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Oil & Plug Opinions

I can't think of any reason not to use synthetic other than the cost and
this cost is of no consequence in the normal boaters budget. The loads these
automotive engines are running under in boat duty is much greater than in
the usual car or truck, so use the best oil you can find, i.e. name brand
synthetic. That said, most any good oil will do fine as they have in the
past, but why not use the best. That's my two cents.
Spark plugs? use what they recomend.

--
Ron White
My boatbuilding website is:
www.concentric.net/~knotreel

Oil & Plug Opinions

Synthetic oil is definitely much better than conventional oil. My boat has
a Volvo engine and I use nothing but synthetic in the engine and in the
outdrive. I also use nothing but synthetic in my truck.

The way I see it, if you take care of it, it will take care of you.

Frank

"Bear" wrote in message
om...
(Bear) revised earlier message
. com...

'97 Chapparal w/ a Volvo-Penta 5.7L Carb w/ SX Outdrive

Questions:

1) Volvo pushes synthetics for crankcase and outdrive, yet all the
boat places around me (Austin - San Antonio) said to use regular
20w-50 motor oil in crankcase and non-suynthetic in outdrive...
Of course they said to change every 100 hours or per season.
Experience / Opinions?

2) Any thoughts / experience on spark plugs for this motor???

Thanks!

Oil & Plug Opinions

Volvo does not make any oil, synthetic or conventional. Statements like
"synthetic is definitely much better" are meaningless. Synthetic lubricants
have properties which make them a better choice for certain applications. If
the application does not take advantage of these properties, there is nothing
to be gained by using them. One of their greatest attributes is a more
linear temperature vs. viscosity curve. There is a misconception that
synthetics are simply higher quality. This is not the case.

"Frank Taylor, Jr." wrote:

30 wt refers to the viscosity charactersitics of the oil. It can still be
either conventional or synthetic. As a matter of fact, Volvo makes a
straight 30 wt synthetic oil for its marine engines.

"WaIIy" wrote in message
...
On 16 Dec 2003 17:09:51 -0800, (Bear) wrote:

(Bear) revised earlier message
.com...

'97 Chapparal w/ a Volvo-Penta 5.7L Carb w/ SX Outdrive

Questions:

1) Volvo pushes synthetics for crankcase and outdrive, yet all the
boat places around me (Austin - San Antonio) said to use regular
20w-50 motor oil in crankcase and non-suynthetic in outdrive...
Of course they said to change every 100 hours or per season.
Experience / Opinions?

2) Any thoughts / experience on spark plugs for this motor???

Thanks!

Hmmm, the people I talk to in Ohio say to use straight 30 wt in my 1989
5.7.

Oil & Plug Opinions

"Frank Taylor, Jr." wrote in message
...
Synthetic oil is definitely much better than conventional oil. My boat
has
a Volvo engine and I use nothing but synthetic in the engine and in the
outdrive. I also use nothing but synthetic in my truck.

The way I see it, if you take care of it, it will take care of you.

Frank

I have been driving for 34 years and boating for 14 years. I have never used
synthetic oil.

I have never had an engine failure except one raw water cooled inboard that
corroded out after 6 years and 1300 hours in salt water.

What would synthetic oil have done for me during all that time except cost a
lot of money?

Oil & Plug Opinions

WaIIy wrote:

I understand that, I was wondering about 20-50 vs 30wt

Stick with your KY, Wally. You don't want to break the soda bottle.

--
Email sent to is never read.

Oil & Plug Opinions

It would have made your engines last longer than they they did with
conventional oil.

I've never had and engine failure either. That's not the point. The point
is, do you want your rings and bearings worn out and ready for the junk yard
at 150,000 miles or at 500,000 miles.

"-v-" wrote in message
om...

"Frank Taylor, Jr." wrote in message
...
Synthetic oil is definitely much better than conventional oil. My boat
has
a Volvo engine and I use nothing but synthetic in the engine and in the
outdrive. I also use nothing but synthetic in my truck.

The way I see it, if you take care of it, it will take care of you.

Frank

I have been driving for 34 years and boating for 14 years. I have never
used
synthetic oil.

I have never had an engine failure except one raw water cooled inboard
that
corroded out after 6 years and 1300 hours in salt water.

What would synthetic oil have done for me during all that time except cost
a
lot of money?

Oil & Plug Opinions

Well, I'm not sure what that quart of "Volvo Duraplus Synthetic Oil" is that
is sitting right in front of me as I write this message is but it sure looks
like synthetic oil to me. I suppose that it could be manufactured by some
other company and Volvo just puts their name on it.

You are correct, that the temperature characteristics of synthetic oil are a
big advantage of synthetics but it goes much further than that. The
molecular structure of synthetic oil is also much more consistent than that
of conventional oil. Consider this analogy:

Lets say you have a bunch of steel balls of all different sizes and you
thrown them down on a concrete floor and then throw a board on top of them
and step on it. As you surf across the steel balls on top of the board, you
are really only ridinng on the large balls. The surfaces on these few balls
will soon wear down and the ride becomes rough. This is how conventional
oils works.

Now you do the same thing with another bunch of balls that are all the same
exact size. Since they are all the same size, the board rides evenly across
all of the balls at the same time. Since all of the balls are supporting
the board, they do not wear down nearly as quickly and the ride starts
smoother and stays smoother for much loinger. That is what synthetic oil
does.

Yes, synthetic oil is more expensive but it's cheaper than a new eingine.

Frank

"Jim Kelly" wrote in message
...
Volvo does not make any oil, synthetic or conventional. Statements like
"synthetic is definitely much better" are meaningless. Synthetic
lubricants
have properties which make them a better choice for certain applications.
If
the application does not take advantage of these properties, there is
nothing
to be gained by using them. One of their greatest attributes is a more
linear temperature vs. viscosity curve. There is a misconception that
synthetics are simply higher quality. This is not the case.

"Frank Taylor, Jr." wrote:

30 wt refers to the viscosity charactersitics of the oil. It can still
be
either conventional or synthetic. As a matter of fact, Volvo makes a
straight 30 wt synthetic oil for its marine engines.

"WaIIy" wrote in message
...
On 16 Dec 2003 17:09:51 -0800, (Bear) wrote:

(Bear) revised earlier message
.com...

'97 Chapparal w/ a Volvo-Penta 5.7L Carb w/ SX Outdrive

Questions:

1) Volvo pushes synthetics for crankcase and outdrive, yet all the
boat places around me (Austin - San Antonio) said to use regular
20w-50 motor oil in crankcase and non-suynthetic in outdrive...
Of course they said to change every 100 hours or per season.
Experience / Opinions?

2) Any thoughts / experience on spark plugs for this motor???

Thanks!

Hmmm, the people I talk to in Ohio say to use straight 30 wt in my
1989
5.7.

Oil & Plug Opinions

It seems that for some boats (at least mine anyway) 30 wt is preferred over
multi-viscosity oils, but if you cannot find 30 wt, then 20-50 works well.
Whtever you do, you want to check your manual and see what is allowed. My
manual says that 20-50 is okay and even 10-40 is okay. It also recommends
synthetic oil over conventional oil. Using conventional oil will not void
the warranty though.

Sometimes I cannot find 30 wt in a synthetic so I will use a 20-50 synthetic
instead of going to a 30 wt conventional because that will protect my engine
better.

"WaIIy" wrote in message
...

I understand that, I was wondering about 20-50 vs 30wt

On Wed, 17 Dec 2003 18:19:40 -0500, "Frank Taylor, Jr."
wrote:

30 wt refers to the viscosity charactersitics of the oil. It can still
be
either conventional or synthetic. As a matter of fact, Volvo makes a
straight 30 wt synthetic oil for its marine engines.

"WaIIy" wrote in message
.. .
On 16 Dec 2003 17:09:51 -0800, (Bear) wrote:

(Bear) revised earlier message
.com...

'97 Chapparal w/ a Volvo-Penta 5.7L Carb w/ SX Outdrive

Questions:

1) Volvo pushes synthetics for crankcase and outdrive, yet all the
boat places around me (Austin - San Antonio) said to use regular
20w-50 motor oil in crankcase and non-suynthetic in outdrive...
Of course they said to change every 100 hours or per season.
Experience / Opinions?

2) Any thoughts / experience on spark plugs for this motor???

Thanks!

Hmmm, the people I talk to in Ohio say to use straight 30 wt in my
1989
5.7.