Sorry, non-motoring, but petrol engine content.
I've just aquired a two-stroke petrol strimmer, no manual or stuff but I've found it should run on 40:1 two stroke fully synthetic oil.
Is there anything to stop me using fully synth normal car oil - I've got half a container of Halfords stuff left over from the last car oil change.
cheers
Martin
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I'm not an expert but two stroke oil is designed to mix with and burn along with the fuel without gumming piston rings up.
So no- four stroke oil will not do.
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I wasna fu but just had plenty.
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Using 4 stroke oil in a 2 stroke engine might over time cause the spark plug to grow a carbon hair from the earth electrode to bridge the plug gap therefore stopping the spark.I don't know of any other problems.
GGH
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I used to run a SAAB 96 3 cylinder 2 stroke. Th dealer advice was one bottle of saab oil to 6 gallons, or 1 pint of straight 30 engine oil to 4 gallons. Not living close to a dealer, it lived on the 30 grade. It never siezed on me. I did find that Champion plugs were useless in it but Bosch were fine.
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Ah, the smell of castrol R! nothing like it
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I've run strimmers, chainsaws, lawnmowers etc with all kinds of oil - it doesn't seem to make much difference. If it were brand new I'd follow the makers recommendations until out of guarantee.
I think with 2-stroke it is the petrol/oil ratio that is most important. They vary, irritatingly, so if you have several machines you may have to make up separate cans with a different mix in each.
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i have ben told twice by garden equipment suppliers " we mix it all up to 30:1 then use it in everything". These are outlets that do a significant amount of repair and warranty work and i have had no reason to doubt their advice on other matters. The manufacturers recs seem to vary between 20;1 and 40:1 so it seems a good compromise.
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pmh (was peter)
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Hi,
Yes, that sounds like good advice Pmh. I have a rather fearsome Stihl hedge trimmer and in the instructions it says 50-1 mix using Stihl oil, 25-1 other 2-stroke oils. There can't be that much difference, can there? 50-1 seems weak to me, although that's what it's been run on for three years. I can't really see why the mix rate varies across engines. Yep, 30-1 sounds better by the minute.
Rgds.
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Sounds reasonable. But when my new strimmer went wrong the first thing I was asked was was I using the correct ratio. 25:1 used to be the norm, but this needed 30:1.
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Oh yes. Especially in a Beeza DB34 Gold Star circa 1957. But what a bitch to flush out and put regular lube back in.
Personally with a strimmer or similar I'd put any old oil in, you won't break it. I run my electricity generator where I live (we get the occasional power outage here in the tropics) on our used car/motorcycle oil. Never had a problem and sometimes she runs round the clock.
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Except Castrol R, and a recently Gunked hot engine.
I remember some guy back in the ?60?s who raced small two-strokes and theorised the less oil, the more petrol could be sucked in. (20:1 = 5% oil, 40:1 = 2.5% oil a 2.5% increase in petrol). He was running 100:1 and more extreme before they made one big bang.
I also recall the problem with road vehicles was on the overrun when only tickover amounts of fuel/oil were being sucked in but revs could be quite high ? not a problem with garden machinery.Ah, the smell of castrol R! nothing like it
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Martin,
I used to work for Castrol and without going into all the gory details you're just gonna have to trust me on this one, Don't under any circumstances use oil designed for a 4-stroke engine in a 2-stroke (and visa-versa), you will do some serious damage. It will result in unsually heavy ash deposits which will cause pre-ignition, the other problem is that you'll stick the piston rings quite rapidly,
John
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Hmmm, lots to consider. As it's new (but unboxed and no intructions - "when it's gone it's gone" from Focus) I think I'll treat it to the right oil for the running in perio at least. It's not as if it's going to be using liters of oil.
Reminds me of the old days of my Aerial Arrow two stroke bike of the past - loud enough to wake the dead and followed by a cloud of blue smoke.
thanks all,
Martin
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Due to the high operating revs of these engines thus the ring tip temperature, normal oil burns and carbonises reather that lubes properly. I would only use two stoke oil in my gear. Regards Peter
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martint123
Use 2 stroke oil. The problem with using 4 stroke engine oil is that it's got a whole package of additives in it designed to allow it to operate in an engine for thousands of miles. These include foam reducers, anti acid components, additives to keep dirt in suspension etc, etc None of these are needed in a two stroke, where what you want is a clean burn. In time they could produce deposits resulting in problems in the two stroke.
JS
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I'd stick with two-stroke oil, is it worth risking a huge repair bill for the sake of a few quid?
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