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NotTaR of small Gasoline Engines and Rotary Lawn Mowers : About engine oil
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1994-2007, Samuel M. Goldwasser. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of this document in whole or in part is permitted if both of the following conditions are satisfied: 1. This notice is included in its entirety at the beginning. 2. There is no charge except to cover the costs of copying.
I may be contacted via the Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ (www.repairfaq.org) Email Links Page.
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For the common 4 stroke engines such as Briggs & Stratton or Tecumseh,
you don't need to buy specially high priced engine oil. The type likely
used in your automobile will work fine and will be much less expensive.
Although small engine manufacturers may recommend SAE 30 oil, they usually
also state that 10W-30 or 10W-40 are acceptable substitutes - and these
are what your car probably uses. New oil should have at least the SG
rating though if you have some SF in your garage, that will be fine also
(for your lawn mower, not your car!). However, there are situations like
equipment that must run in extremely cold weather (probably not a problem
with grass mowing!) where specific alternative oil recommendations should
be followed.
The capacity of a typical small engine is just over a 1/2 quart. This will
probably cost you about 50 cents - a very worthwhile investment!
However, some people do swear by synthetic oil. I remember it worked pretty
well on my bicycle as well :-):
(From: Daniel Pope (dpope@l-a-net.net).)
Synthetic Motor Oil in the crankcase and Marvel oil in the gas is the only
way to go!
I have a $1,900 MTD tractor style mower with B&S engine (L head twin). It has
over 800 hours and 9 years on it and I mean rough hours (bahaya grass and hot
weather). The engine does not use a drop of oil (changed every 30 hours) and
the compression is the same as when new. These other guys can have there
$5,000 fancy mowers. I'll use that money to buy a truck.