You’ve heard the expression “choose wisely.” When it comes to choosing an engine oil and filter to protect your Yamaha, this couldn’t be more true.
Using the correct oil and filter at the recommended intervals is the single most important thing you can do for your outboard.
Avoid Automotive Oil Your Yamaha outboard is vastly different from your automotive engine, so avoid regular automotive engine oils. Use a motor oil specifically formulated for the rigors of the marine environment, like Yamalube® 4M for 4-stroke outboards, and Yamalube® 2M for two-stroke outboards. NMMA-Certified OilMarine engine oils are so different in their requirements that special levels of certification exist: FC-W® (4 stroke) and TC-W3® (2 stroke). These represent the minimum standards of the National Marine Manufacturer’s Association (NMMA®) for marine engines. With their high quality and advanced formulations, all Yamalube 4M and 2M oils meet or surpass all of these requirements. Using Yamalube is best for your Yamaha outboard, but whatever outboard motor oil you choose, make sure it is the correct type and viscosity and that it carries either the NMMA® FC-W® or TC-W3® label.
Higher Engine Load & Speed The typical loads placed on your outboard are much heavier than on your automobile, having to overcome a much greater amount of drag to create performance. This means your outboard is working much harder than your automobile’s engine. Yamalube 4M and 2M marine engine oils contain specific anti-wear additives to account for this. Your outboard also operates at a much higher RPM than your automobile’s engine. It must rev higher to create higher speeds, rather than just changing gears like your car. That means your outboard may run all day long at 4500-6000 RPM, rather than the 2500 RPM your car reaches at highway speeds. That’s tough on your oil, and it can literally shear (or split) the molecules in ordinary automotive oil, reducing lubricity. Yamalube 4M and 2M have special shear-stable polymers to combat this and provide superior lubrication at all times.
Operating Temperature & EnvironmentOutboards are cooled using raw water, which is often cool to very cold. On the other hand, saltwater will begin to crystallize if its temperature is raised above 170° F, potentially causing blockage in the cooling passages and leading to engine overheat and possible damage. Because of these two factors, your outboard operates full-time at a temperature much lower that your automobile, and requires very different qualities in its lubricating oil. Yamalube marine oils have detergents, dispersants and viscosity index improvers to meet these marine-specific challenges head-on. Your outboard is constantly near water, sucking in very humid air directly off the water’s surface to operate. This humid air also gets inside combustion chambers through open valves when it’s not in use. And in a saltwater environment, that air is even more corrosive. It’s one of the harshest environments imaginable for an engine. Yamalube 4M and 2M are purposely formulated with special anti-corrosion agents to help combat and prevent the corrosive effects of this environment. Yamalube outboard engine oils provide specific protection other boat motor oils don’t, using a proprietary blend of marine-specific anti-wear additives, shear-stable polymers, corrosion inhibitors, detergents, dispersants and viscosity index improvers. In short, they’re far superior to automotive engine oils in their strength of protection, durability and corrosion resistance.
Engine Oil with Steve Pennaz
Oil Change Kits
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