Stihl PREMIUM 2 stroke oil

[Lobo]

Picked up some Stihl PREMIUM 2 stroke oil last week, the label claims it contains FUEL STABILIZER and says to mix with fresh premium or minimum 89 octane gazoline.

2 things bug me here:


1- why not say 91 octane or higher if they are suggesting PREMIUM gasoline. most people I know use 91 or 93 in their saws and other 2 strokes.

2- No mention of how long the mix with their stabilizer will keep for.

Briggs & Stratton fuel stabilizer in belly pouches claims it will keep fuel fresh up to 24 months. Sta-Bil claims 9 to 12 months. Why is Stihl not putting something on the bottle like 6 mos, 9 mos, 12 mos, whatever. Do give the consumers some kind of time span even if minimal.

Oh and its bottled for them by Castrol which is not exactly inspiring me either.

 

[bvaught]

Im guessing they dont say "premium gas only" because some customers may not have ready access to premium gas. Truth be told you could probably run really low octane fuel in most of stihls saws without problems (especially when running 50:1 mixtures). However its good to be on the safe side.

There are many variables as to how long fuel will last. In hot climates with poor quality gas a fuel stabilizer may not be able to keep the gas "good" for more than a few months. Stihl seems to be giving guidance without giving a liability inducing guarantee.

Dont know much about Castrol 2 stroke mix. But they didnt do good in 4 stroke oils that were gas spectrographed to reveal the important qualities in a 4 stroke oil...which makes me wonder about the 2 stroke stuff.

 

[SIRCHOPALOT]

don't worry about the castrol. one of the best 2-stroke oils ever was castrol A7-47. wasn't the cleanest, but lubed really well.

 

[Ax-man]

I trust Sthil in who they pick to manufacture their oil. I have never had any problems with their oil products.

Larry

 

[toocheaptosmoke]

i was reading on another forum that the stihl oil in canada is a form of castrol oil in a stihl bottle while the oil in the US is stihl's own formulation. just thought id let you know.

 

[Lobo]

At the complete bottom of the label It reads:

Manufactured for Stihl by Castrol

Hopefully that means it is Stihl's formulation, blended and bottled by Castrol.

 

[Joey P]

its not bottled by Castrol for Stihl in the states.....and yes Stihl has their own patented very specific formulation......they just dont have the Logistics to bottle it themselves.

 

[bwalker]

and yes Stihl has their own patented very specific formulation

BS. If so provide me the patent number.

 

[Lobo]

they may have their own formulation they have developped in their labs to work with their own metallurgy, coatings, seals etc. but I also seriously doubt it has been patented.

 

[Lawn Masters]

Its cheaper for any given manufacturer to have an oil dyed a certain color, bottled, and labeled with said manufafturers name and logo, than it is to have their own formulation of oil. why make a 2 stroke oil specially formulated by one company, when everyone else just has Citgo, or Castrol or whoever bottle it for them.

 

[bwalker]

Oldsaw has hit the nail on the head...
The idea that oems have unique formulations that are some how superior is pure BS! IN reality the oem oils are of medium quality and primarly design for profit..

 

[sedanman]

Guys, I rarely see eye to eye with Ben but I have to agree with him on this one. Stihl oil is no better than any other manufacturer labeled oil. It may be EXACTLY same as a few of them.

 

[stihltech]

oil

Why would it necessarily be better than husky, or Echo, or Jonsered, etc. No manufacturer in their right mind will bottle an inferior oil.
Made by someone else, you betcha. Why go into the oil business when another company is up and running, making an oil that meets your engineers specs, and able to deliver said oil in packaging of your choice.
I tell people to use a good 2 cycle AIR COOLED oil.
Beside, as has been said in the past, I see failure from a complete lack of oil, not from the use of a different name brand of oil.

 

[Lobo]

This oil being standard Castrol crap (if that is the case) I guess that will be my last purchase of Stihl oil.

 

[bvaught]

Lobo,

Are you having oil related problems, what kind of properties do you want in a 2 stroke oil? I think stihltech is right in that we are splitting hairs between the different brands. If anyone has some hard data on the type of base stock and the additives of a particular oil, I would love to hear about it.

Does anyone have access to a mass spectrometer?

 

[Lobo]

bvaught, not having any oil related problems on any 2 cycles, did have some with Castrol on vehicles at one time. I just do not particularly care for Castrol products.

I use Mobil 1 or Amsoil in vehicles and I am extremely pleased with both, also been using 2 cycles oils such as Opti-2, Amsoil, Echo and have been very pleased with those. All the talk and posting here going on about Amsoil, their testing methods, mix ratio's etc. was the reason for looking at some other oils. But personnally I have never ever had any problems with Amsoil or Opti or Echo or Tanaka oils.

Curiously I do not know of any law suits or government slapping of Amsoil, for false representations, claims, advertising etc.. So I think I will stick with Amsoil for now as MX2T is not available here retail wise, but next time I cross the border I will pick some MX2T up as I am convinced that if its as good as Mobil 1 synthetic it is great stuff I am sure and probably less expensive to purchase.

Do not like using products I have no faith in such as Castrol, if I wanted Castrol I can get it at Wally world, nickel & dime stores and my corner convenience store.

I like good quality products even if it's just for my peace of mind !

 

[bwalker]

Lobo, Go to your local Esso jobber. They can get you any MObil product you want.
BTW IN regards to stihls techs comment on why would Stihl sell a inferior product. One word comes to mind....profit. There are many products out there that are higher in quality than the oem oils and a few that actually cost less.
FWIW if you doubt how much money they are making on a container of oil go to your local echo dealer and pick up a quart of powerblend, then go to y9our local citgo dealer and pic up some Citgo Aircooled. These products are one and the same with the only differance being the packaging and price.

 

[Lobo]

Hi Ben,

Tried the local distributor covering Quebec here, they only sell in large cases or bulk.

Spent a complete morning talking back and forth with these people and talking to Esso in Toronto and in New-Brunswick, never really got anywhere. Esso understandibly prefer to promote their own premix and obviously are in competition with the Mobil distributors in Canada.

The short of it is it will be a whole lot simpler to pick some up states side next trip there.

I may even try Esso's own 2 cycle premix here, I am sure that it is of excellent quality dino oil and would probably be better than Castrol.

I just have a preference for synthetic lubes myself as they have proven themselves to me.

 

[bwalker]

As I have said before Esso easy mix is of very hiugh quality and is a synthetic blend.