So I get a call from the pops and he's frantic. He says the snow thrower was sputtering at the end of the job as thought it was running out of gas. Checks gas, all if good. Checks oil, nothing on the stick!
The unit is 3 years old and has the factory oil that came with it. So I rush up there with some PC 0w30. Get there, pull it out of the garage, check the oil it's full. Weird. I say "did you panic and add a bunch of oil?" he says no. Again, weird.
Well it's due for a change, so I get started despite the fact that it's -10 celsius out. Cold engine, pull the plug and out comes the oil... eventually... like honey in a thinned stream blowing all around with the wind. What oil does B&S ship their winter engines with? It looked like SAE30 the way it was coming out, it took 5-7 minutes for the pint to drain out!! Brutal. I thought, maybe that's why it looked dry before, the oil all stuck to the block walls and internal parts, and didn't register on the dipstick check shortly after shutting it off.
Anyway, refill with the 0w30, button it all up, plug em in and crank it. Starts great, runs great. Alright! Give it a whirl on some leftover snow, runs fine no problem. Pops was surprised that it wasn't chuggling anymore.
Anyway, just thought I'd share.
What do you guys run in your snow throwers?
The unit is 3 years old and has the factory oil that came with it. So I rush up there with some PC 0w30. Get there, pull it out of the garage, check the oil it's full. Weird. I say "did you panic and add a bunch of oil?" he says no. Again, weird.
Well it's due for a change, so I get started despite the fact that it's -10 celsius out. Cold engine, pull the plug and out comes the oil... eventually... like honey in a thinned stream blowing all around with the wind. What oil does B&S ship their winter engines with? It looked like SAE30 the way it was coming out, it took 5-7 minutes for the pint to drain out!! Brutal. I thought, maybe that's why it looked dry before, the oil all stuck to the block walls and internal parts, and didn't register on the dipstick check shortly after shutting it off.
Anyway, refill with the 0w30, button it all up, plug em in and crank it. Starts great, runs great. Alright! Give it a whirl on some leftover snow, runs fine no problem. Pops was surprised that it wasn't chuggling anymore.
Anyway, just thought I'd share.
