More Stories from Castrol Liquid Engineering

You could accuse John Hughson of JJ Marine Craft of being a bit one-eyed when it comes to Castrol products.

His personal experience with Castrol's large range of marine lubricants extends to over a quarter of a century, including the last nine as owner of Melbourne's JJ Marine Craft.

His support of Castrol is not some blind allegiance. It is built up over many years of first-hand experience in the boating industry where John has witnessed some quite remarkable results.

"One of our most valued customers, the Yarra cruiser 'Melba Star', had something of a catastrophe when a crankshaft snapped on their stern drive after just 6,000 hours," says John about the popular 24 metre, 120 person vessel.

"This was back in 1991. We repaired the unit and switched it to Castrol Seamax Extra from (another brand). It's due for overhaul again shortly, only now it's logged nearly 28,000 hours."

Seamax Extra is a heavy duty, high performance, mineral-based engine oil perfectly suited to the 7-day, round-the-clock nature of the "Melba Star". In particular, Seamax Extra offers excellent wear protection over extended high load, low speed operations.

RX Super is another product readily used and recommended by JJ Marine Craft.

Apart from its specified application in marine diesel engines, John discovered a 'bonus' use for the robust 15W-40 multigrade oil. Volvo Penta AQAD 41B stern drive legs, a marine transmission box, were experiencing premature failures.

"The manufacturer advised us to change lubricant specification for the unit. We went over to RX Super and noticed a dramatic difference. Service schedules specify a 150-200 hour oil change period, but due to the enormous cost of slipping these large vessels, it's often pushed to around 800 hours. We've put RX Super in the Melba's leg and she'll go 1000 hours with no problem at all," added John.

Product Spotlight:

Both Seamax Extra and RX Super are reliable multigrade marine diesel engine oils equally suited to "marinised" petrol engines. Each offer extended service margins for an added cushion of safety.