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Have a 1986 Honda Fourtrax 350 since new, 30 years ago. Never any issues at all. Last week I changed the oil and filter. I used 5w 30 oil and the book says use 10w30 wt. Now after the change on first start up it will blow just a little smoke out the exhaust after setting idle for a day or two then nothing more. The oil is not over filled and I have never had this before. Any ideas?
Bill
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I'm betting the thinner oil is finding it easier to seep through various openings and has to be burned out on startup.
If it runs fine and doesn't foul the plugs I don't see a problem.
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Even though it is costly, replace the oil with the correct stuff, the 5w is lower viscosity cold and is getting past the rings/guides when the engine is first started. Causing a bit of unnecessary wear during startup as well.
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(09-14-2016, 06:30 PM)K. L McReynolds Wrote: Even though it is costly, replace the oil with the correct stuff, the 5w is lower viscosity cold and is getting past the rings/guides when the engine is first started. Causing a bit of unnecessary wear during startup as well.
^^^^This or put up with it until the next oil change. It really should not cause too much harm, the lower viscosity should flow out and lubricate at least as fast as the 10W, when cold (and obviously it should flow out and lube quicker, since its thinner at startup) and should not cause any more wear at startup than the higher viscosity oil. If you decide to keep the oil in, I would keep an eye on the level to see if the engine is really consuming any more than it did with the higher viscosity oil. If you find you need to add more lower viscosity oil than you did the higher, then I would say don't wait, change back, because the engine is worn to the point that you need the higher viscosity oil to keep it from burning too much at startup.
Paul
They were right, I SHOULDN'T have tried it at home!
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Ok thanks all. I will keep my eye on the oil level.
Bill
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Oil is getting past the valve stems/seals.
5w or 10w won't make any difference.
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(09-15-2016, 07:18 PM)daddo Wrote: Oil is getting past the valve stems/seals.
5w or 10w won't make any difference.
Exactly. The oil is the same viscosity at running temp and even starting temp unless it's winter there. The first number refers to the viscosity in cold(ie winter) temperatures. As it warms up it will thicken due to the use of viscosity improvers basically long chains that coil up or uncoil as the temp changes.
The best oil to use in lawn equipment is straight 30 weight unless it's used in cold weather. It has less viscosity improvers and as such is a better product in this application. Worked on mmowers way back then was an ase master tech for a while (didn't like it).
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Mr. Adams, I guess I did not make myself clear with the 1986 Honda. It is not a lawn mower. It is a 30 year old ATV purchased new in the day. The oil that I removed was in fact W30 and for 30 years never ever smoked one bit till last week when I replaced it with 5w-30. If its getting past the rings now with 5w30 it never did with the straight w30 summer or winter, cold engine or hot? I guess my best bet is to just drain out the 2 or so quarts and install w30.
Thanks Bill
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I think in a 30 year old engine, you're going to have to accept the fact that it is going to start smoking sometime and changing the oil won't fix it- it may possibly hide it if you're lucky.
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09-16-2016, 08:55 AM
(This post was last modified: 09-16-2016, 10:38 AM by fredhargis.)
No suggestions or opinion to offer, but I think it's great to have that still running (well, apparently) after 30 eyars. Honda makes good stuff!
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