90cummins
Veteran Member
Disregard forgot this was already beat to death.
90cummins
90cummins
Need help picking correct oil for my 25 year old 19hp twin Generac generator
stormcom
Bronze Member
Valvoline racing oil is very high zinc. I run a 30 wt. (5w or 15w depending where in the country you are). I have a 26kw Generac.
OP
sixdogs
Super Star Member
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2007
- Messages
- 13,775
- Location
- Ohio
- Tractor
- Kubota M7040, Kubota MX5100, Deere 790 TLB, Farmall Super C
Sorry I missed this but no, I have not called Generac. I'll get a standard answer that I of don't deviate and all current oils are back-certified,, etc.
I did't see the need to after I found that old style higher ZDDP oil is now made for "off-road" use. I changed oi, used that and feel I'm either good or good enough. Again, sorry I missed your reply.
Last edited:
NYlumberman
Member
- Joined
- Dec 26, 2021
- Messages
- 47
- Location
- West Danby, NY
- Tractor
- Yanmar YT235, Kubota KX040-4, JCB 215T, John Deere 1545, Kubota RTV1100C,
The mills I maintained ran on big Cat gensets. The last one was a 1000HP 3512. All maintenance was scheduled on fuel consumption, not hours or dates. Makes good sense when you think about it. In 1998 I started using a Honda GX4 water pump to transfer water to…well that is really another story. I rigged a 6 gallon tank from an old portable generator to let it run continuously. The motor runs at 1/4 throttle. A full tank would run it for about 6o hours. I change the oil every four tanks, figure 50 gallons because I usually don’t let it run it of fuel. That is about 200 hours of run time. I use the cheapest 10-30 syn-blend I can buy, usually from Walmart but I have used Amazon basic as well. I put another 70 gallons of fuel through it this year, so far. The motor seems a bit down on compression and has started to use a little oil. Still starts on the first pull. I wrote to Honda to share my experience, but never got a reply. By my cocktail napkin calculation using 600 hours a year I now have in the neighborhood of 15,600 hours on a splash lubricated single cylinder air cooled engine (though since it’s a water pump there may be some additional cooling). My point is that oil levels, and oil changes are what is important. If your piece of mind requires a particular brand of oil, then that is what you should use. I use T6 10-40 in all my diesel engines. Mobil 1 5-30 in my pickup. And the 10-30 syn-blend in my gas powered mowers. So far, so good.
I used Mobil 1 5w30 for my Generac 17kw generator. At one point I bought some Traveler synth. 5w30 from TSC to save a few bucks. Put that in and it ended up burning off half a quart in 100 hours. I could smell it when it was running. Switched back to Mobil 1 and no more burn off or smell. Choose wisely.
grsthegreat
Super Star Member
Generac specifically says….no additives in oil. They told me to not use a zinc based breakin oil on new engine.
Flogger
Silver Member
I run Shell Rotella 15w40 in every aur cooled engine I own. In 35 years I have had 0 issues and the only engine I have had any issues with involved a nephew and running upside down. But that's a whole different story. Diesel engine oil has all the specs you need and will keep it cleaner.
DieselBound
Elite Member
For those wanting high ZDDP, Motorcraft Heavy Duty oil is the ticket: I use this in my 94 Cummins, 2013 Yanmar 3 cly in my Polaris, my 94 Kubota generator, my 2006 B7800 and my ALH TDI; it specs identically to the previous generation Shell Rotella T6, the CJ-4 spec (now CK spec).
