Best oil for open 4 cycle

B

Bradley71

Member
Whats best oil to run in these motors.i been running thor heavy in animal stroker.motor builder told me blue power but i cant seem to find no blue power anywhere.maybe i misunderstood him on phone.
 
These threads tend to get long and somewhat argumentative, but I'll relate my own personal experience.

A few years ago myself, my son, and my neighbor built modified Animals to race on our local sprint/road course. We started out running some of the "other" brands of oil. Rod bearings, pistons, and cylinder wear seemed to happen fairly quickly. At first we didn't think much of it, thinking that's just the way it's going to be with modified engines. Then after sending a connecting rod through the block of one of them, we decided that oil might be the culprit, so we switched to Amsoil 4T. Since then, we've seen significantly less wear over the same period of time than we saw with the other oils. We regularly run our engines at 9000+ rpm.

I'm not throwing stones at any of the "other" oils, I'm just saying that we've had good results with 4T.
 
A thing to keep in mind is that these are splash oiled engines, versus pressure oiled engines.
One item that is different between the 2 is air entrainment and foaming, and that effect on lubrication and wear protection. Extreme performance high rpm racing engines make provisions to separate air from the oil to make best use of oils characteristics.
In a conversation with briggs, this was one talking point, although they could not point me to specifications listed to back their claims.
This makes sense based on changes to diesel oil specifications after foaming proved to be problematic for the power stroke engines. Diesel engine oils now have anti foam capabilities, making these a better choice. Until the zinc was removed in recent specs, they also had good antiwear characteristics, also good for our engines.
 
spincycle said:
I've been running valvoline 20w-50 in mine, I figure it's what many guys run in their high compression built stock car =late model engines, why not in a high compression push rod style kart engine?
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I wouldn't run a 50 wt oil in a splash system that oil needs to find its way there its not being pumped to key areas like a late model with a dry sump I run 0w20 I wouldn't go higher than a. 30wt.
 
MO Predator Racer said:
FHS 62R
Briggs 4T
Those are both good options. More people will come and chime in
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FHS 62 R is in my opinion the best oil for an open engine. Without any question. Changing any Oil in a open after every trip to the grid is important. Idling and parade laps are your enemy!
We had one race that the opens were placed on the track in running order, the the driver got into the karts, All karts were started at the same time and made two complete laps, then the green flag flew. Any one who had problems got off the track. Any cautions were only when some one was in a dangerous position on the track.
 
I think it was probably on Facebook, can't honestly remember...somebody made a side cover out of thick clear plastic, so you could see what is actually going on inside a 4cycle ohv engine when at high rpms, I'm no expert, but from what I remember seeing and kinda knowing the inside of a motor case, I can't believe there is any issue with the dipper not splashing oil around all needed areas, but again, I'm no expert....
 
I used power plus for decades with no signs of wear. full synthetic with zinc and my daughter is going to start racing this year and I'm going to use the same oil. Nothing better jmo
 
spincycle said:
I think it was probably on Facebook, can't honestly remember...somebody made a side cover out of thick clear plastic, so you could see what is actually going on inside a 4cycle ohv engine when at high rpms, I'm no expert, but from what I remember seeing and kinda knowing the inside of a motor case, I can't believe there is any issue with the dipper not splashing oil around all needed areas, but again, I'm no expert....
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While the oil can get everywhere, the quality of the lubrication (separation of moving metal pieces) is the more important factor.
Quality can be quantified by the percentage of air imparted at the wedge of oil separating the metal parts.
 
ECkarter said:
62r or a bean based Castor. These should be the only 2 considered for open 4cycle racing.
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I raced for years with cooking grade peanut oil and additives in methanol powered flathead engines. No failures, but a lot of work with minimal financial benefits.
 
I run FHS62R in all things methanol and have switched the gas motors to 4T plus an additive called Secret Sauce. According to the engine builder the Secret Sauce usage shows a measurable increase in HP on the dyno. I dunno but I do know that the 4T with the additive make the slipperiest oil I have ever felt.
 
spincycle said:
I've been running valvoline 20w-50 in mine, I figure it's what many guys run in their high compression built stock car =late model engines, why not in a high compression push rod style kart engine?
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Lol i agree with the thinking.i was thinking about schaeffers.they run it in 3000 hp drag motors.air cooled engines run same internals temps as a water cooled motor
 
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