Re: 55 gal drum TCW II oil
On the settling comments, I drained the crankcase oil out of an engine once and put it in a plastic container with a lid. It was jet black when I drained it....typical older engine diesel oil.
A year or so later I happened onto the shelf where I had placed it (why I happened to put it on a shelf rather than put it in my used oil recycling drum, I don't know) and it sat, undisturbed, for over a year.
The top 7/8 of the solution in the container was honey colored, clear oil and the bottom was full of sludge as "rodbolt" mentioned with new oil with additives. I just never thought about that additives/contaminants, if they weighed more than that of their solution would settle out (as long as a chemical union didn't occur). But that wasn't something I needed to think about at the time so I didn't. I thought that one (not me) might reuse old oil if left to separate like this, but what I had no access to was the chemical composition of the oil, in particular the presence of sulphuric acid...from the sulphur primarily in the fuel the engine used. That alone was enough to abandon any idea of sorts.
For the record on using TCW-II vs III, my current Merc Service Manual was published in 1997 and TCW-II was the highest rating available at that time and recommended for the engines in there. It looks like you should be able to at least use it in '97 or older engines.
Lot to be said about current seller, selling to avoid disposal problems.
What does an average citizen do with 110 gallons of 2 cycle engine oil? I bought an 18 wheeler once with an 800 cu in Cummins II 400 hp turbo diesel that held 11 gallons of Rotella T 15W-40. I bought that in 55 gallon drums since I had to change oil about every 2 months, but on a 2 cycle outboard?
My 2c, as usual worth what you paid for it.
Mark
