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I have been running Castrol 10w30 in this engine on the advice of the local Dixie Chopper Dealer, even though Dixie Chopper recommends Lucas 15w40 specifically for this engine. He had previously serviced this engine with 10w30. I was amazed this dealer had never heard of a Generac engine in a Dixie Chopper. He assured me 10w30 would not hurt the engine. Recently the temperature outside has reached near 100 degrees and the oil pressure warning light started going on and off. I'm hearing no clattering, the engine does not shut down though I don't think this mower has this feature. The engine is not low on oil and the oil is still clean. The engine has just turned 600 hours. I added just a little more oil since I was running 2.0 quarts, to just get it to the full mark, instead of 2.4. It is now above the full mark. It didn't make any difference. Light is still flashing. The engine runs very well. I'm not hearing any strange noises, starts on first turn, which make me think I possibly have a oil pressure switch problem and maybe I should be running the recommended 15w40. I ordered a gallon of the Lucas 15w40 oil and a new switch. Should I worry that I have harmed my engine from bad advice or what? Is my thinking correct on this? Thanks for any advice..

Look at your engine manual for proper oil recommendation.

I wouldn't run multi weight oil in an air cooled engine.

A 10 grade oil as in 10w-30 is just that, 10 grade. SAE30 oil is a 30 grade oil, much thicker. Peak summer temps like now..... See where this is going? Even a 15w-40 is a 15 grade that acts like a 40 when at 212F. Briggs and Stratton says if you run multi, it will use more oil and to check more often.

slomo said:

Look at your engine manual for proper oil recommendation.

I wouldn't run multi weight oil in an air cooled engine.

A 10 grade oil as in 10w-30 is just that, 10 grade. SAE30 oil is a 30 grade oil, much thicker. Peak summer temps like now..... See where this is going? Even a 15w-40 is a 15 grade that acts like a 40 when at 212F. Briggs and Stratton says if you run multi, it will use more oil and to check more often.

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Thanks for the reply. The manual says Lucas 15w40. It's Diesel oil. Don't know why Dixie Chopper recommended this oil in 2005, but that's what the manual says. The engine is running fine. Just this idiot light kept flashing at near 100 degree weather. I don't hear any strange noises. I ran it at the end of all last summer and most of this summer with 10w30, because I bought it that way, but the temps were cooler up until last week. The local dealer had already serviced it with 10w30. He never heard of Generac engines being used in Dixie Choppers. I called him and that was what he told me. So you think I should run straight 30 weight? Or use the recommended oil? I'm going to change the oil and the oil pressure switch. I used to use straight 30 weight in my old air cooled Volkswagen, but people have told me the newer oils are better. I don't think I hurt the engine, but I really think this switch may be bad. I'm an old timer, and I believe what you said. Use straight weight in an air cooled engine. Probably straight 30w. Thanks again. I really appreciate your response. It makes sense to me.

Personally I started putting 15W50 Kawasaki synthetic oil in all the oil pump engines because the extreme Summer air temps. But Mobile One makes 15w40 Synthetic oil too.

And yes the oil pressure switch or wiring may be the problem. Only an oil pressure gauge will tell if the oil pressure is fluxing.

Diesel (Rotella) oil is "best" for Air Cooled engines... modern auto oils don't have certain anti wear additives they used to... i use Rotella SAE 30 in my push mower (heck, for $4.50 a quart) and 15W40 Rotella in my Kawasaki engine,
I use Kawasaki K-Tech as my shop oil for changes for other peoples mowers as it is designed for air cooled engines.

Scrubcadet10 said:

Diesel (Rotella) oil is "best" for Air Cooled engines... modern auto oils don't have certain anti wear additives they used to... i use Rotella SAE 30 in my push mower (heck, for $4.50 a quart) and 15W40 Rotella in my Kawasaki engine,
I use Kawasaki K-Tech as my shop oil for changes for other peoples mowers as it is designed for air cooled engines.
View attachment 57728

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Noticed a while back. These viscosity charts are strange. Some charts say for example SAE30 is only good for 35C or 95F. Just like the Kawasaki chart you posted. Others say SAE30 is good to 104F ambient. Only a handful of degrees I guess. Here's a couple examples. Don't know what it proves?? Guess follow your engine manual on oil specs.

As you see the above charts are from different sources. Two mower related are from Briggs and Snapper. They don't even agree. Again only a couple degrees. Guess I will keep using SAE30, never lost an engine yet on it.

the oil has to float the bearing
What decides if it can do this is, the size of the oil hole feeding the bearing, the pressure that the oil is under , the space between the journal & the bush , the viscosity of the oil.
The first 3 are manufacturing fundamental of the particular engine

bertsmobile1 said:

the oil has to float the bearing
What decides if it can do this is, the size of the oil hole feeding the bearing, the pressure that the oil is under , the space between the journal & the bush , the viscosity of the oil.
The first 3 are manufacturing fundamental of the particular engine

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Now I'm confused. I was going to go with 30w, but now maybe I should go with factory recommendation. I'm pretty sure I have a bad oil pressure switch. Cleaned the contacts. Idiot light still flashing. I think if I had real problems with the engine, it would have stopped by now. Keeps on purring. I have real respect for these old Generacs as long as they are taken care of. I don't want to use synthetic after using conventional. Had a bad experience in the past.

Yes these pressure switches do go bad. Even the local dealer just told the customer to ignore the light as the engine had no oil pump when the switch was bad. What an idiot. If he only had looked at the engine or the IPL he would have know differently. I replaced the pressure and switch the light stayed out. But of I course checked the oil pressure to make sure there wasn't a problem.

Now the customer will not even let the JD dealer even touch either his Z925A or his Z950M. The Z950M was new and under JD warranty when he started having me to service it. And I had to do a triple bypass of the computer on the 925 as it failed partially.

bertsmobile1 said:

the oil has to float the bearing
What decides if it can do this is, the size of the oil hole feeding the bearing, the pressure that the oil is under , the space between the journal & the bush , the viscosity of the oil.
The first 3 are manufacturing fundamental of the particular engine

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I've been thinking about this: If 15w40 oil were recommended, wouldn't straight 30w be okay? It seems in colder ambient temps the thickness of the oil would be on the 40w end and at hotter ambient temps the oil would be at the 15w end. I know it should be just the opposite, because of the additives, but I used to run 15w40 year round in my diesel Ford. It was extremely hard to start in cold weather unless I had the block heater plugged in. When I changed to year round 10w30 diesel oil on Ford recommendation, it was much easier to start. 15w40 would sort of be on a sliding scale so to speak. It has to go through the oil hole feeding the bearing, and this oil would be 30w at some point. Feeding the bearing is the whole issue. Most people only use their lawn equipment from early spring, when it relatively cool but not cold to late summer when it very hot. So, to me, straight 30w makes sense or is my reasoning way off?

bijiminy said:

Now I'm confused. I was going to go with 30w, but now maybe I should go with factory recommendation. I'm pretty sure I have a bad oil pressure switch. Cleaned the contacts. Idiot light still flashing. I think if I had real problems with the engine, it would have stopped by now. Keeps on purring. I have real respect for these old Generacs as long as they are taken care of. I don't want to use synthetic after using conventional. Had a bad experience in the past.

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No n

bijiminy said:

Now I'm confused. I was going to go with 30w, but now maybe I should go with factory recommendation. I'm pretty sure I have a bad oil pressure switch. Cleaned the contacts. Idiot light still flashing. I think if I had real problems with the engine, it would have stopped by now. Keeps on purring. I have real respect for these old Generacs as long as they are taken care of. I don't want to use synthetic after using conventional. Had a bad experience in the past.

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No need for confusion.
The owners handbook came with a chart of what viscosity oil to use over certain temperature ranges for YOUR engine.
Ignore all the others because they are not for YOUR engine in YOUR mower .

Thanks everyone for the input. Now I know what I am going to do with the oil. I have one more question. Does the new pressure switch need a thread sealant? Possibly loctite? If so, which color loctite? Or would thread deal tape do or thread putty? What do you all use? Thanks again. The forum is always a lot of help with my stupid questions

I've always used standard PTFE tape...

Scrubcadet10 said:

I've always used standard PTFE tape...

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Then, that is what I'll use. Thanks

Does this oil light flash all the time? I'm thinking of the extreme heat we're having, if the light only flashes when you are on a hill or other grade it might just be the oil is hotter (thinner) than usual, so it runs to the sides of the engine and off of the pressure switch.

Joed756 said:

Does this oil light flash all the time? I'm thinking of the extreme heat we're having, if the light only flashes when you are on a hill or other grade it might just be the oil is hotter (thinner) than usual, so it runs to the sides of the engine and off of the pressure switch.

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It flashes all the time

What model D/C do you have that has an oil light on it. Never seen one most of them have a low oil horn. You are missing the point of the oil, diesels and small engines run hotter that standard gas engines. Most of them have solid lifters except the Kohler command engine which have hydraulic. The Lucas and Rotella oils are designed to run at the higher operating temps of these engines they also have more zinc in them to help lubricate the valve train. The auto industry dropped out most of the zinc because the catalytic convers stop up quicker with the zinc. Lucas is the slickest oil I have ever seen I would stay with it. The dealer you are talking to needs to study up on the oils. Don't run auto oil in small engines it doesn't stand up to the heat and the small engines and diesels like the extra zinc.

hlw49 said:

What model D/C do you have that has an oil light on it. Never seen one most of them have a low oil horn. You are missing the point of the oil, diesels and small engines run hotter that standard gas engines. Most of them have solid lifters except the Kohler command engine which have hydraulic. The Lucas and Rotella oils are designed to run at the higher operating temps of these engines they also have more zinc in them to help lubricate the valve train. The auto industry dropped out most of the zinc because the catalytic convers stop up quicker with the zinc. Lucas is the slickest oil I have ever seen I would stay with it. The dealer you are talking to needs to study up on the oils. Don't run auto oil in small engines it doesn't stand up to the heat and the small engines and diesels like the extra zinc.

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I had an LT2700 Silver Eagle. I believe from the serial number it was from 2005. It had a warning light that flashed and an LED that read check engine oil or something thereabouts. It had no horn. I said "had", because I thought I had a bad oil pressure sender switch and tried to replace it with another. Generac had superseded the old switch with a new one that really didn't fit and I broke the oil sump putting it in, which actually meant I broke the whole engine case, as the sump is not a separate part. I gave the mower to a kid in the neighborhood that has a business. He's going to try and find a Kawasaki that fits. I was putting in the Lucas oil when all this happened. As it turns out, it appears I had good oil pressure all along. Just the wrong oil. I'm now looking at a used 2019 John Deere z960m with 86 hours on it. However, I have not had much luck with zero turns and aluminum block engines. I'm really "gunshy" now. I may just give in and have someone else mow my lawn, which I hate. They never cut it the way I would. I really liked that Dixie Chopper. It was fast and I think the Generac engine was good, but I had no local support. The local Dixie Chopper dealer was no help. He actually said that he had never heard of a Generac engine being used in a Dixie Chopper though he was the one that put 10w30 oil in it before I bought it.

Yes u are right I forgot about the Silver Eagle they do have the oil light when u turn on the switch they light up until the oil pressure goes up. I never saw one flash. Guess I never saw one with a bad oil sending unit. The sending unit was really an issue with the classic. Replaced a lot of them. The sump is replaceable on the Generac engine. Too bad U gave the mower away it is fixable. Generac was a really good engine until the epa got into the act and put the emission standards on the small engine industry. Generac instead of updating the engine to meet the standards they just kept leaning the carb down to meet the standards and they started dropping exhaust valves.

hlw49 said:

Yes u are right I forgot about the Silver Eagle they do have the oil light when u turn on the switch they light up until the oil pressure goes up. I never saw one flash. Guess I never saw one with a bad oil sending unit. The sending unit was really an issue with the classic. Replaced a lot of them. The sump is replaceable on the Generac engine. Too bad U gave the mower away it is fixable. Generac was a really good engine until the epa got into the act and put the emission standards on the small engine industry. Generac instead of updating the engine to meet the standards they just kept leaning the carb down to meet the standards and they started dropping exhaust valves.

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I wish you were in the Nashville area. I had no real support here with anyone who knew anything about these engines. Are all small engines dropping exhaust valves now? What is the best gas engine?

I work in the Gallatin area. Not far away. I wish I could tell you no but I see more that I would say was acceptable. To me any engine that drops an exhaust valve is too many without some adverse situation like a large mouse nest or the cylinder fins all clogged up with some foreign matter. They say Kawasaki is the best engine in the commercial mowing industry but I won't tell you that see too many of them for me drops valve. You never see Kohler or Briggs drop valves. Kawasaki says their goal is to have the best engine in the industry. Well if they want that they need to fix the head problem and then they might have the best in the industry. I would say that Kohler the Command is hard to beat commercially. They have had head gasket issues but they finally got that fixed after over 20 years. At least if you blow a head gasket it won't wipe the engine out you can fix it. The Briggs Vanguard big block is a really good engine though it was built by Daihatsu in Japan. They say they have moved production to Texas can't verify that though.

hlw49 said:

I work in the Gallatin area. Not far away. I wish I could tell you no but I see more that I would say was acceptable. To me any engine that drops an exhaust valve is too many without some adverse situation like a large mouse nest or the cylinder fins all clogged up with some foreign matter. They say Kawasaki is the best engine in the commercial mowing industry but I won't tell you that see too many of them for me drops valve. You never see Kohler or Briggs drop valves. Kawasaki says their goal is to have the best engine in the industry. Well if they want that they need to fix the head problem and then they might have the best in the industry. I would say that Kohler the Command is hard to beat commercially. They have had head gasket issues but they finally got that fixed after over 20 years. At least if you blow a head gasket it won't wipe the engine out you can fix it. The Briggs Vanguard big block is a really good engine though it was built by Daihatsu in Japan. They say they have moved production to Texas can't verify that though.

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Thanks for the responses. I’m now thinking about going back to Kubota Diesel mower. I’ve had two. Never had any problems. Wish I had known you were around sooner.

hlw49 said:

They say Kawasaki is the best engine in the commercial mowing industry but I won't tell you that see too many of them for me drops valve. You never see Kohler or Briggs drop valves. Kawasaki says their goal is to have the best engine in the industry. Well if they want that they need to fix the head problem and then they might have the best in the industry.

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I have to disagree that Briggs and Kohler don't a valve. Valve physically in place but either a valve seat or valve guide usually unless it just someone never adjusted the valves.

My personal 33 series Briggs lost the exhaust valve seat. I have valve guides move on both Briggs and Kohler OHV engines. And even had a customer that nearly lost a Briggs engine because a valve seat failure. I ended up having to replace both the head and piston. Usually when the Briggs valve guides moves they do drop a valve from have a bent push rods. Also sometimes a Briggs valve gets dropped due broken push rod (one that worn to thin).

And yes I have replaced two Kawasaki heads this year because of overheating due to block cooling fins. This is not a Kawasaki but is maintenance problem. The first one was cause oil and dirt compaction causing by a flywheel oil leak that the customer ignored. The second one was on a Wright stand on mower which was actually a Wright design problem. They have put the hydro cooling radiator directly over the engine. They were depending the engine to suck the heated air through the engine. Well the radiator became half clogged leading to over heating hydro system which in turn over heated the engine. Actually melted the engine shroud and the flywheel fan along destroying #2 head. Neither of these were Kawasaki design problem but induced failures.

I've never seen an engine drop a seat that was not getting too hot. (i.e., rats nest in the shroud, dirt oil build up, etc)

Scrubcadet10 said:

I've never seen an engine drop a seat that was not getting too hot. (i.e., rats nest in the shroud, dirt oil build up, etc)

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Or on my personal mower a loose exhaust pipe.

StarTech said:

Or on my personal mower a loose exhaust pipe.

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Loose pipe caused a dropped seat? New one on me.

Scrubcadet10 said:

Loose pipe caused a dropped seat? New one on me.

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Well it did happen which why the seat now a ring of punch marks around it now.

And I always say everything is possible.

Exactly, Never say "I've seen it all"

Generac had an issue with theirs dropping exhaust valve seats they even went as far as to warranty the head for the life of the engine. If it survived dropping the seat. I have seen several drop seats and live to run again. I did 2 back to back last year. They were clean engines and did not over heat.