Oil & Fuel What engine oil?

[Homebrew]

I'm coming up on my 1st 10 hours on my 425 and need to decide what oil to use. The specs page of the manual says 20W, 30W, or 10W30. The chart also shows other weights. Is there any reason not to use 10W40? Since there will be times when I'll likely use the PT during weather as hot as 95F, wouldn't 10W40 be better than 10W30?

Also, anyone want to recommend a brand, or does it really matter?

 

[Red Zebra]

I use 10w-30 synthetic (Wal-mart brand). It's $3.29 quart and I've had great success with it since they intoduced it years ago (i/e no enginge failures )

 

[woodlandfarms]

You are a brave man to ask oil questions here. This entire site has tons of opinions. From what I can generically glean, name brand is better than no name brand. Synthetic appears to allow the engine to operate at cooler temps (not huge but every degree helps). Weight is judged by when, where and how you operate. 5 weight is good for tough (cold) starting states. 50 weight is good for warm climates. If you plan to run 100 hours before the summer is out then I would go for a 20/50. If you are like me and 100 hours is your years use then I am going for a 5/30 at the moment.

I have been using Mobile 1 for a long time (cars) and will stick with it. I have no clue if it helps my engine, but I am now changing oil only at 10K miles....

 

[MossRoad]

I would follow the manufacturer's recomendation with dyno oil for break in, then switch to a synthetic, like Mobil1, after that.

 

[PTOuser]

MossRoad what is "dyno" oil and how long is the Robin 25 hp's break in period?? Used "detergent" multi-grade oil in my Gravely drag-u-behind (=2 wheel convertible). Anyone use detergent oil in the PT425?

 

[woodlandfarms]

dyno = dino... a tipo that should have not been a typo... Regular motor oil

I believe all oils have a detergent. I personally feel that a heavy detergent oil is not important to a new engine...

Do not know about break in....

 

[MossRoad]

dyno = dino... a tipo that should have not been a typo... Regular motor oil

I believe all oils have a detergent. I personally feel that a heavy detergent oil is not important to a new engine...

Do not know about break in....

Whoops. That's what I meant. Dinosaur oil ...keeps your dinosaur from squeekin'!

 

[MossRoad]

MossRoad what is "dyno" oil and how long is the Robin 25 hp's break in period?? Used "detergent" multi-grade oil in my Gravely drag-u-behind (=2 wheel convertible). Anyone use detergent oil in the PT425?

You need to go online somewhere and get yourself some manuals for your Robin engine. That's one of the first things I did with my Kohler engine. You will need those manuals for maintenance and troubleshooting in the future.

 

[Homebrew]

I received a manual for the Robin when I bought the PT. Terry told me to change the break-in oil at 10 hrs and said I didn't need to change the oil filter. The engine manual says to do the initial change of oil and filter at 20 hours.

 

[PTOuser]

I got the same info from Terry but "breakin" wasn't discussed Homebrew. Did he tell you that the end of break in period is 10 hours?? Also my 425 has a right angle adapter on it where the oil plug that doesn't show up on the Robin info. Their literature just shows a straight in plug. I'm guessing that's some sort of PT add on. If you've changed yours at 10 -12 hrs, does that have a easy open turn via your fingers rather than a wrench kind of a fitting. If not, what the heck's the right angle for?

 

[Homebrew]

PTOuser,
Yes, he said the break-in time was 10 hours. Note that the Robin manual says it is 20 hours. I take this to mean that the exact time isn't all that critical, but you just don't want to go to the full 50 or 100 hours or whatever the regular oil change interval is...I'm certainly no expert, that's just a guess. I only have a little over 7 hours on my machine so I haven't got to the oil change yet. However, I do have that right angle adapter. If you look close, there's actually a cap on the end of that fitting. At a glance, it looks like one solid unit, but it looks to me that you just unscrew the cap from the elbow, not the elbow from the engine. So the elbow just directs the oil down through the big hole in the PT frame.

 

[MossRoad]

I received a manual for the Robin when I bought the PT. Terry told me to change the break-in oil at 10 hrs and said I didn't need to change the oil filter. The engine manual says to do the initial change of oil and filter at 20 hours.

Since PT does not warranty the engine (Robin does), I would follow Robin's instructions. It will certainly not hurt to change the oil more often, but follow Robin's recommendations to ensure you are covered. Oil is less than 10 bucks and a filter is probably 5 or 6. A little money now VS problems later.

 

[MossRoad]

So the elbow just directs the oil down through the big hole in the PT frame.

Yep. You still will want to change the oil somewhere where you won't get upset by the possibility of spilling a few quarts. The reason is, sometimes fingers slip, drain pans tip, etc... I know.

Since you are talking engine oil change, I thought I would mention something about your hydraulic oil filter change that will happen every 50 hours. Be sure to read and understand the instructions about purging the air from the hydraulic pump before starting the engine after the hydraulic filter change. This is one of the most important things to keeping the PT running long. Starte reading up on it now and study your machine to get to know where everything mentioned in the instructions is. Don't wait until you are doing the hydraulic filter change to start wondering if you are doing it correctly.

 

[AndrewB]

Here are links to .pdf files for the operator's and service manuals for the Robin Subaru engine in the PT425's. They do, in fact, recommend changing the oil at 20 hours.

http://www.robinamerica.com/media/manuals/128479343386273090.pdf
http://www.robinamerica.com/media/manuals/128450737920567500.pdf