Thread: 2 Cycle Outboard Oil

I know we've covered this subject before, but I wanted to bring it up again. About 6 months ago I asked if anyone used a generic 2 cycle outboard oil like the Wal-Mart SuperTech. A number of you responded that you use the SuperTech without problems and others swore by their name brand oils. Well, last Monday I ran out of my Johnson/Evinrude outboard oil and I found my old SuperTech outboat oil. I figured that I would use it for this one trip and buy my normal oil later. I gotta tell you, my outboard sounded off. The idle was rough and just seemed like it ran differenlty. Today I made sure to stop by the store and get my regular stuff.

I wanted to know what you guys thought about the generic and name brand oils.

Alex, I'm probably not a lot of help here. But I just sold my Skeeter that had a 90 hp Mercury on it. I just ran the Walmart/Bass Pro Mercury Quicksilver in it. It seemed to do just fine on it and I ran it for about six years up until I sold it.

But now I've got a Mercury 225 Optimax and they have been telling me we need to run the high dollar stuff in it. WOW, it is about $35.00 a gallon, but I guess a small expense in the big picture with that motor costing as much as it does and what it would cost to replace it.

I certainly don't have any knowledge of what is right or wrong, just telling what I have done.

The Quicksilver is good oil for most 2 strokes. Chris you will for sure want to keep the Optimax oil in yours. It will not burn enough oil in a year to break you even at $35 dollars a gallon. I am only on my second gallon in over a year of running my boat. I did hear that it was fixing to go up again.

Everything is going up in price. I was always told that you should never change brands of oil in a car or truck motor. I don't know if it is true or not but I am not willing to take a chance on it.

Originally Posted by WantinCrappie

Alex, I'm probably not a lot of help here. But I just sold my Skeeter that had a 90 hp Mercury on it. I just ran the Walmart/Bass Pro Mercury Quicksilver in it. It seemed to do just fine on it and I ran it for about six years up until I sold it.

But now I've got a Mercury 225 Optimax and they have been telling me we need to run the high dollar stuff in it. WOW, it is about $35.00 a gallon, but I guess a small expense in the big picture with that motor costing as much as it does and what it would cost to replace it.

I certainly don't have any knowledge of what is right or wrong, just telling what I have done.

I run the quick silver in my merc 175 EFI but if I had the Optimax I would use whatever they recommend. Very Nice and expensive motor and I wouldn't want to take a chance either.

I have a 115 Opti and only use the high dollar oil. According to the owners manual you can use the Premium Quicksilver synthetic blend as an alternative. I have a buddy that has the same engine as I do and he uses the cheaper oil. He has run it for a couple seasons without incident and swears it runs just as good.

I refuse to cut corners and still use the spensive stuff.

Oil is the engines "blood" Why would you skimp? In my opinion, never stray from the manufactures recommendations.