2 Stroke Gear Oil vs engine oil

jonyskids · Post by **jonyskids** » Sat Mar 01, 2014 5:52 pm

Are both the engine oil (that goes in under the seat on a buddy 50) and gear oil that needs to be changed after 200 the same?

I am looking for a good brand for both locations and if they are the same.

Thanks,

Jon

PeteH · Post by **PeteH** » Sat Mar 01, 2014 5:54 pm

Not the same. 2T engine oil is just that: lighter, mixed readily with the fuel, and burns. Gear oil is heavier and is meant to lubricate the final drive gears. Your manual (or your dealer) can steer you right.

TVB · Post by **TVB** » Sat Mar 01, 2014 9:02 pm

The engine oil is a quart every several-hundred miles and gets burned up. The gear oil is is just a little bit and changed at service intervals. Different oils for different purposes.

Some people swear by high-end synthetic engine oil, but I generally buy Valvoline multipurpose 2T off the shelf at my grocery store. I put 22K on my Buddy 50 on without any engine problems. At that point it developed a crack in the piston which required a partial rebuild, and it's possible that better oil would've served me better... I don't know.

kmrcstintn · Post by **kmrcstintn** » Mon Mar 03, 2014 11:42 pm

gear oil is for the rear differential and has additives to resist shearing while lubricating the teeth of gears meshing together; owner's manual calls for an S.A.E. 140 weight while the service manual calls for a multigrade like an 85w-140 or 75w-140 (full synthetic); the multigrade has better flow characteristics in colder temperatures (not as thick) and offers the protection level of a 140 weight gear oil at normal operating temperatures

two-stroke engine oil can be confusing with the different types and purposes; to keep it simple, do not buy straight pre-mix for the system on the Buddy which is an injector system...pre-mix has to be mixed directly in the fuel tank with the fuel while an injector system combines the oil and gas in the carburetor before being introduced into the engine; there are oils that are multipurpose that can be used for pre-mixing or injection systems; these are divided into 2 major classifications based upon intended use...water cooled engines vs air cooled engines;

the next area deals with TCW-3 (or 'marine' 2-stroke oil)...these have additives that work best in temperatures seen in water-cooled, water-submerged engines (watercraft), but the same formulations are often marketed for snowmobiles which operate in low ambient air temperatures; these are often labeled as 'ashless' formulas

the 2-stroke oils that are best suited for the air-cooled engines in scooters are marketed for 2-stroke motorcycles and scooters and have additives that work best in the higher temperatures that these engines generate; these might be labeled as 'low ash' formulas

a good rule of thumb is to stay away from pre-mix oil marketed for ourdoor power equipment (chainsaws, weed, whackers, leaf blowers, etc) since the base oils are thicker and are meant to be mixed directly with gasoline prior to the gas being poured in the gas tank of the equipment being used;

some scooter owners have used multipurpose premix/injector formulations (labeled as TCW-3) with good success in their scooters, but others feel that 2-stroke motorcycle/scooter formulations work better over the long haul;

I'm not a proponent of synthetic vs mineral for which one is best; it is often best not to mix synthetic & mineral oils in the same tankful of oil; same thing for different brands of synthetics since the base oils might not mix well together;

sometimes we can overthink the subject...I used to own a Stella 2T that leaked when Amsoil synthetic 2T oil was used, but didn't leak when BelRay mineral 2T oil was used after the oil tank/oil line/carburetor was drained and cleaned; prior to that I had a Rattler 110 2T that did fantastic on the same Amsoil synthetic 2T oil; sometimes the equipment chooses what it wants to use!