# 2 cycle oil
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-cycle-oil/178854
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [June 1, 2003, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-cycle-oil/178854 "2003-06-01T00:27:22Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@helwraieth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/helwraieth)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2003, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-cycle-oil/178854/1 "2003-06-01T00:27:22Z")
I manage an apartment complex. In an effort to save wages and cut a tenant a break in rent, we worked a deal for him to do lawn maintenance in exchange for a break every month. I asked him to change the oil in the mower, as per instrucuctions in the literature. When I asked him how the change went and where the rest of the oil was, he hands me an empty bottle of what once contained 2 cycle oil. The mower is a 4stroke. Do I need to smack him in the back of the head and have him change it again? Also, what is the difference between 2cycle oil and what I put in my car? Please advise.
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### Author:  [@TBone2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBone2)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2003, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-cycle-oil/178854/2 "2003-06-01T00:44:35Z")
Smack 'im.
It’s my understanding that 2-cycle oil is meant to be burned after serving its lubricration duties. (Thus the blue smoke from a 2-cycle’s exhaust.) Therefore, 2-cycle oil, while being about the same viscosity as crankcase-confined oils, contains none of the additives typically included in a quart of your 10W-40. No detergents, for example, which are meant to clean the crankcase components as the engine runs.
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### Author:  [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2003, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-cycle-oil/178854/3 "2003-06-01T03:29:32Z")
Two cycle oil is meant to be mixed with the gasoline on engines that don’t have a separate oil tank (snow-blowers, gas-powered trimmers, snowmobiles, etc.) Each engine type specifies the mixture of gas to oil to be used (40:1, 50:1, etc.) The engine parts are lubricated as the gas runs through the engine, rather than a separate lubrication system like on your car and lawnmower.
Drain the oil tank **now** and replace it with whatever weight oil is recommended by the lawn mower manufacturer.