TC-W 2 Stroke Oil

[w2much]

Older feller gave me 4 cases of Shell 2 stroke motor oil. It is not TC-W2 . It is just TC-W . New old stock in plastic quart containers. Where can this oil be used. I am guessing it is from the 70's because of the plastic containers. It claims for outboards , motorcycles, snow mobiles, chain saws ect.

 

[ondarvr]

Nowhere, it's junk at his point.

 

[roscoe]

Send it to me, I'll use it.
My motors are from that era, and the oil is still good.

 

[82rude]

Nowhere, it's junk at his point.

Totally wrong.Used in vehicles made for same ok.http://www.valvoline.com/about-us/faq/general-motor-oil-faq

 

[82rude]

Im 100 percent with roscoe on this ,id use it without hesitation on my older motors .Do not use in motors that require tcw3.

 

[ondarvr]

Not only is it very old, and long past its "best if used by" date, but the same shortcomings of those old formulas will show up in old motors as new models, the reason those old motors are spec'd with that oil is because it was better than 30w motor oil, not because it was great stuff. There isn't anything different about newer carb?d two strokes than the old ones that would make one oil OK to use and another not, other than nothing better was available back then. The oils were improved over the years because they were lacking in some areas, the old ones were much dirtier and the old motors carbon?d up much quicker using them.

Oils break down over time and oxidize, so just that aspect of it makes it junk after all these years.

 

[82rude]

Its your right to believe what ever you want ondarvr,i chose to believe valvoline .Theres no documented expiration date on motor oils and a sealed container will not oxidize as its not exposed to oxygen.We will have to just disagree on this as im not changing my mind and your set in your opinion.Any time ive ever looked it up all i get is peoples opions not fact or documention on the subject at lest valvoline has put it in writing that theres no documented expiration date .Shake it up and make sure its mixed well and use .

 

[ondarvr]

Don't use the "being old" part of it then, use the fact these old TCW formulas had short comings and needed to be improved. Go back and look at the history of the TCW rating and why it went from TCW to TCW-2 and then to TCW-3. He's talking about the first TCW version, not the upgraded formulas.

I can't imagine using something that old and inferior just to save a couple of bucks.

 

[82rude]

Well i have no problems what so ever in properly disposing of the op,s oil in my 1939 evinrude.Or in any of my 1950,s motors either.:joyous: heck my lawnboy would love it im sure.This is one of those oil subjects we all love so much,nobody can agree,even the mfg,s dont see eye to eye on it.

 

[jbcurt00]

That about covers it:

Use it

Dont use it



Yep, oil topics...... :facepalm:

 

[gm280]

My $0.02 cents worth, old oil is way better then no oil. JMHO

 

[ondarvr]

I try to work off the best available information on a subject, stuff like this link on oil shelf life helps.

http://www.machinerylubrication.com/...t-storage-life

Tables 3-6 show what oil companies recommend. The recommendations do vary though.

They changed the TCW oil spec's because a better formula was needed even for the old motors, the lubrication needs of a carb'd 2 stroke outboard didn't change much from the mid 60's to recent years when carb'd 2 strokes went away, they just made the oils better, this resulted in cleaner burning and better lubrication.

Changes that did take place were the elimination of leaded fuel, it acted like a lubricant, plus E-10, old recommendations (oil spec's) didn't take these into account. Your old motor is now running on different fuel than it did a couple decades ago.

You could probably run most any carb’d 2 stroke on 30W motor oil and it would run OK, might smoke more, build up more carbon, plus a few other things, but it’s not like you would see an immediate failure and say it was the oil.

I see many posts on this site promoting the benefits of a good decarb periodically, and the potential issues if carbon does build up. The new oils are formulated to help prevent carbon build up, the old formulas did this less well.

People frequently confuse the base oil with the finished product, the base oil may have no real shelf life, the additive package is what can degrade over time.

 

[JoLin]

the reason those old motors are spec'd with that oil is because it was better than 30w motor oil, not because it was great stuff..

IMO, right on the money, along with the follow up comment that fuel formulations are also quite different then they were when that TC-W oil was in spec. Can the OP use it? Sure- he can use a variety of oils, all of which will 'work'. I wouldn't hesitate to use it in the in-laws' motors.

 

[82rude]

ondarvr most if not all outboards run on unleaded and have from day one.Gasoline was originally unleaded with lead being added in the later 1920,s when the higher compression engines started to come about starting with the chrysler redhead.Many people believe that older outboards are suppose to use leaded fuel but nothing can be further from the truth.All older outboards are concidered low compression ,my 39 speeditwin specifically states the use of unleaded fuel.I have an artical in woodenboat magazine that goes into great lenght about this and is written by one of the fathers of leaded gas.If anybody wishes i might be able to find the issue and give a date and issue number for it.

 

[jbcurt00]

Unleaded gas isnt the topic at hand

Continue to bicker and this oil topic will end like most:

CLOSED

Thank you

 

[jimmbo]

The TCW spec has been out of date for almost 30 yrs. It's your engine, you can use whatever oil you want. TCW, TCW-2, Olive Oil, Canola Oil, or Corn Oil. Your water cooled engines, with the exceptions of the DI engines, will do best on a GOOD TCW-3 oil.

 

[ondarvr]

The TCW rated oil was used with leaded E-0 fuel, not the current fuels, that's the oil/fuel combo I was refering to.

 

[82rude]

YEH in the 60,s when outboards got bigger and their compression inched up the only way to get high octane gas was leaded even though due to no valves unleaded would of been perfectly fine if the octane could of been higher for the day.I see where your coming from ,but for the mid to low hp motors unleaded was all that was ever required from the invention of the outboard to today.Historically eth never really started creeping into us gas till about the mid to late 70,s.Up here in canada i never even knew about eth gas till about 10 or 20 ago.

 

[ondarvr]

My comments have nothing to do with high octane fuel, all fuels had lead during that time period.

 

[jbcurt00]

Agree to disagree fellas, and move on :deadhorse:

Pending closure