2018 test3 productsEngine Oil & Fluids
Which Two-stroke Engine Oil Brand Wins?
A head-to-head test of 3 two-stroke engine oil options with the measured results for each. See how they ranked and watch the full test video.
Some figures on this page were transcribed from the test video and have not been independently re-verified. Treat the numbers as a close guide and watch the full video for the exact readings.
Ranked first
2-stroke oil (Echo brand)
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The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Scroll sideways to see all measurements. Products are listed in the order they finished.
| Product | Gasoline mixing test | Engine baseline | 24 hour premix separation check | Engine run test (2-stroke engine, 1 oz oil per 32 oz gasoline) | Overall side effects | Engine temperature/burn cleanliness |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12-stroke oil (Echo brand) | does not mix well with gasoline unless stirred, demonstrated by leaving it unstirred first; blends with gasoline very easily once stirred | used at a 16:1 gas to oil ratio during engine break-in in a small 2-stroke Briggs and Stratton engine (originally from a snowblower, remounted on an old pressure washer frame); cylinder inspected with a borescope before testing as the reference point | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 24-stroke oil, conventional (10W-30) | color is very close to gasoline, making visual separation hard to judge; some settled to the bottom on first look; after a couple hours it appeared to have mixed within the gasoline | not tested | no separation taking place after 24 hours; narrator's own research suggests 4-stroke oil premixed with gas can gum up over time, and cautions this is only a 24 hour snapshot that might look different after a couple of months. The transcript literally says 'the two-stroke oil has remained mixed' at this point, despite the surrounding context being about the 4-stroke premix; kept verbatim, likely a mislabeled oil type rather than a genuine two-stroke result | cylinder cap after use shows a little bit of carbon buildup, spark plug also has a little bit of carbon buildup, described as all in all not too bad. Run duration is stated inconsistently in the transcript, first as 'a solid hour' and 'about an hour' at introduction, then as 'after several hours of use' when describing the cylinder cap findings; kept both, not resolved | narrator concludes there did not seem to be any side effects from using 4-stroke oil in the 2-stroke engine in this short-term test, no unusual cylinder wall scoring or engine overheating observed | not tested |
| 34-stroke oil, full synthetic (Mobil 1) | like the 2-stroke oil, did not mix with gasoline on its own and required stirring | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | meta chapter titles state 'Synthethic 2-stroke oil burns clean' and 'Engine temp nearly the same as 2-stroke', suggesting the synthetic 4-stroke oil burned cleanly and ran at a similar engine temperature to the 2-stroke baseline, but no actual spoken temperature figures or PSI readings appear anywhere in the transcript despite the video description explicitly promising compression testing and measured engine temperature |
How it was tested
- gasoline mixing test: 2-stroke oil, 4-stroke conventional oil, and 4-stroke full synthetic oil each mixed with gasoline in jars, observed stirred vs unstirred and after several hours
- 24 hour premix separation check for 4-stroke oil pre-mixed with gasoline
- engine break-in and run test in a small 2-stroke Briggs and Stratton engine, comparing the 2-stroke oil baseline against 4-stroke oil premix, with borescope/cylinder cap inspection for carbon buildup
- compression testing and engine temperature measurement (promised in the video description; no PSI or degree figures are actually spoken anywhere in the transcript)