briggs and stratton with normal oil change

[bertsmobile1]

There is a bit of a difference between large diesels with a lot of oil, which is managed, pumped & filtered and an unfiltered splash lubed petrol engine.
The Macks my mate ran & the Kubota excavators all had very large sumps, multi stage oil filtering & oil cooling .
Thus most of the solid contaminates are removed so the main objective of topping up the oil is to replenish consumed additives .
So they got a 1/3 oil change every 200 hours ( 5 gallons )

On a splash lubed mower engine there is no way to remove the particulates as there is no filter.
Early engines used sludging to allow solids to agglomerate & settle in the remote oil tank.
This of course can not happen with detergent oils as the detergents are there to prevent solids from agglomerating and keep them in suspension so they can be easily filtered out

OTOH more than a few push mowers come in with oil so thick I need to run the engine with solvents in there to dilute the mud thin enough to get sucked out.
So I rather think that the small push mower engines were somewhat over lubed from the start so with better research & more accurate computer modeling Briggs have worked out their engine will run 5 + years without an oil change before contaminates build up to a dangerous level

 

[ILENGINE]

the full to add mark on the dipstick is 20% of the oil volume in the engine. that 20% is enough to replenish the additives in the oil. the engine has a life expectancy of 125 hours which equals 10 years for the average use.

the catch 22 in this is the engine requires regular air filter and spark plug maintenance. But the problem is the people that ignore the oil will also ignore the air filter and the spark plug. the engine was designed with tighter tolerances inside the engine to help prevent combustion contamination of the oil along with better air filtration and regular maintenance to help preserve the oil condition according to briggs. If they come into my shop I change the oil in them anyway.

 

[bertsmobile1]

You and me both .
$ 5 worth of oil is a lot cheaper than a warranty claim for a new engine.
And what do you mean by plug maintanance, "it was sparking OK before I brought it in why are you charging me for a new plug when the old one was still working "
Took a while to nut it out so now they get a standard fixed rate $ 75 service which includes a free plug , air filter & oil change in place of the old $ 45 + parts

 

[cpurvis]

Sure that was Caterpillar and not Detroit?

Yep, Cat 3406B manual was where I first saw it.

It never burned oil, either, until an air cleaner element failed. After that, it drank oil. Had to do an in-frame on it.

The Cats were good engines. Too bad they got out of the class 8 truck market.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Yep, Cat 3406B manual was where I first saw it.

It never burned oil, either, until an air cleaner element failed. After that, it drank oil. Had to do an in-frame on it.

The Cats were good engines. Too bad they got out of the class 8 truck market.

Not by choice, by Federal Mandate. Still have a 3406 E in my Barnyard Buick doublebunk with a 13 double over on 355's. Great engine. Expensive to work on but a great engine anyway.

Getting back to the Briggs. I think B&S banks on the fact that the engine will go 5 years (warranty) before it pukes anyway and post warranty they bear no responsibility.

 

[cpurvis]

Getting back to the Briggs. I think B&S banks on the fact that the engine will go 5 years (warranty) before it pukes anyway and post warranty they bear no responsibility.

You're undoubtedly right but I hate to see it come to that. We're already too much of a throw-away society.

 

[SidecarFlip]

You're undoubtedly right but I hate to see it come to that. We're already too much of a throw-away society.

Part of the 'mantra' of how our society works today. We live in a me first disposable society where nothing is supposed to last any length of time longer than the warranty period and is then discarded and a 'new and improved' model takes it's place.

Personally, I don't Believe B&S 'improved anything tolerance wise on this no oil change engine. They might have changed some components like a plastic carb or whatever but the basic principles of a 4 stroke splash lubed engine remains unchanged and I watched their ad blurb and I find it BS from B&S.

Any small engine will go 5 years with no oil change so long as the oil isn't cheapo stuff. After 5 years it's a crapshoot but why would B&S care anyway. They are all about selling mew pressure die cast motors, not repairing old ones.

Gone is the good old cast iron Kohlers and Onan's that can be rebuilt and run forever, I know, I have one.

 

[ILENGINE]

Getting back to the Briggs. I think B&S banks on the fact that the engine will go 5 years (warranty) before it pukes anyway and post warranty they bear no responsibility.

The average replacement interval for push mowers is 3.5 years and 4.5 years for riding mowers. So they are built to those standards.

 

[broo]

I have one of those EXI engines but I still change the oil yearly.

 

[gladiator801]

The average replacement interval for push mowers is 3.5 years and 4.5 years for riding mowers. So they are built to those standards.

I guess my 30 year old Toro rider with over 3000 hours is over the hill