Lower Unit Oil

[BSDenning]

Hello Everyone,

I've got a question about lower unit oil. I have the following motors that I am getting ready to change the lower unit oil in:

1957 7.5hp Evinrude Fleetwin
1957 18hp Evinrude Fastwin
1962 10hp Evinrude Sportwin

Normally I use Pennzoil Marine Lower Unit Oil 80W90.
http://www.amazon.com/Pennzoil-62629-Marine-Lower-Lubrication/dp/B000ZKNEJO/ref=pd_sim_sbs_e_1

But I couldn't find that in any of the stores I looked at in my area. So, I just bought Valvoline SAE 80W90 Gear Oil.
http://www.amazon.com/Valvoline-VV8...M5YA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1292687340&sr=8-1

So, my question to the experts on here is: Is there any difference between regular 80W90 gear oil vs Marine Lower Unit Oil? Should I go ahead and use the valvoline, or take it back to the store and order some pennzoil Marine Lower Unit Oil?

Thanks,
Bret

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Lower Unit Oil

Advance auto sells the Pennzoil Marine gear lube.

The Mobile One would work fine but i think the marine oils are designed to disperse any water better than regular gear lube.

 

[BSDenning]

Re: Lower Unit Oil

Well, the one in Wallace, NC doesn't.

 

[Will Bark]

Re: Lower Unit Oil

I was able to buy my Penzoil L/U oil at our local Wally World and I noticed that O'Rielly's had it in stock.

 

[BSDenning]

Re: Lower Unit Oil

I thought I had bought mine from Walmart too! But, I couldn't find it in the store here or online at Walmart.com.

 

[Vic.S]

Re: Lower Unit Oil

They tell us that the marine oil contains water emulsifiers and extra corrosion inhibitors to guard against the effects of water ingress.

If the gear cases are tight and esp if run in fresh water I'd happily use the Valvoline oil.

My '84 6hp has always been run on automotive oil .. on salt water too.

Your call.

 

[BSDenning]

Re: Lower Unit Oil

I just called Advanced Auto Parts and they said that they don't have the Pennzoil Lower Unit Lube, but they do have Valvoline Outboard Gear Oil.

http://www.valvoline.com/products/brands/valvoline/gear-oil/60

I think I will go take theses regular gear oils back and get the outboard gear oil. With my motors being so old, I think it is worth it to have the extra protection against water.

 

[Will Bark]

Re: Lower Unit Oil

Called Walmart and they said that they have switched to Lubric-Matic and will be carrying that from now on; O'Rielly's now carries the Valvoline; guess Pennzoil has gone the way of the dinosaurs.

 

[boobie]

Re: Lower Unit Oil

That's where the oil came from anyway, wasn't it ? LOL.

 

[F_R]

Re: Lower Unit Oil

Well, SOME marine gear oils may honestly state that they have special additives, but I sort of have my doubts that they ALL do. Anybody can slap some 90 weight oil in a tube and call it "marine". So, do you know which ones have the magic formula?

Besides, the manufacturer of those 1957 motors specified "Hypoid Oil". That's 90 weight oil for car rear ends. Sold everywhere now, so common they don't even call it Hypoid any more because all car rear ends have been Hypoid axles for the last 70 years or so.

I used to work for a well-known company that re-packaged and sold "special" use oil. All we did to it was add some color and increase the price 4-fold. The name will go un-revealed.

 

[EN2]

Re: Lower Unit Oil

A couple of years ago someone replied in a post about this. Automotive gear oil has sulphur in it,Whereas marine oil does not. Apparantly if you had a gear case leak with salt water use you would wind up with a corrosive witches brew.

 

[samo_ott]

Re: Lower Unit Oil

A couple of years ago someone replied in a post about this. Automotive gear oil has sulphur in it,Whereas marine oil does not. Apparantly if you had a gear case leak with salt water use you would wind up with a corrosive witches brew.

Never heard that one before. Huh. Good thing I'm only in fresh water.

 

[seahorse5]

Re: Lower Unit Oil

Here is a link to a lower unit oil test article from a few years back. It is interesting and sheds some light on how gear oils stack up against each other.

http://bwbmag.com/output.cfm?id=1891729&sectionid=308

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Lower Unit Oil

No more Quicksilver at Walmart?.....I thought they always had it....

 

[BSDenning]

Re: Lower Unit Oil

Here is a link to a lower unit oil test article from a few years back. It is interesting and sheds some light on how gear oils stack up against each other.

http://bwbmag.com/output.cfm?id=1891729&sectionid=308

Thanks a lot! That was a very interesting article!