New Kholer Synthetic oil for Kohler engine in B27i

[awkerper]

Reading through the 2021 manual, the B27i is now coming from the factory with Full Synthetic Kohler Pro 10W-50 motor oil (the engine is a Kohler 27 horse fuel injected model). The specs say you can go 300 hours between oil changes. The filter plus 2Q of oil are being sold at Tractor Supply for $45.
What are everyone's thoughts on following those recommendations?

If you know what the specifications are for the oil, such as the API service rating or any other special additives that need to be in it, then any brand of oil that meets those specifications should be fine. If you do not know the details of the specifications, then I would follow what the manufacturer suggests to be on the safe side, especially during the warranty period.

 

[fixit1ddh]

You guys not using Slick 50 are missing out. Don't even have to put any oil in the pan anymore. Sucker is so slick, when you turn the key off, the engine keeps running. At least another 80hp at the tire tread. LOL

slomo

Yea My Son's blazer blew the rear seal. It had slick 50 in it, made it 200 feet before the 4.3 locked up tight on mains & spun. SNAKE OIL!

 

[Scrubcadet10]

I would like to think, buying Kohler oil, it would be formulated for their engines, regardless who makes it. They put their name on it so any failures would look bad on their part.

300 hours is roughly 12 times more than a typical push mower sees in a season. Push mowers hold less oil than a 0 turn. Plus 0 turns mostly run filters. Still these are air cooled and run pretty hot. It takes about a minute to reach full operating temp.

So called synthetic oil will break down just like dino oil. Don't know where you heard this misinformation from. It's not so much the base stock but the additive pack is what suffers. Every oil out today has some form of additives.

That Mobile 1 test was a sales gimmick. 1 million hours......... COME ON MAN (Sleepy Joe Biden). Won't even go into that so called "test".

slomo

i had Kohler CV16 with hydraulic lifters, i changed the oil with Castrol 10W30, lifters started ticking. Went back with Kohler Synthetic blend, 10w30, lifters stopped ticking.

 

[Hammermechanicman]

i had Kohler CV16 with hydraulic lifters, i changed the oil with Castrol 10W30, lifters started ticking. Went back with Kohler Synthetic blend, 10w30, lifters stopped ticking.

That wasn't lifter ticking. It was a blown head gasket?

 

[Hammermechanicman]

I was given a 3/8" Sparta ratchet and socket set a LONG time ago. I still have it.
Back then, Sparta was considered one of the cheaper tool brands on the market.
I doubt if you can even buy one of equal or better quality now.

Let the mud fly.

Back on topic: All oil is good; some is better than others. My brand is better than your brand.

I have a 1/2" ratchet i got from my father wben he worked as a millwright for the CCC during the depression. It is Indestro Super brand. Beats the crap out of the Crapsman ratchets i have.

My oil is better than your oil.

Back buried in the barn i found a case of Castrol GTX 10w 40 that is SF rated. I wonder how many years that stuff has been back there? I have about a dozen bottles of boat oil that is TCW2 rated and a few before the TCW rating. Gotta quit being a packrat.

 

[slomo]

i had Kohler CV16 with hydraulic lifters, i changed the oil with Castrol 10W30, lifters started ticking. Went back with Kohler Synthetic blend, 10w30, lifters stopped ticking.

As you found first hand, Castrol is NOT what it used to be. Now days it's at the bottom of the pile.

I know, that's all I run in my Olds-mo-Dodge with 320k miles......... Forgot to mention it's on its 6th engine and 12th starter. LOL ?

slomo

 

[footballfan33]

I would like to think, buying Kohler oil, it would be formulated for their engines, regardless who makes it. They put their name on it so any failures would look bad on their part.

300 hours is roughly 12 times more than a typical push mower sees in a season. Push mowers hold less oil than a 0 turn. Plus 0 turns mostly run filters. Still these are air cooled and run pretty hot. It takes about a minute to reach full operating temp.

So called synthetic oil will break down just like dino oil. Don't know where you heard this misinformation from. It's not so much the base stock but the additive pack is what suffers. Every oil out today has some form of additives.

That Mobile 1 test was a sales gimmick. 1 million hours......... COME ON MAN (Sleepy Joe Biden). Won't even go into that so called "test".

slomo

The b27i is a Walker zero turn with a 27 horse, fuel injected, Kohler engine, not a push mower. Does that change your analysis?

 

[footballfan33]

If you know what the specifications are for the oil, such as the API service rating or any other special additives that need to be in it, then any brand of oil that meets those specifications should be fine. If you do not know the details of the specifications, then I would follow what the manufacturer suggests to be on the safe side, especially during the warranty period.

My thought is that I would have to contact Kohler directly. But I didn’t read all the literature that came with the Walker yet. I was just trying to accumulate the oil, oil filter, air filter, fuel filter, etc that I would need in the first 2-3 years of ownership.
Would the oil specs be in one of the manuals? And can one trust the specs provided by oil manufacturers?

 

[bertsmobile1]

First of all, Kohler doesn't make oil, synthetic or fossil, so buying Kohler oil is just adding a mark-up on the price.. 300 hours isn't a long time, I think I'd be OK with that because syn. oil does not break down. Years ago a test was performed with Mobil 1 vs standard Mobil oil using NYC taxis. I don't remember how many miles they got on the regular oil before lubricity failed due to molecular breakdown, but the test was stopped after 1 million hours and there was no change to any of the measured parameters of the Mobil 1. I've stuck with synthetics ever since. Remember, every time you use a wrench on any machine you introduce a failure mode that didn't exist before, such as a filter with stress cracks. For that reason I rarely perform any maintenance early.

You seem to have a picked up a few misconceptions about exactly what synthetic or semi synthetic oil really are .
Oil is a complex blend of hydrocarbons.
Some are gas some are liquids & some are solids .
The normal refining process just removes bits till you end up with what you can use , which might include a pile of bits you don't really want but make little difference to the operation of the fuel / oil / wax / gas / tar that you are trying to make
Synthetic processing does the same thing the opposite way by braking the crude down into all of its parts then blend only the bits you want to be there back together.
Now if you used the synthetic or a pure synthetic then some of its properties are substantially enhanced over a standard refined oil.
However that does not happen because synthetics, just like normal refined oils does not have all of the desired properties so a package of addatives has to be added or it would go off a lot faster than standard oils because it is in a substantially higher energy state.
Just the same way as iron, or copper corrode because they are in a higher energy state than their oxides .
The big difference is standard oil is at a purity level of around 98% , semi synthetics are 99% & fully synthetics are 99.9% pure .
Just like gold, 98% is expensive, 99 % is more expensive & 99,9% is even more expensive & if your pockets are deep enough or your research budget is big enough you can get 99.99% and 99.999% .
Any way synthetic still break down & oxadise just like standard oils do and every other refined material, it is the first law of thermodynamics & to date is yet to be proven wrong .

Fully synthetics are a slightly different case as they are made by reacting one of the gasses , that has been removed from crude oil during refining and then reacting with ammonia to make an oil , some are made from natural gas that has been refined but the process is the same.
Fully synthetics start life a bit cleaner than semi synthetics but again are useless for use in an engine without the addative package.
And this package will be consumed during use rendering the oil useless just the same as it happens with standard oils , but because the oil has less impurities in it , the oxidization &/or decomposition takes longer.

Now synthetics cost 3 to 4 times more than standard oils to make so a lot of total tosh has been published by oil companies to make people believe that they are worth the extra money.
In 90% of the uses there is no advantage whatsoever , and mowers are the perfect example of this so using synthetics in a mower is throwing money away.
Then again people will happily buy lottery tickets .
In a hydro drive their superiour properties & in particular superiour cleanliness is a big advantage .

Because of the brain washing that the oil companies have done , and don't forget the "fakes" who join forums like this to sing the praises of synthetics , and on face book & you tube and anywhere else where the brain dead easily brainwashed congregate , engine makers have to specify synthetic oils to "prove" that their engine is better than every one elses .

IF you are building a high precision high performance engine that is trying to extract 10 tenths of the available energy in the fuel then yes the extra money is worth it.
If you are running an engine with a lot of easily damages sensors like top end direct injection engines then the cost is justified to protect the engine sensors.
In a basic mower engine that is making 5Hp / litre they are a joke .

And if you are wondering why any one bothered to make synthetic oil in the first place, it was a by-product of the research for converting gas into petrol which was designed to reduce the USA's dependence on middle eastern oil .
Because the oil is cleaner then the exhaust is "cleaner" if you use synthetics so the EPA can enforce tighter emission controls which is one reason why zinc levels in oils are being lowered .

 

[Franklin Wilkinson]

Good to know. What is a the shelf life of synthetic oil?

Synthetic oil is in Vehicles, can go 15,000 miles or longer. In a Lawnmower could be once a year or longer. I have it in all of my equipment.