Mixing viscosity on 5.5 B&S

[Jimmy9190]

I'd like to know if a mix of about 2/3 of straight 30 weight lawn mower oil and 1/3 Valvoline MaxLife 10w30 be alright to run in a 5.5 Briggs lawn mower? This weekend I'm cutting my grass for the first time this season and wanted to change the oil first. I had both oils in my shop and would like to be able to use them up with this application. The lawn mower oil bottle has an ounce gauge on its side and I had enough of each to blend together 20 ounces, which is the rated capacity for my mower.

I know next to nothing about small engines so any help here is appreciated.

 

[Pablo]

It'll work.....those engines just need oil. Not too particular. In my younger days I changed the oil in mine about every 14 years if I remembered....oh I guess I'm the same way now!

 

[55Test]

I wonder how well the newer OHV lawnmower engines would tolerate decade-long OCI's...

 

[Jimmy9190]

Thanks. I thought it would be OK but wanted to ask those who would know for sure.

 

[jarvk22]

jimmy9190 I used B&S oil I got for free and my 6.75HP B&S engine would smoke at start up. Changed the oil too Maxlife 10w30 and no start up smoke at all.

 

[Jimmy9190]

Good. Thanks Jarvk. Maxlife is a great oil. I use it in my truck and had some left over when I had problems with the oil filter and had to buy a quart to top it off after replacing the filter.

 

[Jett Rink]

I have about a 15 year old Briggs & Stratton pushmower. It was my brother's for the first 7 or so years. I sincerely doubt he ever changed the oil in it. I'm sure he did add oil occasionally. I didn't change the oil in it for 2 or 3 years, after that. Just added some when it needed it. I thought I was gonna get rid of it soon, so why bother? Like luggage, though, it just had a way of hanging around doing its job over the years.

So about 5 years ago, I got serious about oil maintenance on it. That is, I change it once a year in the spring, and around midway through the summer. Currently, it has a mix of Autozone store brand SAE 30 and Delo 15w40. Just because I had a half quart of both still taking up stuff in the garage. No matter, it runs just fine. I don't think this kind of mower is particular at all about oil, it just wants some in there.

I remember when the oil in this mower was black as ink. Still ran great. Now that I change it regularly, the oil looks like honey. What really helps this mower run better I noticed, was cleaning the air filter out. That makes a noticeable difference. Oil? Clean oil or filthy oil, doesn't seem to matter.

I use it to get to the places my riding lawnmower won't access.

 

[Jimmy9190]

Well I drained the old oil, filled up with the blend I concocted, cleaned and re-gapped the spark plug, put in a new air filter and greased the axles. I cleaned the mower top and bottom and cut the grass when I got home from work today. Mower runs just fine with the mixed oils and there is no smoke at all. Motor actually was quieter than I remember from last year. Maxlif is a great oil no matter what you run it in.

Thanks for all the help here.

 

[Lost1]

I run 10w30 Max Life in my 18.5 hp B&S riding mower and it seems to love it. I emailed Valvoline before using it to see if they recommended it, or one of their other oils, for use in small, air-cooled engines.
Their response was:
"The MaxLife product would be exceptional to use in this application. With the smaller application like this, there really isn't a good, better, and best oil to use in those lines. The MaxLife motor oil will actually help with deposit control and cleaning the engine up."

So now everything in my stable (cars, pickup, OPE) gets Max Life.

 

[cmhj]

With many of these it really makes little difference. Just as long as you have a high quality 30 wt for summer operation you'll be ok.

 

[Mudcat]

Originally Posted By: Lost1
I run 10w30 Max Life in my 18.5 hp B&S riding mower and it seems to love it. I emailed Valvoline before using it to see if they recommended it, or one of their other oils, for use in small, air-cooled engines.
Their response was:
"The MaxLife product would be exceptional to use in this application. With the smaller application like this, there really isn't a good, better, and best oil to use in those lines. The MaxLife motor oil will actually help with deposit control and cleaning the engine up."

So now everything in my stable (cars, pickup, OPE) gets Max Life.

Thanks for sharing this information. I just dumped out last year's Amsoil ASE from the mower and replaced it with Maxlife SAE30 after deciding to keep the ASE stock for the generator. The Maxlife is SM rated, but so was the last Castrol HD30 bottle I picked up. If anything blows up I'll let y'all know.