Synthetic Motor oil?

I have a fresh out of the crate 2001 30hp Evinrude 4 stroke
that needs broke in.
I haven’t even put any oil in it yet.
The manual of course says to use only Evinrude Ultra 4stroke oil.
It doesn’t list any oil wt at all.
I would like to use a synthetic oil like Mobile-1,
Easy to find at WallyWorld, and good performance.
This may be opening a chevy/ford debate,
but what brand and weight oil would you use
in a small O/B thats used for summer fishing
and winter waterfowling in ILLinois?

Motor oils for cars and 4 stroke outboards are NOT the same. Stick with the marine grade 4 stroke oils. I wouldn’t be worried about using the Evinrude product vs. a product from another outboard manufacturer but oils intended for cars will not cut the mustard and will almost certainly void your warranty.

I would agree with you and run Mobil 1 in it. We run Mobil 1 in everything.

I was on the phone talking with Destry Foyte over at Lacannes Marine chatting about another item and I dropped this question on him. He stated that running a 10-30 motor oil will not void the manufacturers warranty. Mobile 1 would work fine and there would be no issues with doing so.

This from one of the best boat dealerships in MN.

With my Johnson 4-stroke the dealer put special “break in” oil from the manufacture for the first 20 hours of running. After the break in period they recommend using their expensive synthetic blend, which I did. Apparently my engine was not yet broke in as the oil level would rise (gas was getting into the oil) each time I went fishing.

There are many posts on this subject under the title “making oil” on other forums – it has happened with all the 4-storke manufactures as some engines just take a bit longer to break in. One conclusion reached from all the posts about this subject was that we should NOT use any kind of synthetic oil until the motor is fully broke in (no gas getting into the oil). We should also run the motors very hard if yours is taking longer than normal to break in – repeatedly do full throttle take offs to quicken the break in period.

The day I stopped using the synthetic blends, my engine stopped making oil. My engine is really a Suzuki – they recommend plain 10w-40 oil – that is what I have been using for over a year with no problems. I could now switch to a synthetic, but I would rather just use the regular automotive oil and change it twice a year.

Check your oil level often! If it has gas in it, then change the oil – diluted oil is not good for the engine.

Dave Gulczinski

Tonto, Do you use Mobile1 even during breakin periods?
About the only thing I’ve come across that doesn’t benefit from
synthetics like Mobile1 are custom hi performance race motors
with roller rockers.
Thanks H2O, I was a bit perplexed from your first post.

Dave, that pretty much substantiates what I was thinking.
The “making oil” thing is a good one to watch for.
Thanks

The packaging on the marine oils state they’re better and different (blahblahbalh) than regular car oils but instead of relying on that I called Foyte. He stated the most of the people that have purchased 4 strokes from him run the regular car oils and that he does as well in his kicker. No troubles and it didn’t void warranty in any way. I just wanted to get to the bottom of it as the question had never been answered beyond what I had read on the oil packaging and I wanted the straight scoop from a reliable and unbiased source.

I learn a TON here… as we all do!

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Tonto, Do you use Mobile1 even during breakin periods?
About the only thing I’ve come across that doesn’t benefit from
synthetics like Mobile1 are custom hi performance race motors
with roller rockers.
Thanks H2O, I was a bit perplexed from your first post.

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Use the reccomended 4 stroke oil for the break-in period. DO NOT use synthetic for this. The rings need to seat and the synthetic oils have a hard time allowing this to take place. My Merc mechanic told me anytime after 100 hrs ‘ballpark’ would be fine to go to synthetic.