What's the best oil to use in a Merc?

[Timothy's crestliner]

While shopping at Canadian Tire for new oil for my Mercury, I found the Quicksilver stuff at 40 dollars for a 4 1/2 liter jug. I also found Motomaster brand for 23 dollars. The motomaster (canadian tire brand) is also Tcw-3 certified (whatever it means), same as the quicksilver stuff.

I find todays motor oils for cars are all the same. All must meet the same certification, and basically come out the same spout, and into different brand containers. Is this the same with 2 cycle outboard oil? Dad figured to go with the quicksilver stuff, and I agree, but I was curious as to how there could be a 20 dollar difference between brands with the same certification.

 

[green4themoney]

Re: What's the best oil to use in a Merc?

well this topic is debateable, yes the tcw 3 stuff is approved and will work for your motor (basically, its oil engineered today to combat the changes in the fuel over the years) so you could have went with either or, i use the castrol super outboard motor oil and it hasnt let me down yet, maybe the quicksilver is a little bit better, but you also have to wonder how much of the name you are paying for as well, but on the flip side having that brand name in a case like engine oil tends to give some piece of mind "the cheapest insurance against engine failure"

i think its more of a debate topic on using air cooled 2 stroke oil in outboards ... bottom line is, i think when it comes down to it, make sure it says "2 stroke or cycle outboard oil TCW-3" and i personally think you should be alright

 

[steam_mill]

Re: What's the best oil to use in a Merc?

I'm cheap and only ever buy outboard oil when it is on sale. 5 or 6 years ago, the motomaster ouboard oil was on sale, so I bought 4 jugs. At the time I was running a '72 50 hp evinrude and a '54 7.5 hp evinrude.

In 2003, I bought a brand new boat with a 90 hp 3 cylinder Mercury, oil injected. I decided to use the Quicksilver oil. It goes on sale at Crappy Tire about once a year and I just buy a couple of jugs.

So what's the difference?

There really shouldn't be any difference. However, last year I got a new 9.9 Mercury 2 stroke. I thought I had run out of the motomaster oil so I used the quicksilver. This year, I found 2 more jugs of the motomaster oil and began using it in the 9.9. I noticed an immediate difference! The motor tended to run a bit more smokier than with the quicksilver oil.

This leads me to believe that the motomaster brand oil may run a little dirtier. Does this mean anything though?

I figure with our limited boating season, the cost of the more expensive quicksilver oil is negligible. At most, I go through 1 to 1.5 jugs per year. So let's call it 10 litres of oil. That translates to 500 litres of gas at a minimum in my 90 hp. So roughly 100 hundred hours per season. That's around $600 in gas and $80 in oil. My savings by using the motomaster oil will translate to about $30 for the season.

When you are spending close to $700 in oil/gas, is $30 a significant difference? It is not for me.

So in the end, I choose to run quicksilver and buy it on sale which really translates to less than a $20 seasonal difference.

Just my opinion.....

 

[milehighboater]

Re: What's the best oil to use in a Merc?

I have a 99 merc 3cyl 2 stroke and have been useing the quicksilver and valvoline oils interchangably with no difference in performance. The valvoline is about 5 dollars a jug cheaper though. I run either one just depends where I am at when I buy a new jug. I think as long as you stick with a premium oil it doesn't matter. I wouldn't go with the cheapest oil though.

 

[emilime75]

Re: What's the best oil to use in a Merc?

I, for one, don't agree with the "it all comes from the same spout" theory. A friend of mine and I were at an auto parts store buying oil in order to do an oil change on his car. Looking at the choices in front of him, he wondered what oil to buy and asked if he should just go with the cheapest choice. Having a strong opinion on the subject but wanting to give him a chance to figure it out on his own, I told him he should open a few different branded bottles and take a look inside, then decide. The answer was evident once he realized how dirty the cheap stuff looked. It was dark, almost as dark as what came out of the drain plug and that to me means a poor job of refinement at the refinery. Some of the choices were a little murky, while a few were very clear. I can only imagine that 2-cycle oil is no different. The higher quality stuff is cleaner and more refined, leading to a healthier and happier motor in the long run. There is no way I would put the cheap stuff in any of motors, but that's not to say I would only use the most expensive just because "if it's more expensive it must be better" either. I feel that just because your motor runs using the cheap stuff, it doesn't mean it isn't doing damage and, at the very least, gunking up carbs and the like at a much faster rate then a better quality oil. But that's just my opinion.

 

[Timothy's crestliner]

Re: What's the best oil to use in a Merc?

These engines don't really go through that much oil anyways. First tank lasted at least 6-9 tanks of fuel, maybe more, we haven't run this motor much, but that'll change this month!!

Its just that we have thousands of high miler cars that use cheap oil no problem, I just thought todays oils are so much better than oils that used to be produced in the past, and the fact they all must meet a high standard for certification.

I run premium synthetic in all my cars, so I'm sure i'll fork over the extra $$ for the quicksilver stuff. I'm not rich, but I want to make sure my motors purr for a long time.

 

[steam_mill]

Re: What's the best oil to use in a Merc?

In my cars, I run different oils but always name brand. Again, it comes down to cost.

My daily driver is a subaru. Oil changes by me every 5000 km (3000 miles). I use regular dino oil, castrol, quaker state. Usually whatever is on sale. I will usually buy enough for a few oil changes. Car currently has over 230K. I did the same thing with all of my cars prior to this and never had any problems with the motors. However, I usually keep my cars for hundreds of thousands of miles. I end up getting rid of my cars due to age. My motors always run great and I never have rust (I oil spray yearly). It just seems everything else starts to go bad (like switches, alternators etc. etc.). Never a failure due to oil.

I also have an almost classic (will be 25 years old in 2010). It is a 1985 Mustang with 110,000 kms (66,000 miles). This car still has original paint. It only gets an oil change annually before storage. I only ever put about 3000 to 5000 kms annually. This car uses Mobil 1. Again, I buy it on sale. Only reason I'm running synthetic is mainly because the prior owner did, so I continued. Again, the synthetic is costing me $15 more annually. Could I use dino oil? Sure. But just in case....

If really should come down to preference. If you stick with a good quality oil, you should have no problems. Again, we are in Canada. Our motors just don't get used that much due to the short boat season.

Joe

 

[j_martin]

Re: What's the best oil to use in a Merc?

I run an old V6 XR4 like I'm mad at it. I run PennZoil full synthetic in it. It costs about what the Murkery oil costs, but is quite a bit better. In US, about $25 a gallon at Menards.

I have found out with much experience that good lubricants pay for themselves many times over in reduced maintainance.

hope it helps
John

 

[Marty Niner]

Re: What's the best oil to use in a Merc?

I just bought a jug of motomaster outboard oil....(on sale at CT).... my question is, can I mix it with the oil currently in my oil tank? I used Shell oil last season and there is still about a litre left in there.