Toro Push Lawn Mower Briggs & Stratton No Oil Change!

I rescued my BF's widow's BS powered push mower that was in 3' of water. It was a lifetime oil one with the plastic carb.
To my surprise draining out the gas, carb and oil it fired right up. And that was last year, still running today.
 
My two year old Toro walk behind has no oil drain plug.
Not to be discouraged, I simply turned the machine on its side and dumped the lifetime oil in a pan.
Replaced it with Penz Platinum 5w30 and told it that it’s lifetime has been extended. Everyone was happy.
VW had that same arrogance with oil bath air filters in the 40s and 50s. Didn’t work then either.
 
Here is why I would change the oil...........if you keep the engine mint, when the deck rots out, or the tranny blows, you can unbolt 3 bolts, and transfer the mint engine to another deck that is not rotted out that maybe has a bent crankshaft or blown / worn out engine.

Other than that, the deck will ALWAYS rot out or fall apart before the engine dies.

Still running a 1963 briggs K-Mart mower at camp. $19 when brand new. Its twin had a mint deck, and bent crankshaft that could not be straightened. The engine went from the rotted one over to the mint one.
 
I have a Lowes Troy Built that I’ve had for a bit over 15 years. It got annual changes for a few years, and then was moved to every now and then, as it started smoking. I put Royal Purple in it one year (5w-30) instead of the cheap 30w I would normally use, mainly to see the oil on the dipstick, and it had started to smoke at startup. It stopped smoking.

Fast forward a few years. My son had left a partial quart of Liquid Moly 0w-40 from his VW that he sold off, and I needed to change the leftover mix that was in the mower at the time ( not smoking anymore), so I put that in. It’s on year 2 and I’m going to change it, as the mower started smoking again at the beginning of the season.
 
what is Briggs & Stratton's engine life claim? (usually there's a sticker with tiny print indicating that hour use spec.)
Once a year drain is what I do, like mentioned above. Engine goes 12 years, give or take, before a bad rod or high oil usage forces
a swap. (Snapper self-propelled walk-behind, early eighties 6 speed Hi-Vac) I probably would buy the new 'no oil change' B&S, for use on my
antique, but I'd still drain every 12 months, & filter & plug & blade check/swap. Why would I neglect my own equipment? I'm not that lazy. Yet.
edit: seems the no oil change required engines have a two year consumer warranty.
For a SORE to be “legal” in CA, the engine must list an emissions “durability period” in hours. I believe B&S has their engines rated for 125 hours. That’s the time you should expect the engine to run without major issues(CARB and the EPA look at exhaust emissions and fuel system integrity) but many can go longer with maintenance.


Also, for years B&S didn’t want anything but a straight 30/40 weight oil, with 5W-30 being OK for the winter. Their reasoning was the VIIs in multi grade oils would contribute to deposits on the valves.
 
For a SORE to be “legal” in CA, the engine must list an emissions “durability period” in hours. I believe B&S has their engines rated for 125 hours. That’s the time you should expect the engine to run without major issues(CARB and the EPA look at exhaust emissions and fuel system integrity) but many can go longer with maintenance.


Also, for years B&S didn’t want anything but a straight 30/40 weight oil, with 5W-30 being OK for the winter. Their reasoning was the VIIs in multi grade oils would contribute to deposits on the valves.
It's actually how long you can expect the engine to meet its emissions cleanliness standard, not how long the engine will run without major issues. Many people think it is how long the actual engine will last.
 
Picked up a used Toro for my dad a while back and it was one of those never change oil mowers. I changed it anyhow. Just common sense. Metallic black. Nasty looking stuff. Personally I think this never change is BS. I do mine once a season.
 
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