hydraulic oil for engine oil?

[86c20]

ok so thisw was a talk that i have had with a few guys over the years and one claims that he had a guy do it in a forklift he had for a month before he found out and changed it back but said that month it didnt burn any oil and ran better would this work? i mean it will take the heat fine and the pressure fine but what other things would be a problem? this is just for my own info not saying i am going to do it at all but wanted to know what poeple think thats all

[hatzie]

Anti wear and detergent additives present in most motor oils will not be in hydraulic oil and certainly not at the same concentrations.
Hydraulic oil will be fairly low single viscosity. 10W?

[Just call me Sean]

Brake fluid and automatic transmission fluid are types of hydraulic fluid. Is that what you want in your engine?

[mongoose]

Originally Posted by Just call me Sean

Brake fluid and automatic transmission fluid are types of hydraulic fluid. Is that what you want in your engine?

technically so is water.

[86c20]

Originally Posted by Just call me Sean

Brake fluid and automatic transmission fluid are types of hydraulic fluid. Is that what you want in your engine?

no i am talking real hyro oil.

[Axle]

What do you think trans fluid, power steering etc oils are? Hydraulic oils with different additive packages and somewhat different viscosities to suit the environment.

Hydraulic oil does not make a good oil choice for internal combustion engine lubrication. It has none of the desirable properties for long motor life. Will it work in a pinch? Yes, it is oil afterall. Did the forklift experience overall reduced life becuase of it? Probably. But you won't know it for a long while given the use and maintenance most forklifts get.

Alex.

[Just call me Sean]

Originally Posted by 86c20

no i am talking real hyro oil.

It is real hydraulic oil.

[Corts60]

I agree with above. Hydraulic oil is designed for a specific purpose. It is not compatible with combustion by-products and will definitely reduce your engine's life. Not recommended at all.

[hatzie]

^^^^ That's the other downside to not using a motor oil in the motor... There are several flavors of acid inhibitors in motor oils.

I believe he was referring to the oil based stuff used in hydraulic cylinders to angle snowplows and the three point lift on my tractor.

Brake fluid is generally a glycol based lightweight hydraulic fluid that has more in common with anti-freeze than lube oil. It is a hydraulic fluid but based on his comment not what he was referencing.

There are some really light oils with a heavy detergent package that are specifically designed to de-sludge and dislodge crud. I wouldn't use them either. That crud has to go somewhere and Murphy tells me he will make sure it gums up something far worse than it was gumming before. #10 UTF or Dexron III might do the same thing.

Would #10 UTF Hydraulic oil or Dexron III get you home for a real oil change when you discover you're a 2 quarts low in East Betty BooFoo at midnight? Yes.
Would I run it for more than a short time? NO.

[Just call me Sean]

Two quarts low isn't emergency enough for me to use the wrong type of oil. Hell my gauge doesn't start bouncing until I'm three and a half low.

[kalbert]

I guess in a pinch you could, but it'll shave several years off your motor, and if left long enough will just end it. It is not a fix for anything, not a magic potion, and not a good idea. It's better than nothing, but not by much.

Like has been said already, hydraulic oil, like used in a forklift for raising the forks, is specifically formulated to not foam, can't handle the temperature or foreign substances it would contact in an internal combustion engine, and could damage the rubber parts. it's primary purpose is to take up space and secondary is to take up space. It is also a very poor lubricant, especially compared to actual motor oil which is specifically engineered to be very slippery stuff in addition to having detergents and other additives that make it resistant to heat and to carry particles of foreign material safely encapsulated to the filter where they get stuck. It's primary purpose is to lubricate and secondary is to carry garbage to the filter.

You can run ATF in your power steering, and power steering or ATF in your snow plow, but that's it. No other oils can be mixed and matched under the hood or chassis. They are application specific for extremely different applications.

[Rubble]

Originally Posted by kalbert

Like has been said already, hydraulic oil, like used in a forklift for raising the forks, is specifically formulated to not foam, can't handle the temperature or foreign substances it would contact in an internal combustion engine, and could damage the rubber parts. it's primary purpose is to take up space and secondary is to take up space. It is also a very poor lubricant, especially compared to actual motor oil which is specifically engineered to be very slippery stuff in addition to having detergents and other additives that make it resistant to heat and to carry particles of foreign material safely encapsulated to the filter where they get stuck. It's primary purpose is to lubricate and secondary is to carry garbage to the filter.
applications.

Hydraulic oil used in a hydrostatic transmission or power shift tranny is required to be a much better lubricant than engine oil.Hydro units are much closer tolerance than a internal combustion engine.Hydraulic oil must be able to absorb water,cool & lubricate parts.When I worked at an IH Ag dealership in the mid 80s,their hydraulic/hydrostatic trans oil was refined to way better specs than their engine oil.Ask anyone that works in heavy equip/Ag related repairs & they will tell you that as well.

[D13]

Hydraulic oil is not designed to take the high loads and combustion contaminants found in internal combustion engines. It is designed as a pressure fluid with some lubricating and anti-corrosion capability, while engine oil is designed as a lubricant with anti-acid and anti-sludging additives. Two wildly different packages.
You can also run 80w-140 gear lube as engine oil. It works great on hot days with an engine that is totally worn out, it even doesn't leak as bad when your main seal is gone, like on a 400K mile straight six (BTDT). But in a modern engine in good shape on a cold day, it won't flow, and the result is failure of either oil pump drive or rotating assembly.

GM's new engine oil spec is way beyond what TSC hy-trans oil wil ever deliver. Basically all the new stuff needs synthetics because primary oil crudes vary too much in composition and cannot be cracked to the new specs in a cost effective manner. The new trans' and engines require fluids with very specifc properties to operate efficiently.


Oils are engineered for specific purposes. Use the correct stuff.

[Skunksmash]

Originally Posted by hatzie

There are some really light oils with a heavy detergent package that are specifically designed to de-sludge and dislodge crud.

Can you name a couple of the high end ones? I know Redline is one, and AMSoil might be another.. not sure.

I think they could safely be used to get an engine that you know is clean and has been well taken care of, to be really clean. Or if you used them from when the engine was new, so your engine would be spotless on the inside even a couple hundred thousand miles later.

[hatzie]

Most diesel oils have a pretty high detergent content. It used to be they had a high Zinc and Phosphorous anti-wear add pack as well but the latest generation of diesels with catalytic convertors have forced a re-formulation.