what is the chemiacl composition of chainsaw bar/chain oil???

[sidriptide]

i ask this because this last weekend i did alot of hard wheeling.. and up until now my 87 4.0L has never used alot of oil even under hard use.. i leak alot past my seals when i climb long mountain grades on the paved roads and work the engine hard for extended periods but that isnt internal "usage/burning" .... i checked the oil saturday after the trails and was 1/2 quart down.... topped it and didnt check it sunday.... a very hard day on the rig.. so tonight i was taking a shortcut over a mountain to a friends house and at the top of a long climb my engine was rattling and my oil pressure bottomed at 4 psi........ after a shut down i found a DRY DIPSTICK!!!!! i guess she's using alot more oil than i expected.. this brings me to my actual question.. the only oil i had in the rig was 1 qt of 5w30 and 1 qt of bar/chain oil.. the chainsaw oil was clear and very sticky.. probably comparable to 90wt... reminded me of STP oil treatment actually.... at 250+ miles i figure it doesnt owe me favors so i added the oil i had and my pressure was steady around 60 psi..... was actually quieter than it had ever been... i dont think the chain oil hurt anything but i was wondering if it would be a good "aditive" to quiet the noisy 4.0L a bit.... not sure what kind of pressure and friction additives it has so it will be drained tommorow but it got me off the mountain in a pinch....
and i should address my mysterious oil usage as well..

mike

 

[Z22_Z33]

I dont know anything about bar oil. But would you drink water out of a puddle thats in the middle of a large city? It is water isnt it?
How many quarts of oil did you have in there? Just the 2 quarts, one 5w30 the other bar oil, unless you put words in the wrong place it sounds like you had only 2 quarts of oil but the engine requires 6.
Another thing additives are usually in small amounts, not something as much as a whole quart, but that goes back to the first statement i made you dont know whats in there.
There may just be a reason why its called bar/chain oil.
Well another thing are you certian the oil burned away, you say you didnt check it after a hard day on sunday and todays wednesday, you also sayed you leak a lot of oil past the seals, so chances are you could have just ran out of oil, maybe is didnt burn off, check it more frequently, after you drive it tommorow check the oil when you get to work and when you get back home. Try driving on level ground as much as possible, if your oil is low its probably burning off, if its not you need to do something about those seals.
Hold on a second, you said your oil was a 1/2 quart low, why did you feel the need to add 2 quarts? what could have happened if you did put to much oil in is, the bar oil could have sunk to the bottom you say it appears to be a 90w or something so the other oil would rise up to the top. Your other oil could have leaked out of the seals, leaving just the bar oil and that might have just burned away.

This is just my 2 cents here, ask a pro. These things are easy sometimes, just gotta use comman since, and think things through, but that always happens after the incident.

Just to help you out here, you should have put this in the OEM tech discussion, more ppl will look there rather then hidden away in here.

 

[sidriptide]

well i said it was 1/2 qt low on saturday.... and i figured after a hard day sunday it would/should have only been about that low again.. so i didnt check it after wheeeling.. i didnt add the bar oil until last night when i was informed by my engine it was way low... and IIRC the dipstick is dry with 2 quarts in the case.. i added 2 qts and it showed me about 1.5 qts low.. i am more concerned with the bar oil being in there than i am the oil usage... and OEM tech didnt fit the bill for learning about bar/chain oil..... as far as driving on level ground more often.. what fun would that be???

mike

 

[copperhead]

I should start by saying that I am not an oil expert, and I am ot sure of the chemical make up. that said, chainsaw bar oil is designed to stick to metal and not sling off the chain. It is a lubricant, and I don't think it will have any bad reactions to regular oil. I have heard of some using it as an additive in their gearbox. It is probably similar to some of the super thick engine "restore" additives as far as the motor is concerned.

Not much info I know,

-Copperhead

 

[Stick]

Bar oil is primaily the same as No Smoke :greensmok

 

[jeepguy97]

Just add 6 quarts of bar and chain oil and call it a day. No more leaks or noise. arty:

 

[w_howey]

Hmm, we always use used motor oil for the chainsaw oiler.

 

[Centrevillemx]

Another thing additives are usually in small amounts, not something as much as a whole quart, but that goes back to the first statement i made you dont know whats in there.
There may just be a reason why its called bar/chain oil.

Actually Marvel Mystery Oil is added to the oil system by the Quart. I put one in my Jeep when I changed the oil 3 days ago. No noticeable difference, but A trusted aircraft mechaninc we know swears by it, and it cant hurt so why not?

Also I think that chain and bar oil is close to hydraulic fluid in consistency, pretty thick.

 

[sidriptide]

the hydraulic fluid im familiar with is pretty thin.. this stuff reminded me of STP ... it has never run so quiet i kinda liked it.. but it could be a bad thng as well.. i just need to carry a full case of cheap oil with me from now on because im consuming alot more oil than i thought now...

 

[Matthew Currie]

Bar oil is thick and sticky, but it does also come in varying weights for different seasons. 20 weight is more like regular motor oil. My guess is that it has few if any additives for anything other than stiction though, since it has a very short term of service, and no need for detergency, foam suppression, etc. I wouldn't recommend it as a long-term additive.

It does, however, make a good all-around lube for the squirt can.

 

[Z22_Z33]

I just happened to come across a quart of bar/chain saw oil today.
It clearly states on the back "not for internal engine use"
I'm sure they didnt put this there for fun.
Maybe this is the reason why you burned all that oil, not trying to be rude here, but you should read the directions and warnings before using something. But like you said before "what fun would that be" well usually the rules are there for a reason, just trying to help out.

 

[OT]

I just happened to come across a quart of bar/chain saw oil today.
It clearly states on the back "not for internal engine use"
I'm sure they didnt put this there for fun.
Maybe this is the reason why you burned all that oil, not trying to be rude here, but you should read the directions and warnings before using something. But like you said before "what fun would that be" well usually the rules are there for a reason, just trying to help out.

Maybe you should read the original post again. He said that he put it in AFTER he found the dry dipstick. Hope that I wasn't too rude..................No I don't.

I don't care what the can says. If it's a petoleum oil product, and I'm in a pinch like he was, it's going in the engine. Wouldn't use it on a regular basis, but it worked in his case.

 

[Sephrion]

i'm fairly certain that bar oil is not as "refined" as automotive engine oils. that and it's not as critical for the saw to have "clean" oil so no telling whats in it, btw how much is a cheap case of 10W-30 at wal-mart?

 

[yellowxj]

sams club has cheapo 20w50 for $0.75 quart...IIRC...just have to find a good way to keep the spare oil secure in the jeep...seems like no matter how I stow my POL products I inevitably get oil leaking from somewhere...

In a pinch I've used all sorts of unappropriate fluids to get home...forget if it was water or 10w40 we used to refill the brakes to get home(flush and reflush)...cowpond water to refill the radiator (NASTY STINKY HOT COWPOND WATER MAKES YOU WANT TO YACK when you drain it.)...........once used gatoraid in the windshield washer at the mudhole but I dont remember if it worked... :cheers:

 

[sidriptide]

btw how much is a cheap case of 10W-30 at wal-mart?

it didnt matter.. i wasnt in a walmart parking lot!!!!!!

i changed the oil today and now its all noisy again running about 40psi.... it sure was quiet with that stuff in it. i think i will add a lil STP goop to the crankcase when it needs it.. and i may start dumping 20w 50 in as it uses oil.... this saturday promises to be a hard day on the ole 4.0L again so we will see what kind of oil consumption i get now....

 

[8Mud]

I know you´ve probably looked, but most everytime mine has started using excessive oil, I find something in the crankcase ventilation system plugged up. I´ve got a pretty tired and used up motor, uses a little oil, uses a bunch when the crankcase vent is plugged.
10-50 oil works well in mine.
Had an old Corvette with a tired motor, kept adding STP and thicker oil as the oil pressure went down. After the crank siezed to the block, I asked an old stock car builder why, he said the only cooling the crank gets, is from the oil. If the oil gets too thick to flow right, the heat builds up.

 

[Moto]

I wouldn't worry about it too much, The condition that your engine is already in, and now that you have since changed your oil and it is still running it couldn't have been that bad. I don't think it is a good idea to run in your engine everyday but what is done is done. Not all bar and chain oils are the same so who knows what additives were in the stuff that you used. Bar and chain oil is kind of a cross between Grease and oil, and I have heard that it contains "soap" much like grease to make it tacky. It made your engine run quiet because its thickness probabbly dampened alot of the noises. If you liked how it worked in your engine you really should try LUCAS oil, I know they sell it around where you live, its usually in parts stores and they have the demo of it where you crank the little plastic gears in regular oil and then some in lucas oil and watch how sticky the oil is. I know that it really works Ive seen a friend use it in a beat to hell chevy 350 that was on its last legs and knocking and it make it quiet right down.