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Question for small engine guys
cbxjeff
Member Posts: 17,597 ✭✭✭✭
I just bought a small wheeled brush cutter that has a good running 6.5 HP Briggs vertical shaft engine. In looking at the engine decals, one says to only add oil when needed. Never change the oil. WTH! I've never heard of such a thing. Anyone heard of this?
It's too late for me, save yourself.
Comments
Some of the newer small engines don't have a drain plug for the oil.Oil changes are the life of air cooled engines.I always turn the mower on its side and dump the oil out and refill with fresh oil.Its a shame Briggs went from making the best,tough small engine to what they are making now.
Designed to be throw-away. Most folks buying them now a days dont know much about mechanical things .If you want it to last I would figure our how to change oil every 40 to 50 hours.
Just my 2 cents
I think it was a old sales pitch I seem to remember one of the youtube small engine shops talking about similar
JMHO No matter what the label states I would change it
all oil will get contaminated from blow by and the property's of the oil will break down
I would at least do a internet search see what shows up about whether would label it that way
I would definitely change the oil. The viscosity of the oil will break down after a while and become nothing more then sludge. This is their way of getting you to buy another one.
They sell suction units for that ,oil still cheap to change
Yeah, I'm going to turn it over and change it. I don't know how old this cutter is but I would think 15 years or so. I doubt if it's been used much judging from it's overall appearance. I bought it along with a couple other things from an estate sale.
I have a couple "suction: tools " to pull old fluids out so they come in handy for such use one is about 5 quarts one is just a huge syringe maybe 10 oz or so a lot of shops use them also and they are cheap check out Amazon
Drill, tap, plug
Yep, same here.
I live by the motto "OIL IS CHEAP, MOTORS ARE EXPENSIVE" all of my life. Maybe that is why my Cummins powered Ram pick up has 650,000 trouble free miles on it and I have never had a small engine failure.
I have always turned my mower on its side and dumped/changed oil every spring. Maybe should do it more often but this is the way I have done it.
That's how I've always done it, too. Every spring, tip, dump, refill. Though I like @montanajoe's idea of installing a proper drain plug.
🇺🇲 "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." - Thomas Jefferson 🇺🇲
Suction is probably better than tipping because it is liable to get more oil out from the sump versus having dirty oil pour up into the piston/cylinder area and not drain. Neater, too.
Yeah, but motor oil tastes awful.
🇺🇲 "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." - Thomas Jefferson 🇺🇲
Rocky Raab has a point. I think think about well used oil contamination engine parts by turning upside down. In my case engine oil is 10+ years old and I have no idea how many hours of use. Has anyone used a suction pump. I see they aren't expensive but I question the inlet hose being only about 1/4" I.D. Any thoughts?
When I owned an inboard\outboard boat, it had a drain plug that was less than an inch from the hull. I opted to suck the oil out through the top of the engine. Started out with a cheap hand pump and it did OK but took a long time. Then I found a unit that hooked up to an electric drill. It was the cats meow and sucked up the oil in just a few minutes.