Briggs Stratton push mower, little engine, how to change oil?

[marcpilot1]

Hi. I found a lawn mower last week and got it running yesterday, finally! It says on the sticker, on the front of the mower, that it's a- "Yard Machines by MTD". It has just a little Briggs and Stratton engine. Also the sticker says "22" cut, 500 series, 158cc/5.00 ft-lbs gross torque per SAE J1940, and on the side it says, "Side Discharge / Mulch, PUSH MOWER". Whatever that means?

One sticker on the gas tank says "Engine Family: 9BSXS.1581VG", then, after that, it has some other engine family numbers, and those are: 278636
Theres some other numbers for- "EU:", Some for "Displacement:" and some for, "EPA Compliance Period", CAT: C.

Oh! And theres a model # as well, I forgot to put that down for you. It's model# 11A-504E000 and serial# 1A040K21944.
I found out it's discontinued too, I think. It said somewhere it was a 2000 model. Anyway, with all that info(I doubt any of you all needed it all! ),but I was hoping you could figure out which push mower and engine this particular mower is. Then I was hoping that someone might possibly be able to help me with HOW to change the oil in it.

I just didn't want to leave any info out that might have prevented anyone from knowing which mower this was. But if it was TMI, sorry bout that! Just let me know what most people only actually needed.
Thanks for any info! And because of where I found it, I know it had sat up for a long time, so do you think I need to change the oil/filter a little differently this 1st change? If anybody needs any more info about this mower, just tell me. No problem. I do have a couple pics if you think you want those. And Thanks again!!!

 

[mechanic mark]

http://www.mtdproducts.com/equipmen...elNumber=11a-504e000&serialNumber=1a040k21944

see owners manual

 

[marcpilot1]

Oh, wow. That link to the owners manual for this exact lawn mower is sweet! Just what I needed. Thanks a lot. I believe I got it from here. Thx again.

 

[reynoldston]

I have had several of these MTD mowers in my shop to change the oil. They have no filter. They just don't have a drain plug. What I do take the oil dip stick out and turn the mower up side down over the top of a large drain pan. They only hold about a pint of oil so be careful you don't over fill the mower.

 

[marcpilot1]

I got ya. Thanks reynoldston, mechanic mark.
I was just getting to reply with a "is there an oil filter" question! But you beat me to it. Thank you for that as well!

So I have to flip the whole lawn mower upside down. Is that a common thing with little push mowers? I just can't see why there isn't some little drain plug on it. Like cars have. Just a little bolt or whatever. Hmm.
Kinda seems a little strange. To me, anyway. Oh well.
So if I have to flip it over, does that mean I've got to get the gas out of the tank somehow? Like a turkey baster type tool or some other way? I just filled the little gas tank up yesterday evening, when I finally finished getting it ready for a "test start" so to speak. Thx!

 

[primerbulb120]

I just put a plastic bag over the mouth of the gas tank and then tighten the gas cap on top of it. Prevents the gas from leaking out of the tank when the mower is tipped.

 

[reynoldston]

It just doesn't make a lot of sense to change the oil that way. I really believe most people that buy that type of mower just don't know what changing the motor oil is all about. I think when I do a oil change on a mower of that type its the first one. A small time back Briggs came out with a engine that never needed a oil change. I don't know how that engine ever turned out for them?? You can also just use up all the gas in the tank then change the oil. Its better to change the oil when the engine is hot anyways.

 

[marcpilot1]

Thanks for all the info you all provided! Big help. More than I expected.
Mr Primerbulb120, I did do the plastic under the gas cap trick! It worked fine. But there's another opening, and it's right next to the gas cap. It's under the air thing that has that real long screw holding it on. That opening actually allows you to see the gas shoot when you prime that orange ball. So I did the plastic trick there as well, except for I had to use duct tape to hold the plastic onto that opening.

And I'm sure Mr Reynoldston is correct about the way you have to change the oil in these series500 mowers, and that there's probably not too many oil changes done to these mowers in their lifetime! But why did they make them like that? Or whats the advantage to that design? I keep thinking about what if you had to do that with cars!

The only problem I got now, or question really, is why is the oil still black?! I'm thinking like Mr reynoldston, that the oil was probably never changed! Or if so, very rarely. Because it's still solid black on the dipstick!

Should you clean old oil out of there with some kerosene maybe, or something like that? Or is that as stupid as the oil change procedure that they designed(or didnt design)on these series500 MTD's. Would trying to do that screw up this little 4 stroke engine?

I can say though, without a doubt, that this series500 MTD definitely did a great job! After I changed the oil I went to mowing! The other lawn mower broke down about 2 months ago and the backyard had grown into a mess! It had real high grass and other types of growth, just awful looking. This little mower was light, powerful and easy to mow with!
Thanks for info or help!

 

[ILENGINE]

the older briggs push engines had a drain plug on the bottom, but over time the mower deck designers came out with smaller opening on the bottom which prevented access to the drain plug on the engine, which then lead to briggs eliminating the drain plug all together. The correct method of oil change is to remove all the fuel, disconnect the spark plug, remove the dipstick, and lay the mower on its side to drain the oil out of the fillter tube.

The new briggs no oil change engines seem to be running OK, with occasional fuel, carb issues. the problem with the no oil change engine, is to achieve that status it requires annual air filter, and spark plug service. The problem is the people that never changed the oil in the pushmower, never serviced the air filter or plug either. So I guess Briggs in a way just removed a service that a lot of people never did anyway.

 

[Tyy]

Marc , You can add an ounce of seafoam fuel/oil conditioner to your oil and fuel , which will clean both fuel circuits and slowly remove sludge within the engine . Alternate is to add a few ounces of tranny fluid to your oil same effect .