Oil Filter; Is Bigger Necessarily Better?

[cruzenmike]

If you want to flush then put cheap Walmart oil at the end of the season then change that for good quality mower oil at the beginning of the season.
Leaving the mower sitting all winter with clean oil in there is not much different to mowers sitting in a mower shop unsold.
The only difference is the shop is heated during the day but I doubt the heating stays on all night.

True. I guess I have been lucky too that I have not found any evidence of moisture getting into the oil either. I had a 24 hp Briggs ELS on a 2009 Cub Cadet Rider and the oil was always looking like it had creamy white stuff in it.

 

[cpurvis]

I've always changed oil in the Spring. One of my engines is an Onan 14 hp that has blown crankcase gaskets, twice. The last time I had it apart was at the 600 hour mark. There are pictures of this engine in the Cub Cadet forum somewhere. You can see for yourself the effects of changing oil in the Spring. I use non-synthetic 15w-40 diesel oil in it.

The other engine I had apart was a 1965 B&S 3 hp vertical shaft on a roto tiller that needed valve guide bushings. It was clean and had no corrosion, either. I didn't take any pictures.

 

[Boudreaux In Eunice La.]

Bert had put up on a thread last summer about changing the oil before the winter storage.... Something about the corrosives in the oil from combustion ETC ETC......

Which I think makes sense..........But down here where i'm at I change 2 times a year.... We don't winter our machines over.....

 

[cruzenmike]

I could be mistaken, but I am quite sure that most people do as I do and just change it in the spring. My Vanguard with over 500 hours, when taken apart looked fine inside from what I could tell. While I did not remove the heads, nothing looked out of sorts on the bottom end. In case you were wondering why it was apart, oil leak from a seal so I just replaced all rubber on the bottom end; a little PM.

I am quite sure that the oil type, grade and many other conditions will factor into how the oil breaks down and what damage it might do to an engine when sitting.

 

[cruzenmike]

I've always changed oil in the Spring. One of my engines is an Onan 14 hp that has blown crankcase gaskets, twice. The last time I had it apart was at the 600 hour mark. There are pictures of this engine in the Cub Cadet forum somewhere. You can see for yourself the effects of changing oil in the Spring. I use non-synthetic 15w-40 diesel oil in it.

The other engine I had apart was a 1965 B&S 3 hp vertical shaft on a roto tiller that needed valve guide bushings. It was clean and had no corrosion, either. I didn't take any pictures.

so if I am reading this correctly what you are saying is that all other things considered equal had you simply changed your oil in the fall after the season was over instead of in the spring your engine would not have needed to be rebuilt twice? I am not familiar with this engine that you are referring to that had to be rebuilt twice but is it typical of that engine to get much longer life than what you saw before the rebuilds?

 

[cpurvis]

so if I am reading this correctly what you are saying is that all other things considered equal had you simply changed your oil in the fall after the season was over instead of in the spring your engine would not have needed to be rebuilt twice? I am not familiar with this engine that you are referring to that had to be rebuilt twice but is it typical of that engine to get much longer life than what you saw before the rebuilds?

Rebuilt? I don't think I said my engine got rebuilt. I replaced the crankcase gasket because that engine has a propensity to suck in the crankcase gasket in but that's all I've done to it. It's happened twice; first time at about 375 hours, second time at 600 hours. It's now got almost 1100 hours on it, with no rebuild yet. When replacing that gasket, the lower end of the engine is exposed.

 

[bertsmobile1]

I could be mistaken, but I am quite sure that most people do as I do and just change it in the spring. My Vanguard with over 500 hours, when taken apart looked fine inside from what I could tell. While I did not remove the heads, nothing looked out of sorts on the bottom end. In case you were wondering why it was apart, oil leak from a seal so I just replaced all rubber on the bottom end; a little PM.

I am quite sure that the oil type, grade and many other conditions will factor into how the oil breaks down and what damage it might do to an engine when sitting.

It is a lazyness thing.
Don't do anything till the last minute & you have to do it right now.
Like driving down the street, most people do not turn off till the last corner where they will cue up for 3 minutes when thy could have turned earlier and missed the que.

There is the best time to do change your oil, which is after the last mow
There is the least beneficial time which is before the first mow
Then there are the bone idle who just top up.

When I pull down an engine you can see the ones that change at the end of the season, their sumps are clean
The ones who change before the first (ish) mow of the season will have staining on the sump floor and sludge in a few places.

 

[cpurvis]

It is a lazyness thing.


There is the best time to do change your oil, which is after the last mow


When I pull down an engine you can see the ones that change at the end of the season, their sumps are clean
The ones who change before the first (ish) mow of the season will have staining on the sump floor and sludge in a few places.

Baloney, Baloney, Baloney.

 

[cruzenmike]

Rebuilt? I don't think I said my engine got rebuilt. I replaced the crankcase gasket because that engine has a propensity to suck in the crankcase gasket in but that's all I've done to it. It's happened twice; first time at about 375 hours, second time at 600 hours. It's now got almost 1100 hours on it, with no rebuild yet. When replacing that gasket, the lower end of the engine is exposed.

Sorry, I misspoke. Did you start changing your oil in the fall after the 600 hour gasket failure? Did you make any other changes in replacing the gasket itself?

 

[cpurvis]

Sorry, I misspoke. Did you start changing your oil in the fall after the 600 hour gasket failure? Did you make any other changes in replacing the gasket itself?

No, I've never changed oil in the Fall and have no intention of starting now. The operational change I made was to religiously clean the air filter wrapper at 10 hour intervals as recommended by Cub Cadet, not the 50 hour interval recommended by Onan.