Motor Oil ????

[Big Al O]

Have a 2021 ZT Elite with the Kohler engine. The oem motor oil is Kohler 10w30 semi synthetic/ blend. thinking about using full synthetic 10w30. any opinions out there regarding this?

 

[tgzzzz]

Yes, there are as you'll soon see.

 

[7394]

Go for it.. The oil threads do tend to have extremes in different directions.
It is certainly better oil, imo. but is it worth the extra $$, your decision..

 

[tgzzzz]

I'm on another forum and a pro said the only oil-related failure he'd seen was the absence of oil.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Have a 2021 ZT Elite with the Kohler engine. The oem motor oil is Kohler 10w30 semi synthetic/ blend. thinking about using full synthetic 10w30. any opinions out there regarding this?

If it came new with synthetic oil then the assumption is it was designed to run synthetic oil
Down side is it still needs to be changed every season unless you put a stirrer in the sump when it is not in use so it becomes very expensive very quickly .
What I always say what goes in is no where near as important as how often it comes out .

 

[tgzzzz]

Oil change yesterday on my 100 hour Bad Boy with Briggs 19. Gotta luv the access to all things mechanical.

 

[Big Al O]

If it came new with synthetic oil then the assumption is it was designed to run synthetic oil
Down side is it still needs to be changed every season unless you put a stirrer in the sump when it is not in use so it becomes very expensive very quickly .
What I always say what goes in is no where near as important as how often it comes out .

Came with a blend / semi synthetic, I'm thinking a full synthetic may be better for the air cooled motor?????

 

[tgzzzz]

I like these oil threads! I've just reread my manuals. The Briggs manual says my engine will like SAE 30 which matches up with everything I grew old with. My current oil is B&S SAE 30. The Bad Boy manual sez 10W30. And in very small print: "BB Synthetic Blend ... recommended." I live in hot country. Both my mowers get SAE 30 and my 11 HP Universal diesel on the boat: Rotella SAE 30. Now that my car has over 100k ... I'm going from 10W-30 to straight 30 next change. I took that little side road, and the modern world passed me right by.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Came with a blend / semi synthetic, I'm thinking a full synthetic may be better for the air cooled motor?????

It makes no difference other than the fact that engines designed to run on full synthetic often have tighter clearances & smaller oil galleries.
This is because synthetics wet better and flow better .
While I doubt this is the case when you are talking about an engine that is built down to a price because precision = expensive

 

[StarTech]

I would recommend on the vehicle with lots of miles to use an oil with a moly additive especially if you got over 200k miles on the engine. It will rebuild the wear surface of the bearings and give you better oil pressure.