoot Doc.
Thanks Rich

[mapbike]

Rich, I also didnt know about the scooter doc manual, but my question about the oil was not intended for the venders it was a question for all us guys and gals who are on here almost everyday discussing everything head to toe about these scooters, I was just trying to get a look at what most of the peoples on here are using and why they feel from there experience it seems to work best for them, this was directed at the average Joe or Joann ( for the Ladies)... of coarse dealers and venders were not excluded from my thoughts on this question either, myself I've always thought that for the most part the metal parts in an engine dont really know one slick substance from another as long as it is slick enough and will go to and stay where it needs to be under pressure and heat, I like syn. blends and fulls myself because they do for a fact lubricate better, they are much slicker oils, but there are many a engines out there that have never tasted a synthetic of any type that have a gillion miles on them so I think it is really all about using what you feel confident in yourself until it proves itself to you otherwise.
Enjoying all the feed back here....!
God Bless all Shan

[jct842]

Over the years I have used syn. oil in just about every thing and never stayed with it. some engines seemed like they ran a tad better. if there is the slightest possibility for a leak they will leak it even though dino oil doesn't leak. I have had some catastrophic failures using syn and also the grafite oils that were popular but of course they were all coincident's. My malibu got an oil leak at the head gasket that let oil into the coolant using mobil one. over $1000. my 86 gold wing that I bought new had the stator fail using grafite oil. I sold it for "junk" cause I was fed up with expensive repairs on it. I had a 79 gmc I bought new that had white junk build up in both valve covers and was about to clog every thing up that a friend with a garage cleaned out before it did damage using mobile one. went to dino and drove for 9 more years with no problems. after a few years with dino I seem to want to try syn again but this last bout with the malibu has me gun shy now. I have rotella dino in my majesty and will be putting that in the other scooters soon as I do oil changes on them. Don't get me wrong, syn is good oil for some people but I just can't afford it any more. John

[mapbike]

Yea I've heard stories about the oil leak issues, many years agao I worked for a after market parts retailer and people would come in and by Mobile 1 oil and put it in an older car or truck that already had many miles on it using Penz or Havoline which are known to cause a little sludge build up over time, and they would come back after a while with oil leaks and engines that had started burning some oil when they were not, I work with a fellow now that has an F150 that has 287,000 miles on it and never had a wrench on it other than belts, plugs, wires and oil changes and trans fluid & filter changed every 30,000-40,000 miles. he has run Motorcraft Semi-Synthetic in it since it was new, no leaks and still uses less than 1/2 quart between oil changes, I think if someone is going to run semi syn or full syn, they should use it as soon as the engine is good and broke in and not wait till the engine is 1/2 used up and then switch over, this is where I think a lot of people mess up with the synthetic lubricants, but this is only my opinion of coarse. Shan

[kiwiscoot]

Our Xingyue/ITA XY150T's GY6 engine developed oil leaks and an appetite for oil when we went to synthetic when it only had 2000kms on it - basically just run in. The leaks slowly developed over 2000kms after going to synthetic. Since I've gone to dino and Wynns anti-oil-leak additive the leaks seem to have stopped after 1000kms. When I checked the oil yesterday after a 100km two-up trip it was still where it should be. I may try a blend sometime.
Just my experience with a GY6 engine. My SYM Citycom has 21000kms on and no oil leaks and has done more than 17000kms on synthetic oil. It uses no oil too.
Kiwiscoot

[ootscoot]

Yea, I use 15w40 on my one remaining Chinese bike - the synth just seemed to find it's way out of the gaskets, also noticed that Synthetic oils give the engine a different sound - a little tinneier, higher pitched. The Citycom runs smoothest and most effeciently with Mobil 1 extended performance 10w30.
On all my bikes I use a non synthetic gear oil - my tech says it sticks to the gears better.

[mapbike]

Well, from what I see here on this thread thre seems to be more "cons" on the synthetic oil side than "pros" so you fella's thave made me reconsider the use of the synthetics in my scooter, the last thing I want is to have oil leaks due to shrunken seal so just to be on the safe side I have desided to switch back to the standard oil, I changed it yesterday and I put 15w-40 Castrol labeled as heavy duty oil for diesel engines I also added a couple ounces of the "Greased Lightning" PTFE oil additive along with it, when it start cooling off here n central Texas I may drop down to the 10w-30 Castrol for winter.

I will continue to use the synthetics in the engines that have liked them for a good while now, but on the China seal issue you guys may have a great point on why it may be wise to stick with a conventional oil in these GY6 engines, thanks for all the great input here.

Shan

[speedracer]

I used Mobil 1 T4 Motorcycle oil on my 150 cc and will use it on my 250 cc Roketa after break in. $9.00 a quart at Walmart and change it every 1000 miles.

[Alleyoop]

I use Castrol GTX 10w-40 Full synthetic, set my Odmeter to zero when I change the oil and every time it clicks to 9999KL I change it. No leaks not a drop and do not have to add any.
I have almost 4000KL on the trike, and I run it hard.
Alleyoop