Truck camper generator oil type/Built in or small portable.

[jaycocreek]

What oil are you guys using in your generators that you use with your truck camper?

I have been using Honda oil in mine but it is hard to find if you don't have a nearby dealer..I used Onan oil in my Onan gens and I had to buy it by the case to have it on hand in the places I lived..

So what is a good oil that meets all the spec's of a small portable generator that we use for our truck campers that is equal to Honda or Onan oil and does it have to be 4-cycle oil?

[Grit_dog]

So Kayteg and jayco, your last posts, respectively, support exactly what I said earlier and in my last post.
Go get ya a jug of 15W40 from wherever has it on sale and it will basically be the best oil you can run in a small engine.

My "primitive" commercial mowers 25-30 years old that get one oil change a year and run great would agree with this.

[Grit_dog]

Kayteg1 wrote:

You should know that diesel and gasoline engines produce different acids as result of combustion and the designated oils do have different antacids.
If you use diesel oil in gasoline engine, the result will be similar to mixing wrong whiskeys.

While that is true in theory, it is mostly not true in the compatibility of "most" diesel "C" rated oils as most are also "S" rated.
Generally diesel oils had or have more detergents which is true can "wash down" surfaces that diesels can tolerate due to diesel fuel having more lubrication properties than gasoline. Also diesel oils were the last hold out for high ZDDP levels which as we know are bad for gasoline catalytic converters, but most newer diesel oils are compatible with SM or SN ratings with a limitation on zinc content.

Bottom line, it's mostly a non issue to use C rated oils in spark engines and 100% not an issue in small engines without catalyst emissions systems.

[jaycocreek]

My generators also get home use when power goes out as well as many more here I assume...I have always thought oil is very important,if not the most important in engine longevity..Back in high school with our hotrods,most every one used the best oil,never house oils for the hard use they got...

Example from bob is the oil guy..

I have posted many times on this subject. Having seen (and fixed) many portable generators fail on dino 5-30 I suggest a synthetic of slightly higher viscosity.

Florida heat is tough, as is running an entire house on a 11hp generator. Example: my 2 air cooled Honda water pumps failed early with dino oil. 15W-50 M1 resulted in much longer engine life.

My Robin 11HP gen set has only seen M1 15W-50 with 50 hour oil changes. It has serious hours on it with 3 hurricanes and home construction, without any problems. The oil is even clean when drained.

Contrast that with the many failures (including my co-workers) run on thin dino oil. The engines get ultra hot, the oil gets very thin and the connecting rod bearing (really just an aluminum con rod) fails. Every time. This situation was repeated thousands of times here in hurricane central.

Remember that 500 degree cylinder head temps are the norm in air cooled engines under full overload. I have seen 280 crankcase temps with my digital thermometer.

[jimh406]

Kayteg1 wrote:
When seems lot of us use oil used in cars, putting high-class oil might not be good for primitive engine.

I don’t believe better oil is ever a problem but feel free to post links to examples of damage caused by better oil. 😄 Besides, I wouldn’t call 20 year old engines primitive considering synthetic oil came out about 46 years ago.

For my generator, we’re talking about less than a quart of oil to do an entire oil change. For smaller generators, probably less. So, the difference between the best oil and worst oil is maybe $3-5 dollars. Synthetics work better in a variety of temperatures, so other than $3-5 you aren’t losing anything.

[Kayteg1]

When seems lot of us use oil used in cars, putting high-class oil might not be good for primitive engine.
High class oils have lot of detergents for extended intervals, low ash for preventing cats and dpfs, + other stuff to help with emission systems.
Most of our generators don't even have oil filters, where recommended intervals are 50 hr. So no worry about expensive detergents packs needed.
Than per my experience modern engines have such reliable mechanical parts that even run on cooking oil, they will serve for years, so quality of oil would be important if you plan to keep generator for 30 years with constant use.
Not too many of us will experience that.

[jaycocreek]

TxGearhead wrote:
10W-30 Pennzoil Synthetic made from natural gas for me in the Honda 2000's. Might change to synthetic Rotella 15W-40 since I use it in the truck and the whole house back up generator.
Look around on "Bobistheoilguy.com"

I have been reading over there for a long time..Great place and lot's of knowledge...They say there are plenty of oils out there that are better than Honda oil..It was also said Honda oil was or is made by Mobil...

But the biggest take I got off there for an air cooled splash oil system,that brand is less important than keeping it full and frequent oil changes..I did order two bottles of Mobil 1 full synthetic though..Cheaper at Walmart than Honda oil is here from the only dealer for now.

[Kayteg1]

TxGearhead wrote:
10W-30 Pennzoil Synthetic made from natural gas for me in the Honda 2000's. Might change to synthetic Rotella 15W-40 since I use it in the truck and the whole house back up generator.
Look around on "Bobistheoilguy.com"

You should know that diesel and gasoline engines produce different acids as result of combustion and the designated oils do have different antacids.
If you use diesel oil in gasoline engine, the result will be similar to mixing wrong whiskeys.

[Grit_dog]

Rotella T6 is also wet clutch compatible. I use it in my 450 Husky, quad and 2 stroke bike crankcases and occasionally in everything else if that's what's on hand.

[TxGearhead]

10W-30 Pennzoil Synthetic made from natural gas for me in the Honda 2000's. Might change to synthetic Rotella 15W-40 since I use it in the truck and the whole house back up generator.
Look around on "Bobistheoilguy.com"

[trail-explorer]

jaycocreek wrote:
So what is a good oil that meets all the spec's of a small portable generator that we use for our truck campers that is equal to Honda or Onan oil and does it have to be 4-cycle oil?

Look at the specs on the Honda and Onan Bottles, then go to your favorite store that sell oil and find oil with the same or better specs / ratings.

Done.

[Kayteg1]

I used Mobil 1 in my cars in the past and lab test show it generating higher iron. At the time I found chat room on the net, where Mobil 1 representative choose not to answer the question. So I switched to Castrol.
Also when Mercedes was promoting Mobil 1 on their cars, lately they drop some weights off their approval list.
Yeah, another oil topic.

[northshore]

I went with Mobil 1 Syn in all generators, including the Generac in the camper.

[bwc]

Buzzcut1 wrote:
Mobile One synthetic in my Honda 2000

X2 5W-30 Extended

[towpro]

Amsoil x3