Valvoline Oil

[Choppers]

What do you guys think about Valvoline ATV oil? I have been running the honda synthtics and Motul synthetics but oil has gotten rediculously over priced around here. I can't see spending $9 a quart as much as i change my oil. Would this oil be fine to run?

[DP400]

I've been using it, I've had 4 oil changes since I bought my 02 a year ago almost to the day. I haven't had any problems. Just make sure it is atv/motorcycle oil, with wet clutch protection and you will be good to go.

[redrocker]

Im using the Gastrol atv oil
it meets all the spec's at 1/2
the price

[ginobili07]

I have been using it for almost a year without any problems, GOOD STUFF!!

[hornetgod13]

I've used nothing but Valvoline ATV oil in my beast for over two years. No complaints here.

[CJM]

Never used it, only use mobil 1 and no issues yet.

[Choppers]

yea well i didn't get the atv i got the motocycle cause i only run 20-50 cause it gets so hot here. but i ran it in one of our dirtbikes and it ran fine. i am just tired of $30 oil changes when i change my oil pretty much every 5 hours.

[honda400ex2003]

is that neccessary?? Every five hours. you only have a 416? It can't screw up the oil that fast. I just use regular 5w30 in the winter and either 20w50 or 10w30 depending on temps and time of year. Steve

[beags86]

anyone useing royal puple or redline??

[Choppers]

i do alot of wide open riding. not trail riding. i ride with rappy's

[honda400ex2003]

Oh cool man. hopefully you keep up to them good with the 416. I have not ridden with my friend who has a 700 since he got it to see how it compares. I hear the 400 is close since it revs fast. How do you compare? I have heard that people really like the royal purple but I don't ahve anyone who sells it here to know if it is any good. I know guys who run HP-4 religiously in their rincon and 400ex. They do not ride too often to eve put 200 miles on in a year though. Although they don't ahve any problems. If you change it relatively often you won't have any problems with any oil. Buy the cheapo stuff and change it after a few rides. I change mine once a month probably with no problems. i ride everyday all summer around my house and on trails throughout the area. I use k and n filters and away I go. Steve:blah:

I use HP4 synthetic.. Does anybody think valvoline or mobil one is better?

[Choppers]

the synthetic is probably going to be better oil. But is it worth the $8 or $9 or even $10 that you have to pay for it? Thats the question your going to have to ask yourself. You can change your oil twice for the amount it cost for one oil change with that oil. Which makes me want to switch to Valvoline

[honda400ex2003]

that is why I run the valvoline or other cheaper stuff. I will just change it one or twice more. I buy it buy the box and run it in everything we have that way it is not so much. I run cheapo in the 300ex and the rancher. my dad gets the amsoil atv stuff with teh red top for his rincon since it wistles on startup all the time. Steve

[F150 Rider]

I use Vavoline Atv oil for wet clutches in all my atv`s and atc`s..

[exrider12]

Use rotella t synthetic. 10 bucks for like 2 gallons of it. very good oil.

[beags86]

all you guy do realize that synthetic will outlast conventional oil three times to one. i was wondering because it is PROVEN that synthetic frees up horsepower, royal puple, redline, amsoil followed buy mobil one, vavoline, castrol and other synthetics, i was asking because of the wet clutches, i was unsure if i was going to hurt them, (make them slip and burn them up) but as the engine goes synthetic is the only way to go in any engine you care about.

^^ Hence why I always run HONDA Synthetic...

[beags86]

Originally posted by beags86
all you guy do realize that synthetic will outlast conventional oil three times to one.



sorry i misspoke it should be around 5 times to one, i use mobil one in my cars and trucks and change my oil around 5 thousand miles, and really i could go to 15 thousand but i keep good maintenance on my vehicles.. prob why i still have my first truck with around 300,000 miles on it and never had the valve covers off.

[NacsMXer]

Originally posted by SuicideMFNdoors
^^ Hence why I always run HONDA Synthetic...

HP4 is not a true full synthetic. It is a semi-synthetic or synthetic blend (some % conventional/some % synthetic, usually less of the synthetic). It's decent oil, but not the cheapest and won't protect as well as a full synthetic.

That's why I stopped running HP4 at like $8 bucks a quart and went to full synthetic. I run Mobil 1 15w50 red label in the summer ($29 for a 6 quart case at Costco) and Shell Rotella T 5w40 full synthetic in the colder months ($13 a gallon at Walmart).

There's much better values out there than Honda oil IMO, unless you get a discount at the dealer.

Originally posted by NacsMXer
HP4 is not a true full synthetic. It is a semi-synthetic or synthetic blend (some % conventional/some % synthetic, usually less of the synthetic). It's decent oil, but not the cheapest and won't protect as well as a full synthetic.

That's why I stopped running HP4 at like $8 bucks a quart and went to full synthetic. I run Mobil 1 15w50 red label in the summer ($29 for a 6 quart case at Costco) and Shell Rotella T 5w40 full synthetic in the colder months ($13 a gallon at Walmart).

There's much better values out there than Honda oil IMO, unless you get a discount at the dealer.

My dealer does give me a hook up, but I always wondered if there was better oil i could be using. I've asked that before and noone ever gave me an answer.

[NacsMXer]

Originally posted by SuicideMFNdoors
My dealer does give me a hook up, but I always wondered if there was better oil i could be using. I've asked that before and noone ever gave me an answer.

Full synthetic is better without a doubt.

There's all kinds of full synthetics you can run. The Mobil 1 15w50 red label and Rotella T 5w40 full synthetics I run are both safe to run in the 400EX. Both can be found at any Walmart. Excellent oil at a cheap price in both cases.

You can also run Mobil 1 MX4T, Amsoil, etc. There's all kinds of options. You just have to be careful with running certain automotive full synthetics as not all are compatible with the wet clutch that is in the 400EX.

[Homerx]

Originally posted by NacsMXer
Full synthetic is better without a doubt.

There's all kinds of full synthetics you can run. The Mobil 1 15w50 red label and Rotella T 5w40 full synthetics I run are both safe to run in the 400EX. Both can be found at any Walmart. Excellent oil at a cheap price in both cases.

You can also run Mobil 1 MX4T, Amsoil, etc. There's all kinds of options. You just have to be careful with running certain automotive full synthetics as not all are compatible with the wet clutch that is in the 400EX.

Are the above you mention motorcycle or car oils? How do you know if a car synthetic is ok for an atv? Thx

[NacsMXer]

Originally posted by Homerx
Are the above you mention motorcycle or car oils? How do you know if a car synthetic is ok for an atv? Thx

The 2 I run are car oils. Basically 2 types of "off the shelf" Mobil 1 car oil you can run in motorcycle engines. 15w50 with the red label and 15w50 extended performance with the gold label. Stay away from all other automotive Mobil 1 like the plague. The Shell Rotella T 5w40 is also safe to run like I said before.

What makes the above automotive full synthetics safe to run in motorcycle engines is the lack of molybdenum additive. Moly causes wet clutches to slip. You can tell if the oil is safe to run by looking on the back of the bottle at the API certification seal. If it says "Energy Conserving", it usually is not safe for a wet clutch. If it does not say "Energy Conserving", you are good to go ;)

DON'T run the oil if the seal looks like this
http://www.dansmc.com/starburst2.jpg

Ok to run the oil if the seal looks like this
http://www.dansmc.com/oilright.jpg

Of course, you can always run any full synthetic that is specifically made for motorcycles. This would include Mobil 1 MX4T, Amsoil, Motorex, the list goes on. The downfall to these is that they usually come at a much higher price than automotive full synthetics.

In my case, would I rather run Mobil 1 MX4T which I know is safe for wet clutches at around $10 a quart, or should I run automotive Mobil 1 15w50 which I know is safe for wet clutches, protects just fine, and costs around $5 a quart? You get the picture why i'd rather run the automotive version.

[Homerx]

Originally posted by NacsMXer
The 2 I run are car oils. Basically 2 types of "off the shelf" Mobil 1 car oil you can run in motorcycle engines. 15w50 with the red label and 15w50 extended performance with the gold label. Stay away from all other automotive Mobil 1 like the plague. The Shell Rotella T 5w40 is also safe to run like I said before.

What makes the above automotive full synthetics safe to run in motorcycle engines is the lack of molybdenum additive. Moly causes wet clutches to slip. You can tell if the oil is safe to run by looking on the back of the bottle at the API certification seal. If it says "Energy Conserving", it usually is not safe for a wet clutch. If it does not say "Energy Conserving", you are good to go ;)

DON'T run the oil if the seal looks like this
http://www.dansmc.com/starburst2.jpg

Ok to run the oil if the seal looks like this
http://www.dansmc.com/oilright.jpg

Of course, you can always run any full synthetic that is specifically made for motorcycles. This would include Mobil 1 MX4T, Amsoil, Motorex, the list goes on. The downfall to these is that they usually come at a much higher price than automotive full synthetics.

In my case, would I rather run Mobil 1 MX4T which I know is safe for wet clutches at around $10 a quart, or should I run automotive Mobil 1 15w50 which I know is safe for wet clutches, protects just fine, and costs around $5 a quart? You get the picture why i'd rather run the automotive version.

Exactly what I wanted to know, thanks !!!

[Choppers]

i use to run the motul synthetic and it was nice but i can't find it anywhere near me.

[Kevslatvin]

I have started running the Shell Rotella T 15w-40. It's not synthetic but after doing quiet a bit of digging around it seems to be about the best non- synthetic out there and is safe for wet clutches. It also contians zinc which they no longer put in car oils( Rotella T is for diesels). It's also less than $4 a quart which I think is cheaper than the Valvoline.

I was looking at wal-mart's selection and I seen the motorcycle mobil 1. It was about the same as what I pay for honda synthetic around here.. I always use 10w-40.. but even in the cold temps it gets hot. So what temp range should it be when I should switch to a 20w?

[NacsMXer]

Originally posted by SuicideMFNdoors
I was looking at wal-mart's selection and I seen the motorcycle mobil 1. It was about the same as what I pay for honda synthetic around here.. I always use 10w-40.. but even in the cold temps it gets hot. So what temp range should it be when I should switch to a 20w?

At Walmart, don't look for the motorcycle mobil 1, it is quite a bit more expensive than the automotive version. What you need is the regular automotive Mobil 1 (use only the 2 varieties mentioned below)...get the 15w50 with the red label (should be around $5-6 a quart), looks like this:

http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/MotorOil/Images/Products/M1_15w50_top.gif

You can also run the extended performance version (a little more money) of the 15w50, looks like this:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41kS9svJzQL._SL160_AA160_.jpg

You shouldn't need to run a 20w oil. For the cold start up temperature you want to stay close to the stock spec (10w) so the oil can get to where it needs to go before things warm up. The 15w (15w50) Mobil 1 does just fine here. This is even more important in colder temperatures.

Once things get up to operating temp the 50w aspect of the 15w50 Mobil 1 gives you some of the best heat resistant protection you can get.

thanks alot man.. next oil change will be mobil 1.. what oil filter you running?

Right now its in the 30's here still.. but summer it gets in 90's-100.. will 15w30 be fine year round? Does mobil 1 not make a 10w? I read on here alot of people using 20w50 in the summer time.

[NacsMXer]

Originally posted by SuicideMFNdoors
thanks alot man.. next oil change will be mobil 1.. what oil filter you running?

Right now its in the 30's here still.. but summer it gets in 90's-100.. will 15w30 be fine year round? Does mobil 1 not make a 10w? I read on here alot of people using 20w50 in the summer time.

No prob. The Mobil 1 15w50 is great oil. As far as oil filters I personally run OEM Honda, but if you're going to walmart they sell a Fram ATV filter for the 400EX (part #CH6015), it also comes with a new o-ring for the oil filter cover. You can also run Emgo filters and K&N if you like, they're all pretty good.

You CAN run the M1 15w50 in 30 deg temps, but it's not ideal. It will pour in temps up to -39 degrees Celsius, but I would still allow a little extra warmup time if you run in the colder temps. It is better suited to the extreme heat of the summer time, but you should be ok if you let the oil warm up. That is why I run the Shell Rotella T 5w40 synthetic in the colder months. The 5w aspect of the oil flows better at cold startup and it's a high quality synthetic like M1. It can also be found at walmart for dirt cheap.

Mobil 1 does make 10w oils, both in the automotive version and the motorcycle/atv version (MX4T). But DON'T run the automotive version, it contains friction modifiers that will make your clutch slip. Use only the 15w50 Mobil 1 in the automotive version. You can run the 10w40 Mobil 1 MX4T, but again you're paying out the rear at $10 a quart. The 15w50 auto version does the same job for half the price.

Yeah, a lot of people do run the 20w50 in the summer time and there's nothing wrong with that, but I can guarantee it's going to cost more money per quart than M1 15w50. Plus I don't see the point in having such a heavy cold start viscosity of 20w....the 15w is good enough. What matters more in these engines, and how hot they run in the summer, is the hot temperature viscosity. You get the same thing with a 20w50 vs. a 15w50 (50w), so I really don't see the point in paying more for the 20w50.

Yeah I've always just ran OEM honda filters. Thanks again for all the info, next oil change I'll be converting.