10-50 oil in 8n

is it ok to use 10-50wt oil in my 8n?, it somkes some now or should I uses a straight weight oil like 40. I don't run the N in the winter.

Oil weight isn't going to help the smoking.

Pick the weight of the oil by the condition of the engine (oil pressure) & the outside temperature. Many folks use 30w detergent all year. A straight weight oil is probably ok in a hot climate, but you will get excessive engine wear on startup in cold climates. (That’s one reason multi-vis oil was invented) A worn engine is going to need a heavier weight oil to maintain oil pressure at operating speed & temp. Many use 10w30, 15w40 or even 20w50. Some like the newer diesel rated oil because of the additives for the flat tappets & highly recommend Shell Rotella T 15-40 (I'm not convinced that my 2400 rpm N engine needs the same oil as my 65 Mustang did) Anyway, IMHO, use a multi-vis detergent oil. Increase the weight if the engine has low oil pressure. And, BTW, switching to detergent oil is not going to loosen up the sludge in the engine. While choosing oil brands & weights are sometimes subjective, the use of detergent vs non-detergent shouldn’t be debatable given the oil available today. Plenty of studies disprove the “stir up the sludge” myths; here is one:

http://www.nordicgroup.us/oil.htm#Detergent%20Oil

Change the oil when the engine is hot. If you have the OEM fittings, you will need a 1-1/16” open end wrench for the drain plug & a 7/8” box end wrench for the oil filter canister bolt. If your canister has a drain plug, you will need a 7/16” box end wrench for that. If it doesn’t, suction it out or wick it out w/ rags. (8N’s after s/n 269,530 don’t have a drain on the canister) Make sure your waste oil pan holds 6 quarts. Look at the size of that drain plug; the first 5 quarts of oil will come out, along w/ the plug, in about 2 seconds, so get the pan as close as possible to the bottom of the pan. Or, get out the Kitty Litter because you will have oil splashed all over the place. Have a new oil plug gasket on hand or be prepared to make one. Clean the pan squeaky clean of all previous gasket sealer & the old gasket. Do not use Permatex or any other sealer except Never-Sieze on the new gasket. Make sure your drain plug has the screen on it. If not, get a new plug . Clean the screen. I use NAPA 1010 oil filters. Do not forget to use a quarter size gasket under the bolt holding the top of the oil filter canister. nnalert’s has them: p/n 01A6749. I have successfully used plastic & copper washers as well as homemade gaskets. Do not forget to use the 7/8” wrench to snugly tighten the bolt on the top of the canister. (Don't ask!). Most oil filters come w/ the large ring gasket; wet it w/ oil first. Save the old gasket until you check the canister for leaks. The new gaskets are sometimes thinner than the older ones & are prone to leakage. If yours leaks, re-install the old gasket. Clean the oil breather, add 6 quarts of oil & save a little for the cup in the air filter. (and check the filter mesh in the breather; if it's dirty, you will need to clean or replace it. Same w/ the oil breather. Remove the wing nut to clean it out)
50 Tips

as bruce said.. smoke may be something else entirely.. like a broken oil control ring.. or vgs.. etc..

how is the oil pressure?

soundguy

Bruce I can not agree with you on the oil weight not helping one smoke less. I know for a fact it can and does help I use a 50/60 weight oil in my 1935 JD-B and it uses less oil and smokes a lot less also

most everyone around here in the northwoods uses straight weight 30, but we all use non detergent. only because most of us have had trouble with the detergent oils breaking crud loose that has been caked inside for years and years, also it doesnt foam up in hydraulic systems..But I will say after a overhaul we usually go to a detergent oil since we have cleaned everything out and no more crud in there. Just my opinion...Jim

My only experience w/ it was over 40 years ago w/ the old junk heaps I drove then. Didn't work for me!

Back in 1973 I traded in a Chev Vega and I was running gear lube in the engine. Didn't smoke much with that stuff in it but run a 10W40 in it and you where lucky to find the car if you got out and left it running

I used to work for a rather shady car dealer, he owuld use 90 weight in the engine to quiet it and to stop smoking, also knw of him putting sawdust in a really noisy transmission.

Ya many tricks to make a car or tractor run ok for an hour or 2. I did the gear lube not to sell it but to keep it going till I could trade it off. That Vega had 100,000 it so it was well past dead