Change mower oil now or in spring?
- Thread starter whip
- Start date
- Status
I started draining the old oil then filling the entire motor with cheap any weight bulk oil over the winter- all the way up till it spills out of the dipstick fill hole. This spring I will drain it and save it for next year and fill the motor with the right oil.
Doing this takes care of both sides of the argument. It removed the old oil-and contaminants- and it also puts clean oil back in, but doesn't leave much room for condensation. It also doesn't make me use the motor in the spring with "new" oil that has been sitting in it all winter because it is getting fresh oil in the spring.
Doing this takes care of both sides of the argument. It removed the old oil-and contaminants- and it also puts clean oil back in, but doesn't leave much room for condensation. It also doesn't make me use the motor in the spring with "new" oil that has been sitting in it all winter because it is getting fresh oil in the spring.
barlowc said:
It really doesn't matter very much. Most people never change the oil after they pour in the bottle that comes with it.
If the oil gets changed somewhat regularly, as in once a year, you will NEVER have an oil-related problem with that engine. It doesn't matter much when you change it, as long as it gets changed.
If the oil gets changed somewhat regularly, as in once a year, you will NEVER have an oil-related problem with that engine. It doesn't matter much when you change it, as long as it gets changed.
Originally Posted By: 475CAT
If it was mine, I would have changed the oil while the engine was still hot right after the last use of the season. Being that it is an air cooled motor used in warm weather, I would use a good quality 30wt oil. Many people neglect these little motors, and they still last forever. Don't sweat it.
+1 I change the oil at the end of the season after the last cut for the year when the engine is good and hot. Why store an engine with spent oil, with the contaminants, acids etc., sitting in the sump? I add a nice heavy dose of MMO to the gas a little Stabil before the final cut, fog it and drain the oil hot. Then top off the gas tank. Come springtime it starts right up, smokes a bit, and is GTG for the entire season.
If it was mine, I would have changed the oil while the engine was still hot right after the last use of the season. Being that it is an air cooled motor used in warm weather, I would use a good quality 30wt oil. Many people neglect these little motors, and they still last forever. Don't sweat it.
+1 I change the oil at the end of the season after the last cut for the year when the engine is good and hot. Why store an engine with spent oil, with the contaminants, acids etc., sitting in the sump? I add a nice heavy dose of MMO to the gas a little Stabil before the final cut, fog it and drain the oil hot. Then top off the gas tank. Come springtime it starts right up, smokes a bit, and is GTG for the entire season.
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: 475CAT
If it was mine, I would have changed the oil while the engine was still hot right after the last use of the season. Being that it is an air cooled motor used in warm weather, I would use a good quality 30wt oil. Many people neglect these little motors, and they still last forever. Don't sweat it.
+1 I change the oil at the end of the season after the last cut for the year when the engine is good and hot. Why store an engine with spent oil, with the contaminants, acids etc., sitting in the sump? I add a nice heavy dose of MMO to the gas a little Stabil before the final cut, fog it and drain the oil hot. Then top off the gas tank. Come springtime it starts right up, smokes a bit, and is GTG for the entire season.
I do all that too and hire an elf to stand guard over it all winter to keep the gremlins at bay!
Originally Posted By: 475CAT
If it was mine, I would have changed the oil while the engine was still hot right after the last use of the season. Being that it is an air cooled motor used in warm weather, I would use a good quality 30wt oil. Many people neglect these little motors, and they still last forever. Don't sweat it.
+1 I change the oil at the end of the season after the last cut for the year when the engine is good and hot. Why store an engine with spent oil, with the contaminants, acids etc., sitting in the sump? I add a nice heavy dose of MMO to the gas a little Stabil before the final cut, fog it and drain the oil hot. Then top off the gas tank. Come springtime it starts right up, smokes a bit, and is GTG for the entire season.
I do all that too and hire an elf to stand guard over it all winter to keep the gremlins at bay!
Originally Posted By: boraticus
How much "acids and contaminants" could possibly accumulate in an engine sump over winter? Particularly in an air cooled engine that runs at temperatures approaching 300 degrees?
Water is required to make acids. I can't see too much water being present in oil that's been heated to 280 degrees.
The acids in the crankcase potential is way overblown.
Acids alone may not be cause for great alarm, but try the exercise I suggested in the below quote using OPE oil that's been in use for the season and drained hot. You'll clearly see the "contaminants" I'm talking about settled and stuck to the bottom of the jug. Just like they're stuck to the inside of the case of cold-changed OPE - change after change after change. Then it's whipped into circulation again during the next use circulating all that wear metal around.
An integral part of the typical "change only in spring" crowd is that they change the oil cold before they use the equipment. Yes, it's better than never changing, but nowhere near as good as changing hot which is more suited to end-of-season service (after the last mow) than beginning-of-season.
Originally Posted By: Craig in Canada
The change-in-spring crowd, just to humour us, should do a HOT drain of OPE oil into a plastic jug, then let it sit in the cold all winter, and then pour the oil off in the spring (cold) and look at how much junk is left behind. The answer is ALL of the junk that OPE oil must carry away, as a matter of fact, because there's no filter. Any kind of used oil of any sort I've ever kept in a jug for even a week or two has left deposits stuck to the bottom of the container that won't come off without agitation or scrubbing. The heat and agitation of running the engine will bring it all into suspension again which is when it should be drained.
How much "acids and contaminants" could possibly accumulate in an engine sump over winter? Particularly in an air cooled engine that runs at temperatures approaching 300 degrees?
Water is required to make acids. I can't see too much water being present in oil that's been heated to 280 degrees.
The acids in the crankcase potential is way overblown.
Acids alone may not be cause for great alarm, but try the exercise I suggested in the below quote using OPE oil that's been in use for the season and drained hot. You'll clearly see the "contaminants" I'm talking about settled and stuck to the bottom of the jug. Just like they're stuck to the inside of the case of cold-changed OPE - change after change after change. Then it's whipped into circulation again during the next use circulating all that wear metal around.
An integral part of the typical "change only in spring" crowd is that they change the oil cold before they use the equipment. Yes, it's better than never changing, but nowhere near as good as changing hot which is more suited to end-of-season service (after the last mow) than beginning-of-season.
Originally Posted By: Craig in Canada
The change-in-spring crowd, just to humour us, should do a HOT drain of OPE oil into a plastic jug, then let it sit in the cold all winter, and then pour the oil off in the spring (cold) and look at how much junk is left behind. The answer is ALL of the junk that OPE oil must carry away, as a matter of fact, because there's no filter. Any kind of used oil of any sort I've ever kept in a jug for even a week or two has left deposits stuck to the bottom of the container that won't come off without agitation or scrubbing. The heat and agitation of running the engine will bring it all into suspension again which is when it should be drained.
This may sound like a stupid question, but how do you know when the last mow of the season will be? I could mow my yard this weekend and shut everything down for the winter, only to find out that the yard is overgrown again in 3 weeks. How can you plan for the weather when it is totally unpredictable? Changing in the spring seems a lot simpler to me.
Originally Posted By: Craig in Canada
Originally Posted By: boraticus
How much "acids and contaminants" could possibly accumulate in an engine sump over winter? Particularly in an air cooled engine that runs at temperatures approaching 300 degrees?
Water is required to make acids. I can't see too much water being present in oil that's been heated to 280 degrees.
The acids in the crankcase potential is way overblown.
Acids alone may not be cause for great alarm, but try the exercise I suggested in the below quote using OPE oil that's been in use for the season and drained hot. You'll clearly see the "contaminants" I'm talking about settled and stuck to the bottom of the jug. Just like they're stuck to the inside of the case of cold-changed OPE - change after change after change. Then it's whipped into circulation again during the next use circulating all that wear metal around.
An integral part of the typical "change only in spring" crowd is that they change the oil cold before they use the equipment. Yes, it's better than never changing, but nowhere near as good as changing hot which is more suited to end-of-season service (after the last mow) than beginning-of-season.
Originally Posted By: Craig in Canada
The change-in-spring crowd, just to humour us, should do a HOT drain of OPE oil into a plastic jug, then let it sit in the cold all winter, and then pour the oil off in the spring (cold) and look at how much junk is left behind. The answer is ALL of the junk that OPE oil must carry away, as a matter of fact, because there's no filter. Any kind of used oil of any sort I've ever kept in a jug for even a week or two has left deposits stuck to the bottom of the container that won't come off without agitation or scrubbing. The heat and agitation of running the engine will bring it all into suspension again which is when it should be drained.
You have repeated over and over about the 'cold' oil change in the spring. What makes you assume that people just roll it out of the shed and drain the oil in the spring? I don't. I don't usually get to the oil in the fall, and I'm not at all concerned with leaving it over winter. I'll change it in the spring, after its ran and hot.
Originally Posted By: boraticus
How much "acids and contaminants" could possibly accumulate in an engine sump over winter? Particularly in an air cooled engine that runs at temperatures approaching 300 degrees?
Water is required to make acids. I can't see too much water being present in oil that's been heated to 280 degrees.
The acids in the crankcase potential is way overblown.
Acids alone may not be cause for great alarm, but try the exercise I suggested in the below quote using OPE oil that's been in use for the season and drained hot. You'll clearly see the "contaminants" I'm talking about settled and stuck to the bottom of the jug. Just like they're stuck to the inside of the case of cold-changed OPE - change after change after change. Then it's whipped into circulation again during the next use circulating all that wear metal around.
An integral part of the typical "change only in spring" crowd is that they change the oil cold before they use the equipment. Yes, it's better than never changing, but nowhere near as good as changing hot which is more suited to end-of-season service (after the last mow) than beginning-of-season.
Originally Posted By: Craig in Canada
The change-in-spring crowd, just to humour us, should do a HOT drain of OPE oil into a plastic jug, then let it sit in the cold all winter, and then pour the oil off in the spring (cold) and look at how much junk is left behind. The answer is ALL of the junk that OPE oil must carry away, as a matter of fact, because there's no filter. Any kind of used oil of any sort I've ever kept in a jug for even a week or two has left deposits stuck to the bottom of the container that won't come off without agitation or scrubbing. The heat and agitation of running the engine will bring it all into suspension again which is when it should be drained.
You have repeated over and over about the 'cold' oil change in the spring. What makes you assume that people just roll it out of the shed and drain the oil in the spring? I don't. I don't usually get to the oil in the fall, and I'm not at all concerned with leaving it over winter. I'll change it in the spring, after its ran and hot.
Originally Posted By: jmsjags
This may sound like a stupid question, but how do you know when the last mow of the season will be? I could mow my yard this weekend and shut everything down for the winter, only to find out that the yard is overgrown again in 3 weeks. How can you plan for the weather when it is totally unpredictable? Changing in the spring seems a lot simpler to me.
I've done both - fall and spring and even waited till sometime in the summer. Not really an issue with a simple lawn mower engine.
If I do it in the fall, I wait until Nov/Dec when I'm not mowing much at all and the leaves are done (I use the mower to mulch them). I change it. If I use it another time or 2 it's no big deal.
This may sound like a stupid question, but how do you know when the last mow of the season will be? I could mow my yard this weekend and shut everything down for the winter, only to find out that the yard is overgrown again in 3 weeks. How can you plan for the weather when it is totally unpredictable? Changing in the spring seems a lot simpler to me.
I've done both - fall and spring and even waited till sometime in the summer. Not really an issue with a simple lawn mower engine.
If I do it in the fall, I wait until Nov/Dec when I'm not mowing much at all and the leaves are done (I use the mower to mulch them). I change it. If I use it another time or 2 it's no big deal.
Run on hour scedule for oci. My family farm has engines from 2hp tecumseh and brigg's to the 806 and 560 IH farmalls have gone years on a since oci but never over the hour internal. 40 to 50 plus years of age on many pieces.
ken
my brothers lawn takes 15minutes tops mow time with idle on the push mower. so he could go 1.5 years easy.
ken
my brothers lawn takes 15minutes tops mow time with idle on the push mower. so he could go 1.5 years easy.
Run on hour scedule for oci. My family farm has engines from 2hp tecumseh and brigg's to the 806 and 560 IH farmalls have gone years on a since oci but never over the hour internal. 40 to 50 plus years of age on many pieces.
ken
my brothers lawn takes 15minutes tops mow time with idle on the push mower. so he could go 1.5 years easy.
ken
my brothers lawn takes 15minutes tops mow time with idle on the push mower. so he could go 1.5 years easy.
Just to take the OCDness to the next level I like to add the recommended amount if seafoam to the gas and oil. In the fuel it not only furthers the stabilization of any fuel not completely burned off (I run it dry) but also helps clear the varnish/crudd if any from the carb. In the oil it helps loosen any buildup that has accumulated in the lube system. You'd be amazed at how much your oil darkens after doing a mow with Seafoam in the oil, it made me a believer for sure.
Also, this is all done every fall. I still can't find one benefit to doing it in the spring. Not only are all the VOC's just sitting there on the bearings and sticking to the metal but common sense would lead me to believe that year old oil collects moisture at a much grater pace then fresh oil.
Also, this is all done every fall. I still can't find one benefit to doing it in the spring. Not only are all the VOC's just sitting there on the bearings and sticking to the metal but common sense would lead me to believe that year old oil collects moisture at a much grater pace then fresh oil.
Last edited:
I've always done it after my last mow along with running the gas dry. May just wait till after the first mow in the spring. Most important is the fuel.
- Status