Grade Oil ????

[kabory]

Hello All,

Getting ready to do first 600 mile service.  I have a Kymco Grandvista 250.  The manual says to use 15w40 oil.  I have not been able to find it at any local auto stores, so I went to the dealer and they dont even carry it, but said that they use 10w40. Any thoughts.

Thanx,
Bob

[kawzak]

Shell Delo oil for diesel trucks-and it is the correct grade. But do youself a favor, since the engine only takes a little more than a quart- use Amsoil of some other high end synthetic. The synthetics handle heat better, handle engine bearing loads better and last longer, Use a synthetic gear oil in the rear drive unit also. You can look on line all the technical info on line. I am not a Amsoil oil salesmen. I just want all the protection I can get.

[axy]

Shell Delo oil for diesel trucks-and it is the correct grade. But do youself a favor, since the engine only takes a little more than a quart- use Amsoil of some other high end synthetic. The synthetics handle heat better, handle engine bearing loads better and last longer, Use a synthetic gear oil in the rear drive unit also. You can look on line all the technical info on line. I am not a Amsoil oil salesmen. I just want all the protection I can get.

Using fully synthetic oil for a simple Kymco scooter engine is an overkill. It may be a user preference, but it is not neccessary.

Bikes have been running on semi-synthetic and mineral oils just fine. Suzuki GSXR 1300 from 90s did great on mineral and semi-synthetic oils, with all 140 hp, so will a little 50-500 cc scooter nowadays. In most cases it is just hype made by companies that produce oils. Scooters do not run on high revs and their engines do not have highly sophisticated parts like turbines that have to be served by best oils possible. The story about longer change intervals refer to engines that have real oil filters and car engines that have 5-6 l of oil inside and not scooters that have 0,6-1 l or so and change intervals of 2000 kms because of lack of real oil filters.

p.s. Did you know that industry standard for "fully synthetic oil" still does not exist? Oil companies will not tell you in their ads though. I wonder why.

[Calothrix]

My dealer also uses 10w40 (motorcycle oil) in their Kymco scooters.

[kabory]

Thanx everyone, I picked up some Honda GN4 motor and gear oil, 10w40 and 85/90.

[norcal1]

Using fully synthetic oil for a simple Kymco scooter engine is an overkill. It may be a user preference, but it is not neccessary.

Bikes have been running on semi-synthetic and mineral oils just fine. Suzuki GSXR 1300 from 90s did great on mineral and semi-synthetic oils, with all 140 hp, so will a little 50-500 cc scooter nowadays. In most cases it is just hype made by companies that produce oils. Scooters do not run on high revs and their engines do not have highly sophisticated parts like turbines that have to be served by best oils possible. The story about longer change intervals refer to engines that have real oil filters and car engines that have 5-6 l of oil inside and not scooters that have 0,6-1 l or so and change intervals of 2000 kms because of lack of real oil filters.

p.s. Did you know that industry standard for "fully synthetic oil" still does not exist? Oil companies will not tell you in their ads though. I wonder why.

  +1

[kabory]

Shell Delo oil for diesel trucks-and it is the correct grade. But do youself a favor, since the engine only takes a little more than a quart- use Amsoil of some other high end synthetic. The synthetics handle heat better, handle engine bearing loads better and last longer, Use a synthetic gear oil in the rear drive unit also. You can look on line all the technical info on line. I am not a Amsoil oil salesmen. I just want all the protection I can get.

My manual says it takes just about a qt. or 0.9 liter at change.

SPECIFICATIONS
ENGINE
Throttle grip free play : 2􀁀 6mm
Spark plug : NGK: DPR7EA9
Spark plug gap : 0.9~1.0mm
Valve clearance : IN: 0.1mm EX: 0.1mm
Idle speed : 1700±100rpm
Engine oil capacity:                                            Cylinder compression : 15±2kg/cm_
At disassembly : 1.1 liter                                     Ignition timing : repeatedly
At change : 0.9 liter                                           Coolant capacity : 1400±20cc
Gear oil capacity :                                              Radiator capacity : 1000±20cc
At disassembly : 0.20 liter                                    Reserve tank capacity : 400±20cc
At change : 0.18 liter

Anybody ever use or here of a product called Royal Purple?

[kawzak]

Since the 250 engine holds a quart, and Mineral oil cost about $ 1.89 a quart, and full synthetic (Amsoil is a full synthetic-read the report) costs about $2.80 a quart -- you save  91 cents-WOW. I do change the oil at the Kymco scheduled intervals, and I feel these engines work hard, we expect them to run 55-65 mph or more when ever we want. ( just like larger motorcycles) with only (1) quart of oil for protection, I'll use the best( determined by independent testing labs). (I also run premium gas in all my scooters,and motorcycles). Oil threads always stir up debates- ain't it great!. My out look is this- when it comes to the quality of a product-check consumer reports, or the likes. You usually get what you pay for.

[jprestonian]

(I also run premium gas in all my scooters,and motorcycles).

That may not be the best thing to do for typically low-compression engines found in scooters. Only high-compression ratios can take advantage of higher octane fuels, unless I'm completely wrong about that.  :)
.

[kabory]

I use premium fuel also, the kymco owners manual says to use 95 octane, the highest I have around here is 93 octane.  Is there higher octane over in tawain?, My owners manual says Grand Dink not vista. So I imagine that the info in the manual is for their region.

[jprestonian]

Fuel octane ratings are different in the U.S., vs. elsewhere, yes. Do not know equivalence, but Google can probably point the way. Try Wiki.
.

[kawzak]

Lets look at the Octane/Premiun fuel issue/debate. First  the higher octain fuels allow the engine to run a slight bit cooler (a plus) next the flame propagation is slower ( slower burn) = a little more power and slightly better fuel milage (a plus) and the detergent package is slightly better, so you will have cleaner fuel/tank/carb,  piston,valves etc . (a plus) so why wouldn't you spend a few cents more for these advantages? especially when  a scooter gets great milage to begin with? I think it would be an issue if the vechicle was a gas hog, scooter are not. I've torn down lots of high milage engines, and questioned many people about their oils, fuels and I find cleaner cylinder heads, valves, etc with premium fuels, synthetic or synthetic blend oils. These engines usually will have less valve recession, less ring wear,less bearing wear (especially insert type). I have done tons of research and seen results. Also I have a friend that retired from a reasearch facility, they get to do torturious things to engines and products!