I change initial fill 30 minutes to 1 hr.
Second chance @5hrs.
Once a year after that.
Second chance @5hrs.
Once a year after that.
Change oil only after 5 hours on new Honda & Briggs small engines?
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I'm thinking E = 15w-40 or 20w-50
I wonder if that's what will be in the oil filter of my predator 459cc.
I have seen other articles where the "lifetime" was 150 hrs.
I would strongly recommend changing the oil in the first 5 hrs.Even insisted that customers change the oil early on the no oil change Briggs engines.Luckly for NZ the no oil change engines have disappeared.The Honda engine oil always looks clean at 5 hrs,but if you drain it when the sun is shining it also is full of glitter.
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You, and probably everyone on this forum are maintenance minded individuals. The article implies many consumers today are not of that mindset and will be satisfied with 10 -12 years of use of their equipment, and that the "no oil change" engines are designed to last that long. I saw a Toro self-propelled push mower with a no oil change engine for sale at Home Depot for $500. I would not feel I was getting my money's worth if i spent that much on a mower knowing it would be scrap in 12 years. In my climate, we only cut the grass six months out of the year, so if that translates into 20 to 24 seasons of use, then the $500 price tag seems justified.
I did my 163 at 4-5 hours. It came with 16 oz of Briggs oil. Next spring I’ll use Amsoil Small engine 5W30.
This is the conventional advice for air cooled OPE, and I always follow it. Most of these engines have no oil filter so the initial wear metals are circulating with the the oil. It seems like a good idea to get those out of there quickly and then just move on to the typical 50 or 100 hour OCI. Some here on BITOG do tend to take it to extremes, but I've never had an oil related OPE engine failure in 40 years using that five hour once rule.
SAE = Society of Automotive Engineers
Draining the initial oil when the sun is shining is what turns sceptics into believers. As you say, the oil color looks fine but that glitter...
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I just changed my break in oil (5 hours) on a Kohler 7000. It was chocolate brown. Any ways after reading some of your alls posts I used Rotella T5 and a wm supertech filter. Started much easier and sounded better. The manual says two different things for me. The Troy manual says to change oil/filter every 50 hours and the Kohler manual says every 100. I’ll probably do it once a season.
I changed my B&S 20 hp twin at~ 5 hours and then every 50 hours as recommended. Now at 175 running hour and absolutely no issues. I didn't try to think over the factory engineers and that always works works for me. Ed
Small engines don’t get the same advanced machining and assembly care as new auto engines do. Most don’t have filters, either. 5 hour oil changes for the first 15-20 hours of a small engine’s life won’t hurt anything. May also not help anything other than our OCD, but still…Looking over honda and briggs manuals I think this "confirms" it is a good idea to do the first oil change on ANY new engine let it be small 4 cycle on a lawn mower or power washer or a Honda 3.5L early.
Here are a couple screen shots from the briggs and honda service manual: as you can see Honda small engine team "stresses" the importance of an early oil change at 5 hours on new engine then not once but twice a year or every 50 hours.. Since I don't use it for 50 hours a year, I change the oil once a year no matter the hours.
Briggs also recommends a initial five hour oil change, followed by every 50 hours or once a year...
Honda:
View attachment 134533View attachment 134532
Briggs:
View attachment 134534View attachment 134535
And it appears they even recommend a Synthetic "D" 5W30 for basically all temp conditions.
What do you think? Are the manufactures just being cautious with oil changes, so they can deny warranty service in hours because no one I actually changes the oil on small engines lol?
OR is there maybe legality or something like that then just "change initially at 5 hours"? maybe for warranty / emissions. Something like that.?
Personally... on the Honda GVC190 power washer I just change the oil once every spring with synthetic and use it for the year.
On a new engine such as the briggs CR950 power washer... I changed the oil once at 5 hours, then I will do it again at 15, then I will follow the manufacturer maintenance of once a year or 50 hours from then out
I changed my Ryobi 4kW “inverter” generator over to the brand I’ve been accused of being a fanboy of. And it will likely last as long as I need a generator.
I’m my mind and opinion, this is the proper way and what I do
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Honda mower was 5 hours (or roughly 5-lawns worth). My kawa powered Snapper zero turn got the dump at two hours, new filter. Then dumped again at 10. Now it’s every 25 hours. I sleep at night better now.
This is pretty much my exact plan for a new pressure washer I got with a GX200 clone engine. After only 30 mins there was definitely glitter in the oil. I was worried that maybe the initial fill was a special moly break in oil, but with this being a cheapo Chinese clone, I doubt they would go through that expense.
I just did my Kawasaki mower engine FR730V with an Amsoil oil filter and Amsoil ASF 10w40 oil today. Had 15.1 hour on the Amsoil ASE 10w-30 Amsoil. I pulled the filter media out on the Kawasaki oil filter. It is draining. I'll take a look at it after it drains for a few days.
I was going to put a Super Tech oil filter on. But thought that the Amsoil oil filter would keep any other metal particles out of suspension better. I did not notice any metal particles for the most part. I think the stock Kawasaki oil filter did a pretty good job.
I was going to put a Super Tech oil filter on. But thought that the Amsoil oil filter would keep any other metal particles out of suspension better. I did not notice any metal particles for the most part. I think the stock Kawasaki oil filter did a pretty good job.
I have a few of those. Keeps the mosquitoes away too!
Less than half a liter of oil (so basically 2 cups) and no oil filter. Not exactly a “like-for-like” comparison to a vehicle engine. Probably fair for a lawnmower in dusty environments 24/7 and operated only a small fraction of the time; definitely overdoing it on a car engine with good oil, oil and air filters.Looking over honda and briggs manuals I think this "confirms" it is a good idea to do the first oil change on ANY new engine let it be small 4 cycle on a lawn mower or power washer or a Honda 3.5L early.
Here are a couple screen shots from the briggs and honda service manual: as you can see Honda small engine team "stresses" the importance of an early oil change at 5 hours on new engine then not once but twice a year or every 50 hours.. Since I don't use it for 50 hours a year, I change the oil once a year no matter the hours.
Briggs also recommends a initial five hour oil change, followed by every 50 hours or once a year...
Honda:
View attachment 134533View attachment 134532
Briggs:
View attachment 134534View attachment 134535
And it appears they even recommend a Synthetic "D" 5W30 for basically all temp conditions.
What do you think? Are the manufactures just being cautious with oil changes, so they can deny warranty service in hours because no one I actually changes the oil on small engines lol?
OR is there maybe legality or something like that then just "change initially at 5 hours"? maybe for warranty / emissions. Something like that.?
Personally... on the Honda GVC190 power washer I just change the oil once every spring with synthetic and use it for the year.
On a new engine such as the briggs CR950 power washer... I changed the oil once at 5 hours, then I will do it again at 15, then I will follow the manufacturer maintenance of once a year or 50 hours from then out
Has @wwillson hit 40k (and what, 2.5 years plus in service?) on his single HPL oil change yet? Not saying that always applies in OPE world, but it simply isn’t the same ballpark when you’re talking 6+ quarts of oil in the sump with filters that hold more oil than that entire B&S… capacity is your friend when it comes to oil.
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