well its warming up here in texas so i figured i would dig the old briggs out and do a little maintenance. i washed it down, sharpened the blade, changed the plug,gave it a piston soak with some kroil, cleaned the filter,and changed the oil.
in the past i have been running just about anything in it for oil. it was always a mix of whatever empty bottles of lube i had laying around drained into a larger container. everything from atf to rear end lube and more drips into the old jug.
when i drained the oil it was quite a site. it came out in layers! first nice used oil then very thick almost sludge substance dripped out into the pan. got me thinking maybe i had been abusing the poor little mower so i put the plug back in and filled the crankcase with gas. then shook it back and forth for a while before redraining. after about 30 mins or so i decided to pull the small catch pan out from under it and put the plug back in. what i saw in the pan was gross to say the least! but the inside of the engine was very clean so i refilled with formula shell(left over from an oil change) and fired it up. it was running so great i went ahead and mowed the lawn to make sure the gas all burned out of the oil.
moral of the story: dont use "drip oil". any machine deserves at least a 2 dollar oil.
in the past i have been running just about anything in it for oil. it was always a mix of whatever empty bottles of lube i had laying around drained into a larger container. everything from atf to rear end lube and more drips into the old jug.
when i drained the oil it was quite a site. it came out in layers! first nice used oil then very thick almost sludge substance dripped out into the pan. got me thinking maybe i had been abusing the poor little mower so i put the plug back in and filled the crankcase with gas. then shook it back and forth for a while before redraining. after about 30 mins or so i decided to pull the small catch pan out from under it and put the plug back in. what i saw in the pan was gross to say the least! but the inside of the engine was very clean so i refilled with formula shell(left over from an oil change) and fired it up. it was running so great i went ahead and mowed the lawn to make sure the gas all burned out of the oil.
moral of the story: dont use "drip oil". any machine deserves at least a 2 dollar oil.
