what is the difference in marine gear oil vs regular automotive gear oil?

[Faztbullet]

Re: what is the difference in marine gear oil vs regular automotive gear oil?

[QUOTEI just wish they would have better explained exactly which mobile 1 gear oil they were testing, was it the regular or synthetic gear oil they used for the test. I would assume it was regular oil since non of the marine gear oils tested were synthetic.][/QUOTE]

Mobil one full synthetic lower gear lube and some that where tested were synthetic......

 

[limitout]

Re: what is the difference in marine gear oil vs regular automotive gear oil?

I just wish they would have better explained exactly which mobile 1 gear oil they were testing, was it the regular or synthetic gear oil they used for the test. I would assume it was regular oil since non of the marine gear oils tested were synthetic.

Mobil one full synthetic lower gear lube and some that where tested were synthetic......

thanks, where did you find that out? is there more info somewhere else?

I am puzzled how they can compare non synthetics to synthetics or synthetic blended oils and expect the results to mean anything since you aren't making a fair comparison if the oils are all different. I mean I guess its a comparison of whats out there for sale to be used but I would love to know how the synthetics compare against the other synthetics and the same for non synthetics or synthetic blended oils.

it stands to reason full synthetic oils are always best yet why aren't all marine gear oils full synthetic?

 

[limitout]

Re: what is the difference in marine gear oil vs regular automotive gear oil?

I picked up some quicksilver gear lube at walmart today (its the only marine gear oil they will stock) but it says nothing about if its full synthetic, synthetic blended, or regular oil other then a little notation about having "Extreme pressure synthetic additives" in it.

this is all of what the bottle says:

Quicksilver Marine Lubricants
High-Performance Gear Lube

Engineered to provide maximum protection for sterndrive and outboard lower units.
•Exclusive formula is engineered to provide extended gear life in extreme conditions including high-speed and high-horsepower applications.
•Extensively tested to provide excellent protection against corrosion and excessive wear.
•Specifically formulated to help prevent failures due to water entering the gear housing.
•Extreme pressure synthetic additives protect gears from metal to metal contact.
•Since no industry-wide standards exist concerning marine gear oils, it is essential to use products such as Mercury High-Performance Gear Lube which has been specifically designed and tested for marine applications.
•DO NOT mix with Mercury/Quicksilver Premium Gear Lube.
•Provides warranty protection for all Mercury MerCruiser sterndrive and Mercury, Mariner and Force outboard lower units.

 

[seahorse5]

Re: what is the difference in marine gear oil vs regular automotive gear oil?

Merc's High Performance gear lube, as well as the Evinrude HPF-Pro and the now discontinued HPF-XR, are a synthetic blend formula.

 

[steelespike]

Re: what is the difference in marine gear oil vs regular automotive gear oil?

I don't claim to know how Frank runs his motors but from the pictures it appears they are set up to run as fast as possible
probably at or near their maximum rpm and with somewhat exotic props.
I think that would say something about the Walmart oils.
I also think Franks motors are probably 25 to 40 years old.

 

[limitout]

Re: what is the difference in marine gear oil vs regular automotive gear oil?

I just like to see things spelled out in a very clear way and I tend to want it to come down to yes or no answers and it bugs me to have no real answer after showing test results. I hate it when things come down to "nobody shows why you need to buy the expensive oil but just use what the manufacturer tells you to anyway"

I cant help but to feel if the marine oils are synthetic "blends" then the non marine grade "full" synthetic mobile one gear oil that matched the results of all the other oils and even tested better then most, would be a better choice then the so called "marine" grade gear oils. at this point I feel I am using a less superior grade of oil just so it says "marine" on the bottle.

the only thing it keeps coming back to for me is there is no definitive answer about why marine oil is better so the consensus is just that nobody knows for sure if its better or not but why take the chance it isn't. all the "claims" by the "marine" grade gear oils are also the same claims made by the "regular" gear oils.

all that aside I doubt it really matters since any oil you use as long as it is the correct viscosity is going to provide the proper protection and lubrication you need.

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: what is the difference in marine gear oil vs regular automotive gear oil?

Well, I think you are making a big deal out of it and driving yourself crazy. Take a chill pill LOL.

You will find more opinions on oils and gasoline than Carters Little Liver Pills (Oooh, that's an old one)

My view is that it is a lot like going to the doctor: The doctor prescribes. Even though you have little to no medical training it is your body and you then investigate a little and get some information on the condition and the drugs you need.. You weigh cost/risk versus benefits and then do what you think is best for your circumstances.

So here, you have done your due diligence and found information that is readily available. Now it is time to pick an oil that you feel is best for your engine in terms of cost, performance, and simply what would make you feel most comfortable.

 

[dingbat]

Re: what is the difference in marine gear oil vs regular automotive gear oil?

Now it is time to pick an oil that you feel is best for your engine in terms of cost, performance, and simply what would make you feel most comfortable.

Cost has nothing to do with what's best for your engines performance. Any cost consideration would be a compromise

 

[limitout]

Re: what is the difference in marine gear oil vs regular automotive gear oil?

Well, I think you are making a big deal out of it and driving yourself crazy. Take a chill pill LOL.

You will find more opinions on oils and gasoline than Carters Little Liver Pills (Oooh, that's an old one)

My view is that it is a lot like going to the doctor: The doctor prescribes. Even though you have little to no medical training it is your body and you then investigate a little and get some information on the condition and the drugs you need.. You weigh cost/risk versus benefits and then do what you think is best for your circumstances.

So here, you have done your due diligence and found information that is readily available. Now it is time to pick an oil that you feel is best for your engine in terms of cost, performance, and simply what would make you feel most comfortable.

yep, I do over think things because it bugs me when things don't add up or don't make any sense. bottom line is I want to know WHY I am making the choices I make and not just do it because im told to.

everything I could find out about it and especially what I couldn't find (IE any special additives), tells me the "marine" classification part is all pure BS and there is nothing special or different about marine gear oil. now im not saying any gear gear oil will work because we all know there are lots of low quality lesser grades of gear oil out there.

IMO any high performance premium grade hypoid gl5 gear oil is all you need and it will give you all the same wear protections, anti foaming protection, and water suspension protection as well as water contaminated oil protection as the "marine" oils claim and yet there is still that 0.0001% chance that there really is some trade secret "special ingredient" in marine gear oils.

I will stuck with choosing "marine" oils until there is a test that looks into if "marine" oil vs regular oil to see if there really is anything special about it or not so I know for sure.

 

[limitout]

Re: what is the difference in marine gear oil vs regular automotive gear oil?

Cost has nothing to do with what's best for your engines performance. Any cost consideration would be a compromise

exactly, and that's the reason I care so much.

even though the outboard brand name oils do cost the most, and saving money helps, its most about the level of protection you are getting that matters not the price you pay for it.

there are no full synthetic "marine" gear oils (they are all "blends" (half and half) so a full synthetic like mobile one "should" be a much better oil and protect against wear better (if there is no secret ingredient in the marine oil) so that's why I am spending time trying to understand this topic.

 

[dingbat]

Re: what is the difference in marine gear oil vs regular automotive gear oil?

Being familiar with the tests they ran, I would have to question the validity of the results and the author's conclusions as it applies to the application.

You get very different results based upon the test conditions. I would have expected the synthetics and blends tend to perform better at elevated temps but as you can see, they fall short at "normal" operating temps.

Unless you know the operating pressures and temps of your gear case, the test result don't tell you which oil provides the best performance in a given situation

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: what is the difference in marine gear oil vs regular automotive gear oil?

Cost ALWAYS has everything to do with choice. NOTE that I said it was time to pick an oil THAT YOU FEEL is best.

Getting back to cost, all products are developed with a market in mind and that market demographic is partially defined by what the consumer is willing to pay. Supply and demand is partially driven by cost.

Now let all the marketing majors jump in and tell me how I am wrong.

ME? I am in the old and cheap demographic. I frequently see on TV advertisements aimed specifically at me.

The doctor analogy was perhaps a poor one: Most of us have health insurance and we don't care about costs--we just want the best doctor. HOWEVER: when it comes to health care cost, we do shop around for the perceived best deal, that is, if our employment allows us to do so. Some of us simply must settle for what we are given.

 

[limitout]

Re: what is the difference in marine gear oil vs regular automotive gear oil?

Cost ALWAYS has everything to do with choice. NOTE that I said it was time to pick an oil THAT YOU FEEL is best.

Getting back to cost, all products are developed with a market in mind and that market demographic is partially defined by what the consumer is willing to pay. Supply and demand is partially driven by cost.

Now let all the marketing majors jump in and tell me how I am wrong.

ME? I am in the old and cheap demographic. I frequently see on TV advertisements aimed specifically at me.

The doctor analogy was perhaps a poor one: Most of us have health insurance and we don't care about costs--we just want the best doctor. HOWEVER: when it comes to health care cost, we do shop around for the perceived best deal, that is, if our employment allows us to do so. Some of us simply must settle for what we are given.

yep, I would have to say, "cost doesn't matter" but then add the disclaimer "within reason" because we all keep a very close eye on the costs and look for the best deals even if we decide to buy the more expensive choice in the end.

Being familiar with the tests they ran, I would have to question the validity of the results and the author's conclusions as it applies to the application.

You get very different results based upon the test conditions. I would have expected the synthetics and blends tend to perform better at elevated temps but as you can see, they fall short at "normal" operating temps.

Unless you know the operating pressures and temps of your gear case, the test result don't tell you which oil provides the best performance in a given situation

I didn't like that either.

the test results "seam" to be saying regular oil is no different then synthetic blends and add to that the so-called "control" oil used was not specified if it was regular or the full synthetic version mobile one sells but if it was the synthetic, you would definitely expect it to surpass all the other oils in the friction tests yet during these tests with a full range of regular oil, synthetic blend oil, and full synthetic mobile one oil, they all came in averaging doing equally good and bad in the tests, that's why I am so frustrated by it all.

if you are testing synthetic blend oils, then you have to test only synthetic blend oils and then the test means something, the full synthetic version mobile one did well in the tests because it was full synthetic and that's what made it perform better then the 50/50 synthetic blended oils.

not all marine gear oils are synthetic blends so if the test is going to mean anything it MUST at the very least show the differences in regular vs synthetic blend oils and use a synthetic blend regular gear oil as the base comparison not a full synthetic. if need be, they could have even created one by using a 50/50 mix of the regular mobile oil non synthetic gear oil.

also there are regular oils in the test right next to the high performance synthetic blend gear oils and the tests show they worked just as good as the synthetic blended oils which does not make sense.

 

[limitout]

Re: what is the difference in marine gear oil vs regular automotive gear oil?

when you work a problem you are supposed to be able to come out the other side with a result and hopefully a solution but with this one we are still left with the same unanswered questions when its all said and done.

maybe someone will find a better test that give a better test result that actually show in more detail what you get with one oil over the other so you can tell if generics like super tech are all that different then manufacturer brand oils

it would be good to see the exact specific oils being tested too and not just a brand name mentioned since that can still leave some questions

 

[dingbat]

Re: what is the difference in marine gear oil vs regular automotive gear oil?

also there are regular oils in the test right next to the high performance synthetic blend gear oils and the tests show they worked just as good as the synthetic blended oils which does not make sense.

It makes sense once you understand that synthetics have their place, but not the best for most applications.

 

[tomhath]

Re: what is the difference in marine gear oil vs regular automotive gear oil?

also there are regular oils in the test right next to the high performance synthetic blend gear oils and the tests show they worked just as good as the synthetic blended oils which does not make sense.

It makes perfect sense. If regular oil is adequate, anything more is not helping.

 

[seabob4]

Re: what is the difference in marine gear oil vs regular automotive gear oil?

Buy the most expensive you can get your hands on. It has to be "better", right?

 

[limitout]

Re: what is the difference in marine gear oil vs regular automotive gear oil?

Buy the most expensive you can get your hands on. It has to be "better", right?

not according to the tests, they say all oil performs exactly the same so no need to buy the name brand pricey brand specific oils, according to the test results there is no difference.

 

[Lou C]

Re: what is the difference in marine gear oil vs regular automotive gear oil?

The problem with trying to extrapolate from testing data is that the tests are believed to correlate with certain wear patterns in the real world. However, how well an oil does in those tests and how well it actually works in a lower unit over the years may be two different things. Ten years ago, I went by the recommendation of my trusted local mechanic, he rebuilds lower units all the time and sees less wear on gears and bearings running Merc High Performance gear lube. So I've been using it in my Cobra for the last 10 years worth, no problems, very little to no wear particles on the magnet each year, runs as smooth and quiet as a new drive. Not saying the other oils would not work as well, but this guy has seen a LOT of taken apart drives.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: what is the difference in marine gear oil vs regular automotive gear oil?

I use Amsoil in my gear cases. I have been using it for years. It was recommended to me by many people running performance boats years ago. it is less expensive then the Quicksilver brands of oil, and about the same cost as walmart. However I know that the lab up in Superior Wisconsin actually tested their marine gear lube with 10% water added during the development.

Plus I just hate walmart