i just bought a craftsman 4 cycle trimmer about a month ago. i've changed the oil twice and it's kind of a pain in the butt. they give you a thumb screw to remove and you tip the unit and dump the oil out. well, the problem i have is there's a plastic cover surrounding the oil drain/fill plug and there is a 1/16 inch gap between the crank case and the cover. you end up dumping oil between the cover and the crank case. you can either leave it there to slowly drip, or you can remove about 5 screws and remove the cover then drain the oil. i've tried sticking the business end of a funnel in the drain/fill hole but none of my funnels will work. i'm thinking about going to the hardware store and buying a sort piece of galvanised pipe threaded on either end and a cap. threading the cap on one end and screwing the other end in the drain/fill hole. the only problem i see with that is i'm sure the crank case is aluminum and i'm not sure i want any length of pipe threaded into an aluminum hole. one bump and it would rip the threads right out destroying the crank case. does anyone have any suggestions?
yeah... that was going to be another topic. when i got it, after running a few minutes i noticed metal shavings in the oil. i didn't think much of it. never bought a new piece of equipment before. i figured the parts were breaking in. anyhoo i ran it awhile and changed the oil. on the second oil change i notice there's still metal shavings. so i run it awhile and change it again. i think its okay now. i need to double check. i may change it a third time for good measure. i would say the engine has less than an hour on it.
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173abn
I bought this oil transfer pump for my boat motor,perhaps that would work for you.....russ
If you are finding metal shavings in the oil after two oil changes, you should return the unit to Sears and request a replacement. Remember that you have a warrantee and they should honor it. I would hate to see you continue with this problem until after the warrantee has expired.
I went to Sears and told them about the metal shavings. They asked if I had the receipt, which I did. They said to bring it in and they'd give me a new one. No trouble. I ran it for 5 minutes or so this evening. No shavings at all. The first one had shavings in the oil immediately.
I st need to visit the hardware store and see if I can find a solution for draining the oil without getting it all over the covers. Maybe a length of tube that just fits in the hole. I'd rather have something that stays with the trimmed. A short piece of hose will disappear in the garage, never to be seen again.
Harbor Freight sells a suction pump for extracting oil from a sump. It's small, looks kind of like a grease gun. Comes with neoprene (clear) hose so you can see the oil your sucking out of the crankcase.
