I've got an unopened bottle of HE-200 vacuum oil. It's a double distilled, pure hydrocarbon oil for use in corrosive applications. The Scotsman in me hates to see it go to waste. If not in a car/truck crankcase, might it make a good gun oil? Thank you.

I wouldn't put it in a car engine, unless it just needs topping off and you plan to change it shortly thereafter, in which case it probably wouldn't hurt anything. It almost certainly won't have detergents and other anti-friction additives that auto engine oil does. No reason it couldn't make a gun lubricant.

Could you?

Sure - probably - if you don't care about your warranty. Your HE-200 is ISO 100, which is roughly equivalent to an SAE 30, so if that's good for the engine, it would probably work for a while.

I wouldn't.

-Rob

Sounds like a great oil for guns or use in a fine tip oiler. I wouldn’t want to waste it either. You might contact the manufacturer and ask them about it.

Auto engines use oil with additives like foam suppressants and detergents that remove dirt and carbon from the oil. I think vacuum pumps and compressors use oil that is pretty clean - IE no additives.

Being vaguely familiar with antique whale oil lamps, I would be curious about the smell it gives off when used as a lamp oil. Might be pretty clean there as well. This is also where the mfr. could tell you if it has any additives and if burning it might be an issue.

Oil is all (well, mostly) in the additives.
Do not put it in your engine, even your lawnmower.
An air compressor would be the closest equivalent.

You could probably use it in the gearbox of your Aermotor.

As noted by others, motor oil is about way more than viscosity. There is no reason at all it would make sense to put it in any car you care about. Or other motor, for that matter.

Do not put it in your car.

Oil is chemical engineered for specific applications and properties, and compatibility. It needs to have properties appropriate to the application, including thermal, lubricity, viscosity, etc. The thermal properties include variabilities throughout the temperature operating range, and in turn how those are compatible with both the machine, and with the other lubricants at any given temperature and/or pressure point. Short story: if it's not an automotive oil engineered for that application and specifically called out for that engine, then don't use it, especially with other oils.

Using the wrong combination of lubricants in an application can cause both lubricants to fail and prevent lubrication, cooling, proper oil pressure, parts separation, and can affect the viscosity, lubricity, shear, temperature, and other properties of both lubricants.

It would be a shame to ruin your engine to save $5

Use it on some guns or something else.

At $40 a quart i wouldn't let it go to waste either.

quote:

Originally posted by LS1 GTO:
At $40 a quart i wouldn't let it go to waste either.

It's only worth $40 a quart when used in a vacuum pump.

Penny Wise, Dollar Foolish.

Immediately comes to mind.

quote:

Originally posted by 220-9er:

quote:

Originally posted by LS1 GTO:
At $40 a quart i wouldn't let it go to waste either.

It's only worth $40 a quart when used in a vacuum pump.

Car’s engine is worth way more than $40. Hell, mechanics charge much more than that per hour.

Lubricants aren’t my end of the business but I have been in 2 lube plants. There is quite a few additives added to the base stock and they change both the additives and base stock to fit the application.

Why don't you ask over at bobistheoilguy.com and see what happens?

Those people are fanatics about oil.

-Rob

If you drove an old Diesel car/truck, pour it into the fuel tank.

I've got a vacuum pump I could put it in...