Lucas Heavy Duty Oil Stabilizer

[Go-Rebels!]

I'm running a 50/50 mix of Lucas Oil Stabilizer + 10W-40 oil in my 1975 14hp single cylinder Kohler running in my Model 1450 Cub Cadet lawn tractor. I've been running the tractor once a week to cut a 1/2 acre lot and the oil burning has gotten excessive where I need to had half a quart 10W-40 every 3 hrs run time. I'm not willing to rebuild the motor and was wondering how high I can mix the % of Lucas to oil. Today with a 50/50 mix I can get 4-5 hours before adding another 1/2 quart of the oil mix.

 

[Lawnman23]

Piston rings are most likely shot. Does it smoke at all? If your not wanting to repair/rebuild, running heavier oil is about your only option to minimize oil loss.

 

[Go-Rebels]

Piston rings are most likely shot. Does it smoke at all? If your not wanting to repair/rebuild, running heavier oil is about your only option to minimize oil loss.

Yes, rings are likely worn out after 48 years continuous use. Yes, the engine moderately smokes. Because this is a splash oil system, will 100% Lucas fail to lubricate the top of the motor?

 

[Lawnman23]

Sounds like you run this in summer only for mowing? No winter/cold use?

Per Lucas, https://www.lucasoil.com/pdf/TDS_HD-Oil-Stabilizer.pdf 80% at most is recommended for mixing purposes. Could it be run 100%, sure, others may have an opinion on that, I don't have any personal experience to say otherwise.

Me personally, I would just switch to a 5w50 or 20w50 and accept that it will still smoke some and consume. Being a L-head, valve stems only get "lubed" via oil mist from a hot engine, not directly from splash/pump/lifters. Anything in the crankcase will get bathed in fluid regardless of what it is.

 

[Go-Rebels!]

Thanks! Yea, 20W-50 is another good choice to minimize consumption.

 

[PTmowerMech]

Is oil unstable? What's the actual purpose for a stabilizer?

 

[MParr]

Try a 20W50 without any additives.
You will need a rebuild, new engine, or a new machine in the future.