Arctic Chat : Arctic Cat Forum banner

Different type of oil

3K views 15 replies 9 participants last post by  SNO4ME 
#1 ·
Just was wondering does it really matter what type of oil you run through your sled? I know that there is Arctic Cat oil and Amsoil and there is the 9.00 a gallon oil you buy at Walmart. Does it really make a difference what you use?



Shawn Cat happy
 
#5 ·
This is always a a great debate, I have run the good synthetics with power valves, and the cheap stuff once I locked my powervalves open, with good results either way, you just have to make sure the oil meets the requirements of the builder/motor. There are a ton of people that use the Shell oil that is like $10 a gallon and swear by it.
 
#6 ·
My sled doesn't have the power valves they didn't start till 01. I just don't want to ruin my sled at all, but if i don't have to spend 23 bucks a gallon i don't really want to but if it's what it takes i will. My father in law wants me to go in on a order for Amsoil with him, he said that is a really good oil.
 
#7 ·
I'd say you could buy the Castrol from Wally World and use the left over money for gas. As long as the engine is getting the proper amount of oil then you will not have an engine failure related to the quality, real and perceived, of the oil. Power valve engines benefit from the more expensive synthetic oils in reduced maintenance of the valves which results in more consistant operation of the valves.
 
#9 ·
Matter of opinion as many will state. I ran AC APV oil with my new sled for about 2 gallons....now i'm running Ipone's Snow Racing 2 oil...I have noticed a change in the engine, not so much performance but definitely in the smoothness altogether. And to boot it smells damn good. LOL

Cheers,
Mael
 
#11 ·
I buy mine from Royal Distributing out of Ontario. Runs about $36 a gallon, Canadian funds.

What i meant by it running smoother was, it seemed to allow my engine to run a lot more freely. I would say because the viscocity is nowhere near as thick as AC's APV oil. Do i have proof that it's doing a better job? No. But IMO it's a great oil, thusfar. Needless to say it's used by Morgan's team, and my buddy that races snox recommended it to me as well. It also smells like strawberry, not a major selling point but it's a nice perk.
 
#12 ·
The oil debate gets redundant as time goes on. I wish one of these magazines would grow some NUTZ and pick a test sled and burn straight 30w oil in it till it either blows or makes for a good read about how many miles it got that season. Just think of the FIRESTORM something like this would start if the sled ran as good as one burning $10.00 a quart oil. We premixed 30w oil all the time back in the early 70's at a 20-1 ratio. Thank god those BOSCH W225T1 sparkplugs were CHEAP back then.
 
#13 ·
I have wrenched on bikes and sleds longer than I care to admit. I have done alot of racing also.
I can tell you by experience that it DOES make a difference. Lubrication and heat are 2 of the biggest
factors of engine failure. Quality synthetic oil lubricates better and burns cleaner. Better lubrication
means better performance, less heat and longer lasting moving engine parts.
I don't know if it's still the same but PSI would'nt even look at warranty on one of their engines unless
it was being run on Amsoil or Redline oil.
I can show you pistons from identical sleds. One run on Amsoil for 1000 mi. and one run on Cats
pre-synthetic APV oil for 500 mi. The Amsoil piston with twice the mileage on it had much less blow-by
on the rings (No blow-by on the lower ring of the Amsoil pistons, but blow-by past both rings of the other pistons) and .001 in. less wear. I saw the same kind of results as the Cat oil with other high quality
non-synthetic oils.

And no I don't work for or even sell Amsoil. I can buy other synthetic oils for less, but I know from my
own experience that Amsoil works. So that's what I spend my money on. But to each his own.
 
#15 ·
IMO, on a non valved engine, run any quality oil that can be easily and cheaply bought. I've run 10s of thousands of miles on regular castrol, in my non valved engines, without any problems at all, and would still do so. In my valved engines, I run the cheaper grade of amzoil, also with great results.
 
#16 ·
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (MELROSEMAFIA @ Apr 13 2007, 05:27 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>
The oil debate gets redundant as time goes on. I wish one of these magazines would grow some NUTZ and pick a test sled and burn straight 30w oil in it till it either blows or makes for a good read about how many miles it got that season. Just think of the FIRESTORM something like this would start if the sled ran as good as one burning $10.00 a quart oil. We premixed 30w oil all the time back in the early 70's at a 20-1 ratio. Thank god those BOSCH W225T1 sparkplugs were CHEAP back then.[/b]

I agree 100%. The Manufacturers rip us off so bad on oil it just stinks! (Pun intended)
A guy hates to mess around taking chances on saving a few bucks on oil but man $30 a gallon?
Well unless you have an SDI ski-doo, then you can get about a thousand miles on a gallon..
Problem is then you have to drive a ski-doo..............

My riding partner had a 96 ski-doo Formula Z with a 583. He used Phillips 66 Injex from new and rebuilt the engine at about 11,000, rings, bearings, seals etc. Hes said it was kind of a waste but he was concerned mostly about crank seals. At 16,000 he broke a piston (original) At 18,000 he started having coolant leaks around the base gasket of the cylinder so he put in a used engine to get him to 23,000 when he sold it.

I put over 11,000 on a 96 Indy 500. Used Injex in it from the first time I added oil to the tank. The crank went at just short of 10,000 miles totaly unrelated to oil.

I've also used the low end Amsoil in my Cats with no power valves. It smells a little better, it flows better at 40 below, it costs more, but that's about it.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top