Best oil for reservoir

Father's Day

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Hello everybody I have a 2000 150 horse EFI mercury on my Grady ( new to me) what's the best oil to put in the reservoir that mixes in with the gas.
Thanks
George
 

Father's Day

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Hello everybody I have a 2000 150 horse EFI mercury on my Grady ( new to me) what's the best oil to put in the reservoir that mixes in with the gas.
Thanks
George
Old owner just told me he used West Marine brand
 

seasick

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I look for Penzoil XLF to go on sale at Walmart and then stock up on it.
 

luckydude

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anything that is TC-W3 rated should be fine. I used to run Pennzoil Full Synthetic in my HPDIs until they stopped making it. After that I used Marine XLF. I was very happy with the oil. It's on sale!

What he said. On lubes, there are ratings for each type, be it engine oil, mix oil, gear oil, whatever, each class has some ratings. Every company will try and tell you their oil is special. With few exceptions, that's nonsense. What you need to do is open your owner's manual it will push their oil and then say "if you can't find ours, a distance second best is anything rated XYZ". The reality is the ratings are all you really need to know. Because each year they push the engine (or whatever) technology a little more and they figure out that last years oil won't work with this tech, so they come up with a new oil and a new rating. Just match the ratings.

There are exceptions. I'm a tractor guy (software really but I moved to the mountains and got tractors). 3 Kubotas (I bleed orange), B21, M59, KX-161 (that one is an excavator). Kubota's UDT-II hydraulic fluid is one exception, if they require (not suggest, require) that then you have to use it. They have some tractors that have some pumps that run really fast and if you don't use their fluid you will age the pump way faster. But that is the exception, not the rule. I was buying UDT-II for all my hydraulic fluid, it's $25/gallon, my dealer took pity on me and asked what tractors I had, I told him, only one of mine needs the super expensive stuff.

Summary: figure out if your engine is in any (real) way special. If it is, use the magic sauce. If your manual says anything rated XYZ is ok, but our super expensive sauce is better, "OK" is code for it will work just fine.

All that said, I am not a trained mechanic. But I do shade tree mechanic work with a guy who is one, a degree in tractor mechanics from Cal Poly (who knew that was a thing) and some sort of degree or more training in electrical systems from Davis. I thought I knew electrical because I have rewired an entire house - I don't know squat. Car/boat/tractor electrical is far more complex, this guy is a whiz, I've watched him debug electrical problems so fast it makes my head spin. Whatever, I'm not a mechanic but I've worked on hundreds of engines, I used to buy into the "use our special sauce" and I mostly don't, I go by the rating unless the manual says "You must use our sauce".
 
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Lt.Mike

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I have a fuel injected 2 stroke Suzuki DT225. It is oil injected requiring no premix but...
The manual instructs that the first tank of fuel be premixed 50:1 after a long period of storage. (Winter storage)
I err on the side of caution and premix every tank afterward with a 100:1 mix. The engine runs great but if the oil pump ever goes or has a hiccup that’ll prevEnt damage. I reason the oil coating will help protect the tank as well.
My go to oil has been Mercury Quicksilver EFI 2 stroke.
 

Parthery

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Pennzoil XLF for me. Used it for years. $17/gal at Walmart or Academy.
 

Father's Day

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I have a fuel injected 2 stroke Suzuki DT225. It is oil injected requiring no premix but...
The manual instructs that the first tank of fuel be premixed 50:1 after a long period of storage. (Winter storage)
I err on the side of caution and premix every tank afterward with a 100:1 mix. The engine runs great but if the oil pump ever goes or has a hiccup that’ll prevEnt damage. I reason the oil coating will help protect the tank as well.
My go to oil has been Mercury Quicksilver EFI 2 stroke.
Something to consider thanks