I've got a new 502 in my Scarab this year and I want to get the best out of my lube. What do you guys use? I've heard that merc says no to plastic oil?

Terry in Tahoe (burr, still too cold!)

You'll find that a lot of the guys here run synthetic oil including myself. Royal Purple, Mobil 1, and others are out there. I personally use Mobil 1.
I've been running Mobil 1 in our cars and trucks for over 10 years. When I bought our boat the first thing I did was switch it over to Mobil oil.
I can't see why Mercury says no to synthetic oils.

((((I can't see why Mercury says no to synthetic oils)))).,,,, This way we buy there overpriced crap !!!

Are you sure Merc isn't just recommending breaking the engine in on ashless mineral oil? I run Amsoil 10W40 now that the motor is broken in. For the first couple of hours I ran Kendall GT40.
Running synthetic oil is generally not recommended until the rings and other parts are broken in.

Thought that at first to,, but they say never !!!! Go figure.

Hey Troutly. That way you can drain the oil into your bilge and out the drain hole onto the ground. Or save it for popcorn.

When my brother in-law was in the Navy, during the Korean war, whenever they got their hands on real eggs (not powdered) they'd fry them in machine oil.
I bet the came out just as easily as they went down.

I'm a strong believer in Mobil 1. Just sold a Baja 272 with 502 Mag. Had 180 trouble free full trottle hours on it and it was as strong as the day I bought it. I just picked up 64 quarts for the new Baja on order. I think it is good insurance. Never have I heard of it causing any engine prolblems.

The 502's seem to burn a little oil, but it was the same whether I use the Quick Silver or the Mobile 1. About a quart every 10 hours.

I run Valvoline VR40 in my 502. But the manual clearly states NEVER- use synthetics

I just went through a 454 Mag that I am installing a Whipple on. It has about 350 hours so I thought I'd check the bearings. I was going to replace them as a matter of routine since I would have them out for inspection anyway. This engine has been running Mobil 1 since it was new. The bearings were in such good shape that I put them back in. They looked like I just took them out of the box. There was no build up of any sort inside the engine. That left me pretty impressed with Mobil 1 (and frequent oil changes).

Bob