4 stroke engine oil for a kart

gooner99

Hopefully I've posted in the most appropriate section of the forum. If not can a mod please move this thread.

My son got a second hand kart with a 4 stroke engine. I'd imagine it's a Chinese build, but it's in good shape. I would like to change the oil in it and use something that will extend the life a long as possible. Does anyone know if it's just standard lawnmower SAE30 (I have briggs for my mower) that it used or would it require a car/motor oil. Or indeed is it some sort of special kart oil that should be used. Manual seems to point (I'm not great at reading the charts) to a 5w30 oil?

Attached are some pics of the engine. I can scan the manual page if that helps.

Thanks guys.

biko

Child-me is very jealous

Tbh I'm not sure what oil it is but this fella put 15w40 in his

CJhaughey

Thats a clone of a Honda GX 160, Honda recommend 10w30.
They don't hold much its usually 600ml.

corkgsxr

That little oil why not use castrol fully synthetic motorbike oil. I'd go for 10/40.

CJhaughey

corkgsxr wrote: »

That little oil why not use castrol fully synthetic motorbike oil. I'd go for 10/40.

Not needed on these engines, low revving pushrod single cylinder no oil pump just a flinger.
Honda don't recommend any 40 weight oil for these just 30 weight.
10w30 will work from -20°C to +40°C.
Change every 100hrs use, drop it to 50 hrs if you feel you need to.

gooner99

Thanks for the replies.

CJ. Funny I was googling these clones myself this evening and I came to the thinking that it was a honda gx-200 clone. I was close!
Edit : Maybe it is a gx-200 clone as it seems to be 6.5hp, while the gx-160 seems to be 5.5hp?

What type of 10w30 should I use. Would it be the same as you'd put in a car, motorbike, or special type for these engines?

Semi synthetic?

Any particular brand/product work best?

Esel

Any brand-name oil - whatever is cheapest at the time. If 4 litres gives you five (or six?) doses, change early and often.

Tbh, I would be much more concerned about operator safety - roll-cage, proper seat-belt, brakes, proper helmet, etc. After all, the operator is your son.

gooner99

Cheers. Yeah it has a roll cage, seat belts, lights, disc brakes and a proper helmet.

corkgsxr

CJhaughey wrote: »

Not needed on these engines, low revving pushrod single cylinder no oil pump just a flinger.
Honda don't recommend any 40 weight oil for these just 30 weight.
10w30 will work from -20°C to +40°C.
Change every 100hrs use, drop it to 50 hrs if you feel you need to.

Maybe overkill but it would lengthen life of the engine. And at 15 euro for a litre will hardly break the bank

9935452

gooner99 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.

CJ. Funny I was googling these clones myself this evening and I came to the thinking that it was a honda gx-200 clone. I was close!
Edit : Maybe it is a gx-200 clone as it seems to be 6.5hp, while the gx-160 seems to be 5.5hp?

What type of 10w30 should I use. Would it be the same as you'd put in a car, motorbike, or special type for these engines?

Semi synthetic?

Any particular brand/product work best?

The genuine honda 5.5hp probably has more power.
I have a power washer that came with a 6.5hp clone which was under pressure with the power washer .
Put a 5.5 honda into it and its under very little pressure at all.

CJhaughey

corkgsxr wrote: »

Maybe overkill but it would lengthen life of the engine. And at 15 euro for a litre will hardly break the bank

Thats a fallacy, Full synthetic won't make these engines last any longer than mineral oil.
They don't rev high enough to make mineral oil break down, they don't have an integral gearbox like a motorcycle to shear the oil.
Its wasting money IMHO.
Just normal semi-syn or mineral 10w30 will be fine, buy a decent brand and you will be OK and change it regularly.
If the engine does give up, they aren't hugely expensive.
Just make sure that you turn off the fuel tap after use, they can be bad and leak fuel into the crankcase diluting the oil.
If you are storing it over winter put a rod into the hole at 12 Oclock on the starter housing and slowly pull the pullcord until the rod slips into the flywheel.
This will be TDC and the valves will all be shut avoiding corrosion.

gooner99

Thanks all. I don't think it'll get a chance to be stored over this winter. He's out every evening so far. Here is the manual page on oil, also points to 10w30. So 10w30 is the one to go for. Will pick up 5L, shouldn't be too expensive even for semi synthetic?

I don't see any 10w30 on Halfrauds or MicksGarage. Is it not widely used?

Special Circumstances

Maybe you'd get 10w30 in the states, or japan (last time I saw that it was a 90's mazda owners manual) but I've never seen in Ireland for a car. Maybe you need to look in motorbike section or use car 5w30?

corkgsxr

CJhaughey wrote: »

Thats a fallacy, Full synthetic won't make these engines last any longer than mineral oil.
They don't rev high enough to make mineral oil break down, they don't have an integral gearbox like a motorcycle to shear the oil.
Its wasting money IMHO.
Just normal semi-syn or mineral 10w30 will be fine, buy a decent brand and you will be OK and change it regularly.
If the engine does give up, they aren't hugely expensive.
Just make sure that you turn off the fuel tap after use, they can be bad and leak fuel into the crankcase diluting the oil.
If you are storing it over winter put a rod into the hole at 12 Oclock on the starter housing and slowly pull the pullcord until the rod slips into the flywheel.
This will be TDC and the valves will all be shut avoiding corrosion.

What about heat? That also breaks down oils.
Hacking around in a go cart will makes loads of heat.

And your not talking big price difference either. 12 vs 15 per litre.

Other thing is iv seen engines make more power with better oils. My bike makes most power with castrol full synthetic.

On 100 ish hp it can't be 10 hp difference

CJhaughey

gooner99 wrote: »

Thanks all. I don't think it'll get a chance to be stored over this winter. He's out every evening so far. Here is the manual page on oil, also points to 10w30. So 10w30 is the one to go for. Will pick up 5L, shouldn't be too expensive even for semi synthetic?

I don't see any 10w30 on Halfrauds or MicksGarage. Is it not widely used?

Try here.
https://www.louis.ie/artikel/procycle-4t-engine-oil-semi-synthetic-sae-10w-30/10038462?list=237590483

CJhaughey

corkgsxr wrote: »

What about heat? That also breaks down oils.
Hacking around in a go cart will makes loads of heat.

And your not talking big price difference either. 12 vs 15 per litre.

Other thing is iv seen engines make more power with better oils. My bike makes most power with castrol full synthetic.

On 100 ish hp it can't be 10 hp difference

If your bike makes 10hp more on synthetic oil as opposed to semi-syn or mineral I will happily drink the whole bottle of oil.

corkgsxr

CJhaughey wrote: »

If your bike makes 10hp more on synthetic oil as opposed to semi-syn or mineral I will happily drink the whole bottle of oil.

Made 98.9 with motul semi 1040.

Made 109.89 with castrol fully 1040.

03 gsxr 600. I can did up sheets if ya want.

No other work between runs beside swapping oil.

CJhaughey

corkgsxr wrote: »

Made 98.9 with motul semi 1040.

Made 109.89 with castrol fully 1040.

03 gsxr 600. I can did up sheets if ya want.

No other work between runs beside swapping oil.

Your bike dyno'd 12hp difference on the same day, same fuel ,same humidity, and barometric pressure, just by changing oils?

Honda had to do massive work to the world superbike CBR to get another 15hp.
You should call them and tell them they are using the wrong oil.

gooner99

Cheers. Will try them.

corkgsxr

CJhaughey wrote: »

Your bike dyno'd 12hp difference on the same day, same fuel ,same humidity, and barometric pressure, just by changing oils?

Honda had to do massive work to the world superbike CBR to get another 15hp.
You should call them and tell them they are using the wrong oil.

Similar conditions. Iv ran castrol since and it's been on the dyno 3 or 4 times always got around 109.

gooner99

This one seems like good value using parcel wizard. Should do the job nicely?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Castrol-Power-Engine-Oil-10W-30/dp/B0064YM5PO/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8#Ask

corkgsxr

gooner99 wrote: »

This one seems like good value using parcel wizard. Should do the job nicely?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Castrol-Power-Engine-Oil-10W-30/dp/B0064YM5PO/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8#Ask

Thats the one.

CJhaughey

gooner99 wrote: »

This one seems like good value using parcel wizard. Should do the job nicely?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Castrol-Power-Engine-Oil-10W-30/dp/B0064YM5PO/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8#Ask

That will only do 1 oil change @ 600ml per change.
with 400ml left over for top ups.

gooner99

Cheers. I think I'll get 2 bottles. That may possibly do 3 changes and a top up, or 2 and top ups.