TC-W3 question

[nj-boatbuilder57]

Here’s a (hopefully!) easy question: If an oil is labeled "TC-W3", is it OK for my boat engine? I’m not asking if Mobile is better than Valvoline, etc., I’m asking about the designation TC-W3…

We spent 2 weeks deep in the woods of in Maine on a lake, and the engine (’57 Golden Javelin / ’59 Gale Buccaneer Frankenstein) ran great….well, except when it didn’t, but I’ll save that for a different post. Anyway, I was running low on oil, so I went to the local hardware store, and didn’t see any marine TC-W3 on the shelf. When I asked the sales guy if they had any, he said "sure" and handed me a quart of TC-W3, labeled "Snowmobile oil". It said TC-W3 on the label, but it was clearly labeled for snowmobiles.

I bought 2 quarts, but ended up not needing to use them, so I have them in my stock now. Thus my question: use it or not? Is everything / anything labeled TC-W3 OK for a boat engine?

[jw-in-dixie]

The TC-W3, which means two cycle -water cooled, is a testing lab’s certification that the oil meets their quality standards, as do all oils so marked. Oil for snowmobiles, which are water-cooled, should be fine in an outboard motor. JMHO

[frankr]

NMMA is the recognized testing authority. If an oil mfr wants their oil certified, they must submit it to NMMA for testing in actual outboard motors which are then torn down and inspected for wear and carbon , etc. If it passes, that mfr earned the right to mark it as such and put the NMMA logo on the container. The gotcha is the stuff with double-talk like "meets or exceeds TC-W3" or something of that nature. If it does not have the NMMA logo, either it has flunked the test or wasn’t even submitted for testing.

Note that TC-W3 designation does not specify what’s in the oil. Only that it passed the test.

[Bob Wight]

BRP never submitted their XD-100 full synthetic oil for NMMA certification, but had always previously submitted their XD30 (mineral) and XD50 (synthetic blend) oils and received certification on those. Interestingly, the XD30 and XD50 oils do not appear on the 2018 NMMA listing of registered oils even though they were on the 2017 certified list. Wonder what that’s about? Both the 2017 and 2018 list appear at:

http://www.nmma.org/certification/oil/tc-w3

Bob

1937 Champion D2C Deluxe Lite Twin
1954 Johnson CD-11
1955 Johnson QD-16
1957 Evinrude Fastwin 18
1958 Johnson QD-19
1958 Johnson FD-12
1959 Johnson QD-20

“Every 20 minute job is only a broken bolt away from a 3-day project.”
"Every time you remove a broken or seized bolt an angel gets his wings."

[nj-boatbuilder57]

Interesting!!

On that NMMA list is "RL-03053….LubriMatic High Performance Outboard Motor Oil TC-W3….Plews Inc."

"Lubrimatic", "Plews" and "RL-03053" all appear on the quart container of the snowmobile TC-W3 that I bought! Looks like it’s perfectly good for my engine. Same product, different packaging….

Thanks for the info,

[RICK EICHRODT]

TCW-3 stands for "two cycle, water cooled…..3rd version". The original version was TCW which surpassed the old 30 weight motor oil. Next up was the TCW-II which was the standard until the fuel refineries changed the formula for gas. TCW-II was discovered to develope a lot of coking of the rings which then mandated the TCW-III version.

[olcah]

Interesting- One entry on the list is:
RL-00103T SuperTech 2-Cycle TC-W3 Engine Oil Amalie Oil Company .
SuperTech TCW3 is sold by WallyM.

[westwind]

The "snowmobile’ label is just for marketing to people who don’t want to read the label. ie, Is boat oil ok in my snowmobile? They just make a label for them. The catch really is that some snowmobiles (and outboards) are air cooled and shouldn’t use TC-W3.

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