# Regular 30-W motor oil in a 2-stroke fuel mixture?



## NRA_guy (Jun 9, 2015)

Long ago, folks used regular 30-W motor oil in the fuel mixture for 2-stroke engines.

Then Mercury come out with "special" expensive oil in tiny containers for their outboards. I heard things like, "Anything else will void your warranty. And the Mercury oil is kind of expensive, but you don't want to risk destroying you outboard engine by scrimping on a little oil."

For a while I could buy a quart or 4 quarts of oil labeled for 2-stroke engines fairly cheaply in hardware and building supply stores.

Now most of those stores only want to sell small cans of pre-mixed 2-stroke engine fuel.

I still see some unmixed plain 2-stroke oil in gallons, quarts and tiny bottles in Walmart, but it's pretty expensive.

I am not asking about synthetic or multi-viscosity motor oil---just the old kind. 

Is anybody using regular motor oil in their 2-stroke mix for weedeaters, chain saws, and such?

Just curious.


----------



## po boy (Jul 12, 2010)

I believe my neighbor put used motor oil in his and would just add it to the tank after he put regular gasoline in. It was in a regular oil bottle, He was a mechanic at the fire department in Atlanta.


----------



## HDRider (Jul 21, 2011)

I have watched this guy a lot. He does some cool tests. He tests your question, probably the way you would.






Google and the Wiki are great

From the Wiki
Comparing regular lubricating oil with two-stroke oil, the relevant difference is that two-stroke oil must have a much lower ash content. This is required to minimize deposits that tend to form if ash is present in the oil which is burned in the engine's combustion chamber. Additionally a non-2T-specific oil can turn to gum in a matter of days if mixed with gasoline and not immediately consumed. Another important factor is that 4-stroke engines have a different requirement for 'stickiness' than 2-strokes do. Since the 1980s different types of two-stroke oil have been developed for specialized uses such as outboard motor two-strokes, premix two-stroke oil, as well as the more standard auto lube (motorcycle) two-stroke oil. As a rule of thumb, most containers of oil commercially offered will have somewhere on the label printed that it is compatible with 'Autolube' or injector pumps. Those bottles tend to have the consistency of liquid dish soap if shaken. A more viscous oil cannot reliably be passed through an injection system, although a premix machine can be run on either type.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-stroke_oil

From https://danalubes.com/two-stroke-oil/ It looks like the same guy wrote the wiki

Two-stroke oil (also referred to as two-cycle oil, 2-cycle oil, 2T oil, or 2-stroke oil) is a special type of motor oil intended for use in crankcase compression two-stroke engines. It is premium quality non-ash forming two-stroke motor oil. It is an SAE 40 oil which is pre diluted to SAE 20 for rapid mixing with petrol.


----------



## NRA_guy (Jun 9, 2015)

Thanks, po boy. I bet that has been done a lots.

Personally, I wouldn't use "used" motor oil because it's so nasty.

I might would use re-refined motor oil though.

I'm sure it gets well mixed in the tank. I do it in a gas can just to get the ratio close and to have a bunch ready to pour in when the tank gets low.

By the way, I usually add a little more oil than the engine specs call for. I figure it doesn't hurt.


----------



## NRA_guy (Jun 9, 2015)

Thanks HDRider.

Good info.

I am not sure I have ever seen ash buildup in an engine. I guess on the spark plug, maybe.

None of my 2-stroke engines have oil injection. I think that some outboard motors have gone to that.


----------



## po boy (Jul 12, 2010)

NRA_guy said:


> Thanks, po boy. I bet that has been done a lots.
> 
> Personally, I wouldn't use "used" motor oil because it's so nasty.
> 
> ...


He was using a weed eater and would give it a good shake after he added the oil.


----------



## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

I have a Old Wright saw my dad bought in the 1950's. A decal on the case says 1 quart of 30W oil per gallon of gasoline.
Seems that works out to some where around 30/32 to 1 ratio.

Today they sell a bottle of 2 strock oil to mix in gasoline at 50:1.
Enough to make up 5 gallons of mix will cost near 5.00 for the really expencive stuff from Huskvarna.

You can buy 2 stroke oil at any moter cycle shop, outboard motor dealer, snow mobile dealer, chain saw, string trimer leaf blower shop.

Lowe's carries the stuff as does Home Depot and Menards and Holiday gas stations.



Ash is today called carbon.

 Al


----------



## Zoomyn (Apr 12, 2019)

Using 2-strokes in sub-zero weather the oil flavor really stands out as often there will be a cloud of exhaust and the unburnt oil just fogs sinuses, throat and lungs - took a couple of years to find something that at worst was as benign as 'birthday cake candle smoke' - IIRC its poulon synthetic sold at wally-world; after using that and then trying Stihl's 2-cycle oil it was like huffing weed-killer spray compared...

In the past I've tried Mobil1 Synthetic in my lawn-boy - worked well as lubrication but the high temperature evaporation & flash point of synthetic made it smell like melting plastic or something worse and had raw oil fog being exhausted.

If I had work to do and no time to fetch the good stuff just the cheapest 30w dino-oil and don't mix more than would be used that day or weekend?


----------



## Nimrod (Jun 8, 2010)

Let's further complicate things. Oil designated TCW-3 is for water cooled engines like my 2 cycle outboards. They run cooler than air cooled 2 cycle engines like my chainsaw and weed whacker. I use oil specifically for air cooled engines in them. It's pricey but I don't use much in a season so cheap insurance.


----------

