Prolong the life of your 4stroke motor

[charles23]

I read in an old copy of ADB mag that you can prolong the life of your 4T motor by adding a small quanitity of 2T oil to the petrol. Does anyone have any thoughts/advice on this? I think they mentioned 50mls to 10 litres of gas.

[Edbear]

Way back when, you used to add a squirt or two of Redex to the petrol to help clean the combustion chambers of carbon build up. If your motor was badly carbonned up you could sometimes avoid a head-off and decarb by squirting heaps of it down the carby. MAde like a bushfire but was fun!

Nowadays with higher octane, cleaner fuel, (unleaded), higher compressions, (much higher, from 6.5 to 1 to around 11-12 to 1), better oils and stronger spark, it's not necessary and may upset the catalytic converters.

Modern engines can last almost indefinitely if properly serviced. You couldn't imagine getting 3-400,000 km from a Morris Minor or Hillman Minx, but such mileages are commonplace now. Our '99 Pulsar, bought new has done 140,000km and still runs like new. Had regular servicing at 1500km intervals and apart from tyres, (third set on now), all I've done to it is replace the front brake pads. Still on the original rears!

[Danger]

Our '99 Pulsar, bought new has done 140,000km and still runs like new. Had regular servicing at 1500km intervals and apart from tyres, (third set on now), all I've done to it is replace the front brake pads. Still on the original rears!

Wow wish I was your mechanic! Do you have a regular fortnightly appointment? It might have been cheaper to flag all those services and just run it into the ground.

I assume you really meant 15000kms?

[Danger]

I read in an old copy of ADB mag that you can prolong the life of your 4T motor by adding a small quanitity of 2T oil to the petrol. Does anyone have any thoughts/advice on this? I think they mentioned 50mls to 10 litres of gas.

Hi Charles, I have heard this too, and I always add two stroke oil to my fuel. But I ride two strokes. Its just cheaper that way.

[Edbear]

Wow wish I was your mechanic! Do you have a regular fortnightly appointment? It might have been cheaper to flag all those services and just run it into the ground.

I assume you really meant 15000kms?

Ain't it amazing the difference a little zero makes! I tell the boss he should add one to my paycheck, after all it's nothing, really...

[chop]

I used to add moreys upper cyclinder lube to my gas in my 450

[rok-the-boat]

Probably not really necessary today. But, it can protect the inside the exhaust system from rust if used occasionally. Old 70's Jap bikes had not-very-good silencers and one trick was to take them off and pour 2 stroke oil down them when new. It worked for me. And while I'm at it, take off new metal mudguards a spray the insides with clear lacquer and they will not rust, and will be easy to clean.

[charles23]

[QUOTE=chop;906485]I used to add moreys upper cyclinder lube to my gas in my 450[/QUotev

hi, can you recall what ratio you used to use?

[spookytooth]

the bottle has marks on the side for per ltr ratio

[GinO]

I read in an old copy of ADB mag that you can prolong the life of your 4T motor by adding a small quanitity of 2T oil to the petrol. Does anyone have any thoughts/advice on this? I think they mentioned 50mls to 10 litres of gas.

This was a hangover from the days when they first went to unleaded. It was thought that the valves needed a little lubricant to take the place of the lead in the petrol. With modern valve seats all but the most highly worked race engines don't need it. Factory MXers will run very expensive beryllium/bronze valve seats because they handle the high revs/temps and titanium valves better but your Husky won't have a problem. The best way to prolong your engine life is to change the oil frequently and keep the filters (oil and air) clean. Use a semi or full synthetic and change it every 5 to 10 hrs. DO NOT use car oils because they contain friction modifiers that will make your clutch slip and detergents to prolong the service life in cars. Any of the major brands make motorcycle specific oils and they all work well particularly if you change them frequently.

[charles23]

thanks for the advice, I'll leave leave the oil out and stick to straight gas

[pete376403]

Wow wish I was your mechanic! Do you have a regular fortnightly appointment? It might have been cheaper to flag all those services and just run it into the ground.

I assume you really meant 15000kms?

I think long engine life is more a function of superior Japanese engines than anything else. I went to Pick-a-part to find another speedo for wifes Honda Accord (speedo wasn't working and car failed a warrant) . Every Civic, Accord and Prelude speedo I found had at least 300,000 kms on it, and these cars were being wrecked because of body damage or rust. I ended up getting a speedo out of a NZ new 98 Accord that according to the owners handbook was a company car. It had 350,000 on the odo and was wrecked because of front impact damage. And yes I did reset the odo to a more realistic distance travelled

[Motu]

When I started my apprenticeship we did 1,000 mile oil changes on cars - that's why there were seperate lube bays and a guy who just did lubes.As well as my other menial jump to it duties I pumped out 16 lubes a day.We sold a shit load more oil back then than I do now.