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A short while back I came across a post on one of the local boating boards concerning a field test of TCW-3 oil (the board is provided by WMI. It is one of the best boards I've seen as far as fishing and boating is concerned Check it out.) I thought it good that someone acutally had the oportunity and know-how to conduct such a testing. I was more impressed that they were willing to share their findings.
I contacted the person who did the testing, Doug Ridgway, and asked if he would allow me to use a copy of that post on this site. Instead he offered to send to me a write up that expanded on his findings. Doug, I sincerely appreciate all your efforts to uncover and share this information. And I'm sure that hundreds of others will feel the same.
This last Spring I conducted an informal test on TCW III oils. This was brought about by the need to find a better oil than the contract oil we have been using. Two of our boat motors, one an OMC 32 cubic inch 70 hp and the other a OMC 115 hp cross flow, had repeated engine failures due to carbon build-up. Both of these engines had been treated with Engine Tuner at regular intervals.
We tested 5 brands of TCW III oils, OMC's, Merc's Premium Plus, Amsoil, Redline Watercraft, and Royal Purple. The lasts three are synthetics. All of the manufacturers basically told me the same thing, with their oil you probably didn't need to use Engine Tuner. So, for the test, I told our operators not to treat the engines with tuner. I did periodically check the engine's condition, making sure that there wasn't any damage being done.
The engines I used were all OMCs. They included:
| ENGINE | OIL TESTED | ENGINE HOURS | TEST HOURS |
| 225 HP Ocean Pro | Amsoil | 735 | 700 |
| 200 HP Johnson | OMC | 1240 | 254 |
| 150 HP Ocean Pro | Royal Purple / Redline | 843 | 357 |
| 150 HP Ocean Pro | Premium Plus | 278 | 278 |
| 70 HP Evinrude | OMC | 341 | 341 |
| 115 HP Cross Flow | Premium Plus | 1498 | 478 |
All of these engines were used on research boats. With the exception of the 200 hp, they all spent the majority of their time working at low rpms pulling nets or other gear. The Royal Purple was used on one of the 150 HP. It was dropped from the test after 50 hours. It smoked badly, fouled plugs, and generally made the crews nauseous. It was replaced by the Redline Watercraft oil. The change was dramatic, the smoke was reduced to almost nothing, the plugs were lasting 200+ hours, and the crews were happy.
The Premium Plus cleaned up the Cross Flow in a dramatic manner. The engine went from huge carbon deposits in the exhaust system, to almost nothing. The other 150 hp has lived its whole life on Premium Plus, with no carbon build-up.
The OMC oil worked equally as well cleaning up the 200 hp Johnson. The 70 hp shows no sign of any carbon build-up.
The 225 hp has the most test hours on it. It has run on Amsoil for the vast majority of it's life. The Amsoil has worked very well. We were getting between 200 & 250 hours on a set of spark plugs.
I pulled the heads on all of the engines for a visual inspection. I was checking for carbon build-up in the exhaust ports and for cylinder wall scoring. I also did a compression & leak down test to check for wear. None of the engines showed any excessive wear or buildup.
To say that one oil worked better than another is probably splitting hairs. The Amsoil and Redline oils do smoke less and plugs last a little longer. But, with all things considered, I can not honestly say that one oil worked that much better than another. They all worked much better than the contract oil we had been using. With all else being somewhat equal, I decided to go with price. The OEM oils are the cheapest with Amsoil next and Redline being the most expensive.
If we were running performance engines or operating in extreme temperatures, then the synthetics would probably be worth the extra money. They tend to be better oils. But, for that vast majority of boaters, they are probably over kill.
While my test showed me that engine tuner is not critical for engine cleanliness, it is cheap insurance. It should probably be used every 50 - 100 hours or at least once a year.
Doug Ridgway
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