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synthetic engine oil / additives

Arctic RX

Arctic RX

Extreme
Joined
Dec 9, 2003
Messages
84
Location
Iqaluit, Nunavut / Canada
I have 400 K/M on my '03 RX-1 and I want to use a synthetic oil. Someone told me I need to use an additive or risk destroying my starter.
Any truth to this?
What is the best oil?
It does not get any warmer than -30C for January and most of Feb. so I have to use a synthetic oil.

Thanks,

Brent- Baffin Is.
 

Synthetic oils will not hurt your starter . I have mobil 1 plus an aditive called frictiongaurd in mine and no problem . Stay away from anything that has solid lubricants such as teflon , molibendulumb or grafite they may effect your starter .
Tom-RX1
 
brentcrooks - You have only 400 km on your sled so far. My dealer told me to make sure the engine is fully broken in before going to a fully syntetic lubricant. Dealer told me to wait until first oil and filter replacement at 800 km or 500 miles. The reason for this he said is that these new fully syntetic lubricants as Mobil1 or amsoil 0w-40 slows down the break in process. He didn't mention any problems with the starter running on syntetic. I'm going syntetic anytime soon myself using a Shell syntetic formula developed specially for Yamaha's fourstrokes.
 
Spoke with an Amsoil rep at the Novi, Mi show in November. He said wait 3000 miles, then switch to synthetic oil. Break In (Wear In) needs to be complete before switching. Make sure the rings are seated (should be the first 300 miles). No more wear or polishing will occur after you switch, even if you switch back to organic oill If you are still using oil, either you are running at WOT quite often, or, the rings aren't seated yet. Once you put synthetic in it, it's a done deal. I've got 1500 miles on my RX1, and, I'm going to run one more season of organic oil before I switch. (And, no, I'm not using any oil, even on the WOT's) Remember, your first valve clearance adjustments are at 25,000 miles!
 
synthetic oils

with a dry sump oil system the cold temps arent supposed to bother the engine for starting no matter what oil you run but its when the engine starts and the oil is not really moving too well for a few seconds that does the damage,synthetic would be better for that aspect for sure,i'm planning to switch at next oil change only problem is 1900 miles to go :cry: i figure whats a few extra dollars for better cold start protection,glad to her that theree is no problems with it ,i've been waiting to hear,thanks for posting info
 
Re: synthetic oils

170plus said:
with a dry sump oil system the cold temps arent supposed to bother the engine for starting no matter what oil you run but its when the engine starts and the oil is not really moving too well for a few seconds that does the damage,
Click to expand...

Better solution- I put one of those magnetic heaters against my oil tank (oil tank is aluminum, so the parking brake cable has to hold it tight) for about an hour before startups in really cold weather (below -20). This makes a BIG difference. When the engine starts.... it is quiet..... none of those clickety clickety noises.
 
oil

the only time i really didnt think my sled would start was last year on my trip to gaspe,we stayed our last night in cambleton nb,not sure how cold it actually was but sled started real hard,lots of noise once it did start, im sure synthetic would help this but it hasnt failed to start once in 4000 miles for me
 
Not until broken in fully

Synthetics lubricate too well for the rings to seat properly. Amzzz oil guy is right. Once the machine is broken in then it is possible to run on sythetic. But remember that the engagement of the starter is a clutching affair and if it is too slippery, then you risk the clutchs wearing prematurely, at least that is what I have been told. Same with cycles.

Actually, I am a great believer of the use of sythetics on anything you intend to keep for a long time. The lubing capabilities of this material is way better than regular oil. Tho most of modern engine builds are way better than only a few years ago, it still makes sense for a few bucks more to get the best technology you can buy.

I will wait one full season before I switch over. But I will run it in my sled, as I do in all my sleds and bikes, and trucks. Read a pretty good tech report from Cal Tech which put regular oil to the test with synthetics, mainly for motorcycle use. Synthetics had nearly twice the lubricating abilities of the best motor oils available and would go great distances over harsh conditions and still didn't break down anywhere near that of regular lubes.

Sleds cost too dang much moola to not care for them and heck even if you sell it, it is a good selling point to tell the buyer it was run on sythetic.

It should last a long time.
:wink:
 
i have 4000 miles on my 03 shorty so i think its time for some mobil-1,if its good enough for my 5 liter c5 vette it should be fine in 1 liter rx-1,i cant believe that yamaha wouldnt recommend it,they must not make any synthetic oils so they dont want us using them :roll:
 
LazyBastard said:
Your vette has a very crude engine compared to RX1.
Click to expand...

Hummmmmmm. Not sure I can agree with this comment (see signature.) BMW, Porsche & Mercedes all come from the factory with synthetic oil in their crankcases, too. Are you suggesting that the RX1 has is more technologically advanced motor than a $175K Porsche?

If anything, it appears to me that cars that come filled with synthetic oil from the manufacture are machined better from the factory and therefore do not require and special break in procedures.
 
I *am* suggesting that the RX1 motor is definitely more "balls-to-the-wall" than ANY of those that you list.

Just for fun, I looked up porsche. Their engines run about 2000 rpm lower than RX1, and only make just over 100 hp/l freebreathing, or 130 hp/l turbo (thats lower than the claimed power/l of T660!). RX1 makes 150 hp/l freebreathing, thats 1.5 times the output per displacement as a porsche, and makes 190 hp/l on trail turbos, or up to 375 hp/l on crazy-#*$&@ turbo.


Now as for corvette.... THATS JUST A CHEVY! They are the masters of making horsepower by making things GIANT. Not high-tech, BLOODY BIG! The new models make only 61 hp/l. I want you to take one of those chevy 350's and spin it fast enough (no turbo) to get it to make power like RX1 and see what that motor turns into. It would be cool if the rods held on long enough to blow the head off the block with the motor spinning 10krpm.

I will grant that those other motors *are* more high-tech than chevy, but that wasn't the question. Even still, THOSE motors are NOT forced to do the same level of work as RX1.
 
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