what kind of oil are you guys using in your 400

[grassman]

ive been using the honda gn4 10w40, i was just wondering if there is a better choice...

[TRXRacer1]

Running strong on Rotella 15w40. Damn good oil at a damn good price!

[RIDEREDson]

Use Rotella or Mobil One 15w 50.
Both are available at walmart, autozone etc. They are both very good oils and cheaper than Honda Oil.

I ran Mobil in my 400 and I run Rotella in my 450r. You can get a gallon of Rotella for about 12 dollars.

[quadmanw]

gn4 honda pro gold is the way to go. i race a 400ex and when we rip the motor apart its clean as can be. good oil. a little expensive though.

[CJM]

mobil 1 15w-50, never any issues. My other choice is the rotella 15w-40 dino.

[Wheelie]

Honda 20w-50 synthetic blend in the summer, 10w-40 the rest of the year. I've run Honda oil exclusively since the quad was new. Honda filters as well.

[Kevslatvin]

I run Shell Rotella 15w-40

[honda400ex2003]

i prefer amsoil but at a bit less than 10 a quart it can stay on the shelves. i use mobil one 10w30 when i do it. it works decent but i change it about once a month or so. steve

[coreyownz]

amsoil ftw!! 4 stroke powersports 0w-40!! my 2 cents

[MtnEX]

Rotella 15w40..... $2.75 qt ---- $11 > gallon
15w50 Mobil 1..... $4.40 qt ---- $22 > 5qt


"special motorcycle oil" $10+ qt


You do the math!


Either of those two cheap oils run fine in wet clutches and offer good protection.... and at a cost savings that will pay for a rebuild down the road.


In fact, I'm going to keep running the Rotella in my 400EX (does great). I'm just trying the 15w50 Mobil 1 in the 450R because I think it is actually a little harder on oil somehow... so I'm thinking a 50 might offer me a little more between drains (we'll see). If not, I'm going back to the Rotella because it has to be changed so often.

[RIDEREDson]

Originally posted by MtnEX
Rotella 15w40..... $2.75 qt ---- $11 > gallon
15w50 Mobil 1..... $4.40 qt ---- $22 > 5qt


"special motorcycle oil" $10+ qt


You do the math!


Either of those two cheap oils run fine in wet clutches and offer good protection.... and at a cost savings that will pay for a rebuild down the road.


In fact, I'm going to keep running the Rotella in my 400EX (does great). I'm just trying the 15w50 Mobil 1 in the 450R because I think it is actually a little harder on oil somehow... so I'm thinking a 50 might offer me a little more between drains (we'll see). If not, I'm going back to the Rotella because it has to be changed so often.


Weren't you using the Rotella synthetic, 5w40? (in the 450)

That's what I use in my 450r and you can't beat the price. I thought about switching to the 15w 50 Mobil 1 though.

[F-16Guy]

Castrol GTX since new (almost 10 years!!), and runs like a champ. It's about maintenance, not brand names. Use a good quality engine oil, jet the quad properly so it doesn't overheat, and run a quality, properly oiled air filter. Those are the keys to longevity. If you want to spend $15/qt on oil, that's fine, but it won't make up for not maintaining your quad.

[riotact]

I've ran the Honda GN4 since I bought my quad 6yrs ago and it looks like I'm gonna be switching to Rotella 15w40.You cant go wrong for 2.75/qt.One question I have is does it seem to run any cooler with the Rotella compaired to the GN4?

[MtnEX]

Originally posted by RIDEREDson
Weren't you using the Rotella synthetic, 5w40? (in the 450)

That's what I use in my 450r and you can't beat the price. I thought about switching to the 15w 50 Mobil 1 though.

Yes, I tried the Rotella 5w40 syn in my 450R.

It did fine... I just felt I needed to drain it so soon that I saw no point at all in running synthetic... just not in there long enough to matter.

Honestly, the 15w40 is cheaper and I was able to run it a little longer. I think it is because the base oil is a bit higher viscosity and the formula contains less viscosity index improvers.... less required to maintain the SAE40 at operating temps.

This is the same reason I wanted to try moving on to a 50 in it. 20w50 would have probably been the logical choice. But for the price of a dino motorcycle oil, I can get the Mobil 1 synthetic if I buy 5 qts at a time of the 15w50.

Might stand up as well or better to shearing out of grade too. If it does and can stand up about twice as long, I'll pay for that... because right now the drain intervals are VERY FREQUENT.

If not, I'll try some sort of 20w50 or go back to Rotella 15w40.

[MtnEX]

Originally posted by riotact
I've ran the Honda GN4 since I bought my quad 6yrs ago and it looks like I'm gonna be switching to Rotella 15w40.You cant go wrong for 2.75/qt.One question I have is does it seem to run any cooler with the Rotella compaired to the GN4?

Well, I can't say I paid a lot of attention to the temp.


I can say though that if you want to guarantee lower operating temps, here are things you can do....

1- Increase oil capacity with a larger oil tank

2- Install a fan on the oil cooler

3- Install a larger oil cooler


However, I can say without a doubt that I am VERY impressed with the Rotella 15w40 in the 400EX engine without any of the above.

We ran it very hard one weekend, then parked it for a week or two, and while it was down for other things (cleaning fuel tank) I decided to check the valves.

I was very impressed with the amount of oil film on the top end parts and it's viscosity.

I will keep running it in the 400EX.

[RIDEREDson]

Originally posted by MtnEX
Yes, I tried the Rotella 5w40 syn in my 450R.

It did fine... I just felt I needed to drain it so soon that I saw no point at all in running synthetic... just not in there long enough to matter.


So was it getting black quicker? Mine stayed more gold looking than any oil I've tried yet, so far in my 450r. But also, I have a side for oil and a tranny side.

[Jkeith0004]

Conventional Rotella

[MtnEX]

Originally posted by RIDEREDson
So was it getting black quicker? Mine stayed more gold looking than any oil I've tried yet, so far in my 450r. But also, I have a side for oil and a tranny side.

Well, not so much turning black... I mean it does turn dark by the time I change it...

See mine shares the oil with the tranny... and the tranny itself is my flag to let me know it's time to drain. Let me explain...

See this trans, it feels like a work of art. The shift throw is short, and it clicks into the next gear with a very positive 'snap'... and there is never a false neutral, or an accidental catch of neutral shifting 1-2, or 2-1... and when you stop, you get neutral when you want it very first try. Reverse is the same.

After a few hours on the oil though.... that starts to fade, and it starts to fade on out from a work of art, to normal.

I drain the oil and it seems thin and a bit dirty. Put fresh oil back in, and my trans is instantly a work of art again.

So that is how my oil change interval is determined. I feel when it's time to change.

Every oil I have used so far I can tell by that the same way. The 5w40 Rotella Syn just happened to fade way faster than I expected, and came out a lot like I would say... water... thin.


The 15w40 Rotella lasts longer and is also half the price.

I think what it boils down to is that this high performance engine, and these trans gears just flat out shear down the polymers they use in the blend for viscosity index improvement.

It's not a true 100% synthetic like an all POA/Ester base. So in the end, it's really just a 5w with enough index improvers to keep it from thinning below an SAE40 at a certain temp (212?) and an SAE40 already thins down to about 15 as it is at operating temp.

Does that make sense?

Basically...

An SAE or 10w30 is about 10 at temp
An SAE or 10w40 is about 12 at temp
An SAE or 15w40 is about 15 at temp
An SAE or 20w50 is about 20 at temp

So that in a nutshell is why I have never been much on dino 5w30 (for cars) or 10w40 for anything.

Those are 25 & 30 point spreads of VII's.
And also, it's not cold enough here to require 5w.

I stay with 10w30, 15w40 and 20w50.
20, 25 & 30 point spreads.

But the difference being that the 15w and 20w are heavier bases to start with.


I just seen some oil the other day that advertised no VII's and was an odd viscosity like 20w40 or 25w40... something like that... but I can't remember the brand name.

[underpsi]

sorry for the newbie question but I just picked up my 01 400ex and was wondering if you are talking about the shell rotella 15w40 that is used for diesel trucks as that is the same oil I run in my powerstroke?

Thanks

[Bill Martin]

Originally posted by F-16Guy
Castrol GTX since new (almost 10 years!!), and runs like a champ. It's about maintenance, not brand names. Use a good quality engine oil, jet the quad properly so it doesn't overheat, and run a quality, properly oiled air filter. Those are the keys to longevity. If you want to spend $15/qt on oil, that's fine, but it won't make up for not maintaining your quad.

Yep!!! Change it often.

[MtnEX]

Originally posted by underpsi
sorry for the newbie question but I just picked up my 01 400ex and was wondering if you are talking about the shell rotella 15w40 that is used for diesel trucks as that is the same oil I run in my powerstroke?

Thanks

Yep... same stuff...

Just put some in...

You don't have to go out of your way at all...

[b.lee]

Originally posted by underpsi
sorry for the newbie question but I just picked up my 01 400ex and was wondering if you are talking about the shell rotella 15w40 that is used for diesel trucks as that is the same oil I run in my powerstroke?

Thanks

Yup same stuff I run in my 1996 Cummins with 401,000 miles on it.

I was confused when I first heard this as well. :scary:

[BakerRacing40]

i have always used bel-ray thumper oil..

[killer400ex]

ROYAL PURPLE ALL THE WAY, never used a better oil, never will cause they dont exist

[tri5ron]

Here is some good info for understanding motoroil...

http://www.upmpg.com/tech_articles/motoroil_viscosity/index.html

[live2surf]

well i kinda have a off topic question, i have just bought my first quad about a month ago and we riding 3 times so far and was about to change the oil. how much oil does a 2003 400EX take. and is there anything that i should know about before i do so?

[Bill Martin]

400ex uses two quarts. Just use a non synthetic and change it every ten hours and you'll be fine.

Two quarts of any oil will break down quickly so change it often.

[RIDEREDson]

Originally posted by MtnEX
Well, not so much turning black... I mean it does turn dark by the time I change it...

See mine shares the oil with the tranny... and the tranny itself is my flag to let me know it's time to drain. Let me explain...

See this trans, it feels like a work of art. The shift throw is short, and it clicks into the next gear with a very positive 'snap'... and there is never a false neutral, or an accidental catch of neutral shifting 1-2, or 2-1... and when you stop, you get neutral when you want it very first try. Reverse is the same.

After a few hours on the oil though.... that starts to fade, and it starts to fade on out from a work of art, to normal.

I drain the oil and it seems thin and a bit dirty. Put fresh oil back in, and my trans is instantly a work of art again.

So that is how my oil change interval is determined. I feel when it's time to change.

Every oil I have used so far I can tell by that the same way. The 5w40 Rotella Syn just happened to fade way faster than I expected, and came out a lot like I would say... water... thin.


The 15w40 Rotella lasts longer and is also half the price.

I think what it boils down to is that this high performance engine, and these trans gears just flat out shear down the polymers they use in the blend for viscosity index improvement.

It's not a true 100% synthetic like an all POA/Ester base. So in the end, it's really just a 5w with enough index improvers to keep it from thinning below an SAE40 at a certain temp (212?) and an SAE40 already thins down to about 15 as it is at operating temp.

Does that make sense?

Basically...

An SAE or 10w30 is about 10 at temp
An SAE or 10w40 is about 12 at temp
An SAE or 15w40 is about 15 at temp
An SAE or 20w50 is about 20 at temp

So that in a nutshell is why I have never been much on dino 5w30 (for cars) or 10w40 for anything.

Those are 25 & 30 point spreads of VII's.
And also, it's not cold enough here to require 5w.

I stay with 10w30, 15w40 and 20w50.
20, 25 & 30 point spreads.

But the difference being that the 15w and 20w are heavier bases to start with.


I just seen some oil the other day that advertised no VII's and was an odd viscosity like 20w40 or 25w40... something like that... but I can't remember the brand name.


Makes sense, thanks for all the great info. Since your oil is shared it has to do more work which is what I like about the Honda 450's design. The synthetic Rotella seems to be great here but I'm thinking of switching to the Mobil 15w 50 that I ran in my 400.

[MtnEX]

Originally posted by RIDEREDson
Makes sense, thanks for all the great info. Since your oil is shared it has to do more work which is what I like about the Honda 450's design. The synthetic Rotella seems to be great here but I'm thinking of switching to the Mobil 15w 50 that I ran in my 400.

I'm still liking the 15w50 Mobil 1.
I'm still evaluating and trying to decide if I'm sold.


As for the 450's... when I was shopping them I had a hard time choosing.

The TRX450R oil separation was certainly a consideration at first... and so were many other factors, including the fact it was over $1,000 cheaper.


In the end I have found out it's pretty much a wash on the oil thing.

I mean no doubt my oil gets beat worse.
But it's still in the area of a wash...

Mine holds a little more oil to beat, etc...

But in the end, I think combustion contamination is the zero-out factor.

What I'm saying is, I think I can go just as long as the TRX on oil if I make good viscosity selections.

But I think contamination is the factor that makes our oil ready for the drain pan at about the same time.

That's what I think thus far anyways...

[Rootar]

the reason you run rotella because its is the best oil for a wetclutch setup, and its cheap, besides i change my oil EVERY time i ride in both my 400ex and my Crfs, it doesnt matter if it looks good or not, fresh and fresh air filter every ride.


the only kind of good maintenance is preventive ;)