Noob with a new husky 24v54

[bperry]

As the title states I am new here and have been pouring over the posts to see what is best to put in the B&S 24HP Intek v-twin.

From what I gathered it seems a lot of people lie the Rotella 10w30 or 10w40 for the extra protection against a OPE tendency to shear the oil.

So I guess what is the consensus? Stay away from automotive oils because of the VII and go with a 10w30/10w40 or stick with a lawnmower manufacturer brand oil as they put more ZPPD in the oil for protection?

The engine hour counter says it has 2.5hrs so I was going to change the oil and filter before the season starts and then again after 5hrs and then go to the regular schedule. Is that overkill or sane?

Also what kind of filter can you run in these? I really don't want to spend $12 on a freaking lawnmower oil filter. I looked up the wix filter and it is the same and the B$S price. After some investigation I found a purolator L10241 or motorcraft fl400s may work for the engine. I may have to add more oil to compensate for the bigger filter.

Thanks in advance

 

[JTK]

Nice machine for the money! Many of the hard parts are interchangeable with Sears/AYP products.

Nice tried and true, been around forever Tufftorq K46 drive on it.

I always ran Motorcraft FL400 sized filters on my Kohlers, but I'm not positive it will fit with the orientation under the hood w/ that 24hp Briggs V-twin. Most likely will.

You probably know my take on what oil I like for small air cooled stuff by now!

Joel

 

[SteveSRT8]

I own the Sears twin of the mower mentioned.

We use a Purolator, I just asked here and bingo, helpful BITOG-ers helped me.

I'm running M1 15w-50, and my Briggs Platinum could not be happier.

 

[wally6934]

“Also what kind of filter can you run in these? I really don't want to spend $12 on a freaking lawnmower oil filter. I looked up the wix filter and it is the same and the B$S price. After some investigation I found a purolator L10241 or motorcraft fl400s may work for the engine. I may have to add more oil to compensate for the bigger filter.”

The following top secret, code 1 information will let you find the proper filter for your engine. I will use my lawn mower for an example because i do not have enough information for yours. I have a sears lawn tractor and looked in the parts break down section to find this number.

52-050-02-S filter, oil.

Now go here and input the number from the manual.

http://www.purolatorautofilters.net/resources/Pages/InterchangeGuide.aspx

52-050-02-S, notice the filter can not be found. That is because Sears try’s to disguise the part number with a lot of spaces. Take them out and try again. 5205002S now gives you a L10241 filter number for a Kohler engine, which is what i have. To make it a Pure 1 filter add a P in front of the part number, PL10241.

If you are sure you have the OEM filter on your engine you can also enter that number on the filter in the box on the Purolator web site.

 

[SteveSRT8]

^^^see I told you!

 

[bperry]

So great now I have more research on the K46. I found the guy on YouTube rebuilding the motor and pump. Yeesh I cringed when the rubber mallet came out.

Anyway glad to see it is somewhat serviceable. Hope I don't have any problems. I planned on using it to tow around some dirt but not now. So what oil is the best for the K46 transmission? When should I service it, I only have about 2hrs and I bet maybe only 1/2hr of riding.

I did change the oil today, I let it get up to temperature and the let it drain for about a 1/2 hr. I used the rotella T5 and the pulolator L10245 filter. I will use the motorcraft filter next as I have one of those on the shelf. It took just shy of 2 1/2 quarts according to the dipstick. I'm glad I did too because the oil looked like a snow globe full of glitter. I will change it again soon with a new filter too.

Glad I checked the spark plug gap and put anti seize and grease on the axels. I had to raise the deck about an inch too. Oh well I got a fairly god deal at $250 cheaper than any comparable machines.

So what else any special plugs or or tips about operation?

Sorry for the long post but thanks.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Great points about checking the mower carefully. They can be assembled haphazardly and a little tweaking before use is a good idea.

Mine was shipped with about 40 psi in the tires! I'd check them carefully. I also re-routed some wires away from hot stuff with a couple of zip ties.

Don't let the oil fool you. Some of that is from their assembly, not all of it is engine!

 

[bperry]

Yes I did put the tires to proper inflation too, they were all at 7psi. That's a good idea about the wires. I was looking at rerouting the headlight wire as it just rests loosely against the engine.