XD50 Oil

A conversation among Whalers
Oldslowandugly
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XD50 Oil

Postby Oldslowandugly » Thu May 16, 2019 3:14 pm

Q1: Is anyone using Evinrude XD50 oil in an older outboard?

Q2: [Are there] any problems [caused by using Evinrude XD50 oil in an older outboard engine]?


BACKSTORY: I pre-mix my boat's fuel at 50:1 ratio for gasoline-to-oil. I usually buy my two-cycle oil at my Evinrude dealer who sells it out of a [55-gallon] drum and decants the oil into your container. I used Evinrude XD25 for many years. When XD25 was discontinued I used XD30 (red). Both XD25 and XD30 were much better than West Marine and other oils at keeping the engine's spark plugs clean. This year when I bought oil I got XD-50 (blue). My guy said it was better, and XD30 and XD25 were no longer available.

An online site has also replaced the XD30 with XD50.
unidentified web site wrote:We have replaced XD30 with XD50, all clients using XD30 should now purchase XD50. XD50 is a superior TCW3 alternative.

The only difference [between XD50 and XD30] I see is that [XD50] is a synthetic blend.

Seahorse
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Re: XD50 Oil

Postby Seahorse » Fri May 17, 2019 8:52 am

Oldslowandugly wrote:An online site has also replaced the XD30 with XD50. They said this:
some unidentified web site wrote:We have replaced XD30 with XD50, all clients using XD30 should now purchase XD50. XD50 is a superior TCW3 alternative.

From your description, it sounds more like the website, not Evinrude, is no longer carrying XD30 and wants you to upgrade to the XD50.

XD50 being a semi-synthetic blend burns cleaner with less carbon and less smoke than a petroleum base oil.

jimh
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Re: XD50 Oil

Postby jimh » Fri May 17, 2019 9:29 am

I believe that any TCW3 oil is suitable for use in older outboard engines. If Evinrude XD50 oil carries the TCW3 designator, then it should be suitable for use in an older outboard engine. The proper mixing ratio will be determined by the outboard engine manufacturer and their recommendation.

Nota Bene: Evinrude does not use a dash in their oil product model designators.

On the SHOP.EVINRUDE.COM website the XD30 oil is offered. The product branding has switched to use the XPS brand name.

http://shop.evinrude.com/product/343544 ... Oil_Gallon

Oldslowandugly
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Location: Queens NY

Re: XD50 Oil

Postby Oldslowandugly » Fri May 17, 2019 12:56 pm

Yes, I saw that Evinrude still offers [XD30 oil]. Perhaps my guy was reluctant to order another 100 gallon drum just for guys like me.

dtmackey
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Re: XD50 Oil

Postby dtmackey » Fri May 17, 2019 2:04 pm

Oldslowandugly wrote:Yes, I saw that Evinrude still offers [XD30 oil]. Perhaps my guy was reluctant to order another 100 gallon drum just for guys like me.


I can't image he's selling much XD30 at all, so not surprising he's no longer buying in bulk.

D-

jimh
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Re: XD50 Oil

Postby jimh » Fri May 17, 2019 2:05 pm

Oldslowandugly wrote:...100 gallon drum...


I believe that the bulk drum containers from Evinrude are 55-gallon drums. For some reason the size "55-gallon" seems to be a standard size. An interesting history of the 55-gallon oil container is presented at

https://www.skolnik.com/blog/oils-long- ... teel-drum/

If "your guy" is buying Evinrude oil in 100-gallon drums, they must be darn big containers.

I suspect that among Evinrude outboard engine dealers, selling oil by the gallon into a customer's container from a 55-gallon drum at an attractive price compared to the retail 1-gallon jug packaging may be a good way to get customers to visit the dealer periodically. A customer coming to the dealership to buy a gallon of oil might leave with a new boat and engine.

Newportme
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Re: XD50 Oil

Postby Newportme » Mon May 20, 2019 7:01 am

I was using XD50 in my old 1989 Evinrude 225 engine, and I was not pre-mixing the oil into the gasoline. I noticed no ill effects from use of XD50.. When I changed to XD50 from XD30 I noticed less smoke at start-up. I have upgraded my engine and use exclusively XD100 now.

I hope this information is helpful

Bruce

Oldslowandugly
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Location: Queens NY

Re: XD50 Oil

Postby Oldslowandugly » Mon May 20, 2019 8:47 am

jimh wrote:If "your guy" is buying Evinrude oil in 100-gallon drums, they must be darn big container.


Yes, the oil containers used by my guy are huge blue plastic containers.

I guess my guy felt it was not worth stocking both oils, and so my guy just offers XD50. My guy charged me the same price for XD50 as he was charging me for XD30. As long as XD50 oil is better than XD30 oil, I think my guy's decision to sell XD50 makes sense.

I put the Whaler in the water yesterday. One fuel tank was mixed with the XD50 and the other was was mixed with XD30. I used the XD50 first to see how [the engine] ran. So far so good and no problems. The operating temperature was good.

Upon the next cold start-up I will know better [how the XD50 oil works] as that is when I get some smoke out the exhaust.

The final test will be when I check the spark plugs. The XD30 ran so clean that if I wanted I could probably use the same plugs year to year. I use a fresh set. But that is how cleanly they burned.

I hope with XD50 the spark plugs will be even cleaner than with XD30.

Oldslowandugly
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Location: Queens NY

Re: XD50 Oil

Postby Oldslowandugly » Wed May 29, 2019 7:57 pm

UPDATE: I had a chance to pull the spark plugs and they were clean like new. So far I am very happy with the XD50.