TVS King Oil – What Oil Should you Use

TVS King Oil

One of the most asked questions in the TVS King Philippines Group is what oil should I use in the TVS King.

Why it is so common I am not sure as it is clearly printed on the handlebars, it is also stated in the TVS King Manual.

This information on TVS King Oil is for the Philippines Only.

We need to point out the recommendation is for the Philippines only or for countries that have a similar climate to the Philippines.

The reason for this is in colder countries a different grade of oil might be needed.

There seem to be some saying because the climate in the Philippines is hot it needs a higher velocity oil, this is very flawed logic as the climate in India is far hotter than the Philippines.

Always Use the Grade Recommend by the Manufacture

It does not matter what vehicle you drive you should always use only the grade of oil recommended by the manufacturer of that vehicle.

This is important as different engines are designed to use different grades of oil.

TVS Recommend SAE 20W40 4T for the TVS King Deluxe so no other grade of oil should be used.

Using other grades of oil could damage your engine and will void your warranty.

Other Brands of Tuk Tuk Use a Different Grade of Oil

This seems to be something we come up against a lot, the claim a leading brand of Tuk Tuk uses 20W50 means it must be OK for TVS King Oil.

As we pointed out before different manufacturers design their engines to use different grades of oil. Just because one model of three-wheeler uses that grade it does not make it OK to use in another brand.

My Dealer/Mechanic/oil shop told me another grade was OK

We can only presume that they have been taken in by false information put out by the reps that sell oil.

When we started our dealership and approached reps to purchase oil in bulk we were amazed at the lies we were told.

One rep spent a month trying to sell us the wrong grades of oil, and told so many lies trying to do it. Just because he had no stock of 20W40.

Some of the things we were told.
20W50 is the same as 20W40 (No it is not it is not the same viscosity)
SAE 40 is the same as 20W40 (again it is not the same)
And the funniest of them all “It has a picture of a Tuk Tuk on it, so it is OK for all Tuk Tuks” At this point, I had had enough of him trying to insult our intelligence and told him to get lost and never contact us again.
So do not go by what anyone trying to sell oil or supply you with oil says, if it does not say 20W40 on the bottle do not use it.

When you have a service before the mechanic drain your oil ask him to show you the oil he will be filling your TVS with. If it is not SAE 20W40 4T stop him and do not let him put it in your engine.

I have also found this in many shops that sell oil, you ask them for SAE 20W40 4T and if they do not have it they will offer you a different grade of oil and claim it is the same.

Remember all they want is sales they do not care if you damage your engine by using the wrong grade of oil.

Should I Use Synthetic Oil?

The simple answer is no.

Yet again it comes down to what the engine is designed for and a TVS King Engine is not designed for Synthetic Oil so don’t use it.

Some will say “But synthetic oil is better” While this may be true for some engines it is not true if the engine is not designed to use synthetic oil. Remember adverts are there for one reason and that is to sell a product.

Differential Oil

While many brands of vehicles use different or special oil for the differential, this does not apply to the TVS King.

TVS designed the TVS King to use the same oil in the differential as is used in the engine which is SAE 20W40 4T.

This is considerate thinking by TVS and shows they realise the main market for TVS is people that have a small income so would struggle to buy two different oils.

Brand of Oil

What Brand you use does not really matter as long as it is a reputable brand. At Tuk Tuk 3-Wheelers always use Gulf or Repsol but any reputable brand is OK.

Do not go for cheap budget or unknown brands as the quality of the oil might not be up to standard and it might break down quickly.

How Much Oil Should you Put in a TVS King

There seems to be a thing in the Philippines that when changing the oil you add how much oil the engine holds. This is not the correct way to fill an engine with oil.

The correct way is to add oil, let it settle for a couple of minutes and check the dipstick. Keep doing this until the oil is between minimum and maximum on the dipstick. Ideally, it should be close to the maximum mark on the dipstick.

If it is over the maximum mark it is best to drain a little as overfilling can do damage.
The reason you should not go by the amount the engine holds is because it is impossible to drain every part of oil, there will always be some left in the engine.

So if you add 1.75 litres to a TVS King Engine which is the amount of oil it holds, there is a good chance you will then have more than 1.75 litres in the engine so it will be overfilled.

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