OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Engines Questions On Victa Two Stroke Engines whats the best 2 stroke oil for victa iron 160cc

hey guys how is every one, just got a simple question about 2 stroke oils, lately ive been colecting old victa iron cylinder 2 stroke mowers pre "1985" in the hope of useing them to start a small mowing buisnes... i love the old mowers i have 5 of them so far all runners and simple and above all cheep to fix,
now i would like to know what you fellas recon the best oil is to mix up with??? so far ive been using shell motorcycle 2 stroke oil instead of the lawn mower stuff because i would think it would be much better quality and dont mind paying a bit extra for it is there much diference between the two or am i just wasteing money and should i be useing the cheep stuff

Oils is oils.

Mate of mine used waste sump oil in his Victa for more than 10 years.


Get the ratio right and any 2 stroke oil will do the job.


If i were you i would contact an oil supplier or small oil manufacturer and buy the stuff 20L at a time.

Its $10 for 1L. $30 for 4 or 5L. 20L has got to save you a few quid.


Cheers, Bob.

thanks mate, i did read about people doing that and i just shook my head.... but hey if it works for them , there is no way i would do that to my "76 yamaha dt" but i was just mostly concernd crap oil might shorten engine life. i know the diference between marine TCW3 and standard oil , the marine stuff is ment to burn much cooler, but yeh i read about people useing that for years to with no probs too "i supose you just cant kill an old victa" but from experiance and on another topic i hope others might benafit from this i used old boat fuel in an old talon wipper sniper once caus it was i had lying around and it totaly screwed the carbi cloged it up like crap within 2 minets had to re kit it cheers

Hi Steptoe, I did a little research and came up with this advice for 2 stroke mowers:

Tips
Run your two stroke machines at full power; a lot of people make the mistake of not running the machine at full speed as they�re afraid of damaging the machine. Two stroke machines are designed to work hard and work best when they�re running a full power. Problems will be caused with unspent fuel and carbon build up when the machine is not run at full power.

Mix your 2 stroke fuel mix correctly - don't guess it! It will save you $$$ in the long run.

Give your 2 stroke fuel-can a bit of a shake before refilling your machine as sometimes the oil can settle/separate from the fuel.

Why two different mixes? Easy; it depends on the quality of the oil you use in the mix. If you�re using high quality oil, like Shindaiwa or Echo two stroke oil, it's recommended you run the mix at a 50:1 ratio. Some of the higher quality oils will also have built in fuel stabilizers and smoke reduction formulas etc. This will vary between suppliers. If you�re using another brand of oil or one of lesser quality it's recommended you run the mix at a 25:1 ratio.

The ratios:

50:1 = 100ml of two stroke oil to 5 litres of unleaded petrol

25:1 = 200ml of two stroke oil to 5 litres of unleaded petrol

I personally use BP 2 Stroke oil in my Victa Tilt-A-Cut, as it was the oil recommended by Victa for the Series 80 engines.

I use the valvoline 2 stroke oil that my local go-lo sells for $6 a litre, it seems to do the job. I do mix my fuels a little richer as normally I am starting engines that have sat for many years and may have dry bearings.

I use Valvoline 2 stroke oil because I happened to get a deal on a couple of litres of it years ago and I haven't run out yet (I'm not a 2 stroke enthusiast). It has been very good to me: I have used batches of mixed fuel based on this oil that I've kept for more than a year, and it has apparently been as good as ever. Remember, though, that I was using petrol with no ethanol at all, and Australian petrol does not have some of the other nasty additives common in the US.

Long, long ago I used to mix up petrol and (new, clean) engine oil for 2 strokes. It was a pain in the backside, because it didn't stay mixed and it also caused formation of carbon whiskers across spark plugs. I would not do that again, or recommend the practice to anyone.

I stick to the engine manufacturers' recommendations for petrol to oil ratio. I have no respect for oil manufacturers' opinions on the subject. Yes, there are additives that can make it possible to use a bit less oil in the mix, but the engine manufacturers know that and take it into account. When I was a lad we had to run 2 strokes at 16 to one, and the guy running the mower ended up as smoked meat while still on the hoof. Most modern engines are developed and approved by the manufacturer to run at either 25 to one or 50 to one, depending on how they have designed the engine. That is way better, and while there is still a smell problem, there is no longer much smoke.

This is incorrect and very bad information. Quality of the oil is irrelavant. It should meet the certain standards and say so on the bottle.



This might sound like a good idea but it is not.

With the dry bearings. Best thing is to remove the plug, tip the mower up on its side wind the piston to the bottom and pour a small amount of oil in, it will flow to the crankcase via the transfer ports.






With Premixed fuel you are adding oil to the fuel and this takes up volume in the fuel. The jetting is set to account for the percentage of flow through the jet that is combustable fuel plus the non combustable oil. If you alter the ratio you are infact changing the jetting as more oil means less fuel and vice versa.

By adding extra oil you are making the engine run leaner. This could cause any number of issues and will decrease engine life.

By adding less oil you are making it run richer. Generally oil starvation will not be an issue but you could have issues with that black splooge stuff as the combustion tempratures will be down. Could also get carbon build up. It will smoke more as the combustion temps are not high enough to burn off the oil.

If you alter the premix ratio the jetting needs to be altered accordingly. Or engine 'tuned' if you like. This is OK on a motorbike or similar with a more complex adjustable carb, but on a victa with set jetting you should stick with the reccomended ratio.

Best thing to do is have fresh fuel.


Bob.

With my victa and snipper 2 strokes i only carry a 5 litre (green)jerry can only for 2 stroke fuel which i mix precisly 25:1 using valvaline.my 20 litre jerry can (red) is for unleaded fuel only.i also use a funnel with a mesh filter and use it all the time.next time you go to your local servo to fill up your fuel can or car,use a mesh filter and see how much crud comes out of the fuel nozzel you would be amazed...ken

thanks heaps mate
i bought some penrite standard greens keepers stuff the other week its green as aposed to red wich was the motorcle stuff "i supose colour makes no diff" and in the last two weeks from useing the penrite still at 25/1 ive noticed a decrease in power especially through the ruff stuff,, so im thinking about sticking to the motorcycle stuff "dont mind paying a few dollers extra for good stuff" its gota be better its made for engines that cost a hundred times more !! as for smoke ruduction in oils hey there 2 strokes if there not smokeing at least a bit thers probly something wrong

If they are at temprature and they are smoking there is something wrong.


Colour does not matter. Colour is there as a visual thing to check that you have mixed it. I like blue or green.


Bob.

sory mate i was mainly refureing to two stroke dirt bikes thats were most of my experiance has come from high reving 2 strokes that allways blow off a bit of oil from the crank case at full acceleration."new or worn" i like the 2 stroke cause there easy to fix,much less parts and cheap as chips thats why i useing old victas

Can't say what is the best for them but I have used Shindaiwa oil for a few years now and not had an issue. I like it due to the stabilizer. Some of my chainsaws don't run for a few months at a time.

On mix ratio, I always run what the engine says except when I purchased Opti2 many years ago. I ran Opti2 at 100:1 on my Kawasaki trimmer for 6 years. It still runs first pull EVERY time to this day. I swapped to Shindaiwa because my local mower man would not give me warranty if I used Opti2 at 100:1 on my new Tanaka gear.

I have a Yammy outboard on my boat and it has 100:1 stamped on the cowl. Everyone told me to run it at 50:1 because 100 was way too lean. It used to smoke like a bugger when trolling. It runs so much sweeter at 100. It's a gem of an engine.