synthetic vs reg oil

[macadoodle]

I am changing the oil in my lawn mower with Honda engine. It calls for 10w30 or 30 wt oil. I was wondering if I could refil with some 5w-30 synthetic oil I have left over.

[jellowrestling]

Probably.

https://homeguides.sfgate.com/use-synth ... 81026.html

[jellowrestling]

I think single-grade oil is the best, but unless you're using it commercially or for a very large lot, I don't think it will matter that much. I used SAE 30 in my Honda commercial mowers (still do).

[jellowrestling]

Also, if you're going to do that, run the mower a bit before draining, to heat it up. You don't want to mix the regular and synthetic, and that will help drain it all out.

[crocmommy]

You mow your own lawn??

[macadoodle]

thanks for the opinions. I decided to go with "lawn mower" oil at the local ACE hardware. bought in 20 oz. bottle. This is probably the same as motor oil, just a marketing gimmic.
BTW. I found out that my brother-in-law has always used regular oil in his 2011 Platnimum Ford instead of the blended oil.
I have a 2011 Silverado and don't want to do that since Chevy recommends blended.
Thoughts?

[Mark]

I now run full synthetic in my '07 Silverado and in the wife's '15 Trax. I use 10w30 in both cases, even though the manufacturer recommendation is for a different weight. I'm not going to run 0w-anything or 5w-anything in my vehicles. I buy Walmart's full synthetic oil, which is about $16 for a 5 quart jug. I change the oil when the vehicle's engine oil monitor says to do it. I finally got past the 3000 mile oil change hang-up. That is no longer valid. The algorithm in the vehicle oil change monitor takes a lot of things into consideration, including run time, temperature, etc. That usually works out to about 6000-8000 miles between changes for the truck. In the case of the Trax, we don't put a lot of miles on it, so it flags an oil change after one calendar year. We finally hit 10,000 on the odometer last month.

In my '96 Chevy dually with the 454, I am using Rotella T5 15w40 semi-synthetic. This oil is designed for diesel engines, but it works great in gasoline engines, too. I use semi-synthetic because nobody makes 15w40 in full synthetic. I change the oil in this truck every spring, before my first camping trip of the season. That is generally about 1000-2000 miles between changes.

As far as lawnmowers go, many lawnmowers nowadays don't have drain plugs. I don't know if they intend for you to flip the mower over and drain the oil out the fill tube, or if they intend for you to never change the oil.

[macadoodle]

My owners manual says that 5w=30 is best for my Silverado and DO NOT use other weights. Sounds nit picky to me.
I have found that blended is hard to find at an oil change place and they say full synthetic is same price ?????..anyway whatever.
Re: lawn mower. mine has to be drained from the fill spout because it does not have a drain plug, which some mowers do.

[macadoodle]

Crocmommy.....yes, but with a self-propelled

[Mark]

The automakers spec that thin oil with the consistency of water because that helps them to achieve their EPA mandated CAFE fuel requirements.

Full synthetic oil is superior to blended oil.

Most automakers now specify 0w-something oil (usually 0w20), and the only way to get any kind of 0w-something oil is full synthetic.


Nascar teams qualify on 0w oil, and then switch to thicker oil for the race.