Ok, I have an old lawn boy silver series with the 4 stroke Tecumseh. I've been trying to experiment with high mileage oils too see if the slow down my dip stick tube and crank seal leaks. Anyways, I just bought an old snapper push mower with a 3.5 HP Briggs and Stratton, its about a 1977 I think. No bad oil leaks. I had a bottle of 10w40 max life ready to go in the lawn boy (uses some oil too) and picked up some G Oil sae30 to try in the snapper, but then got to thinking that since that thing is so old, the synthetic oil might not agree with the old seals. If it were a group III oil I probably wouldn't be worried, didn't wanna create a bad leak.. Anyways, which oil would you guys run in which mower?
which oil in which mower?
- Thread starter afoulk
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Tecumseh has always recommended SAE30 for its small engines. I'd continue to use it. If you went with a high mileage oil, you might try 10w30 or 10W-40 in it, but I don't see the value. Fix the o-ring at the bottom of the dipstick tube and park it over a piece of cardboard to catch the crank seal drip.
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
Tecumseh has always recommended SAE30 for its small engines. I'd continue to use it. If you went with a high mileage oil, you might try 10w30 or 10W-40 in it, but I don't see the value. Fix the o-ring at the bottom of the dipstick tube and park it over a piece of cardboard to catch the crank seal drip.
I want real worried about the leaks on the lawn boy, I just wanted to mess around and see how well high mileage oils worked at slowing oil leaks. I've been running thicker than the required sae 30 to help with the oil burning. It was free, so i'm not to worried about sinking money into that one
Tecumseh has always recommended SAE30 for its small engines. I'd continue to use it. If you went with a high mileage oil, you might try 10w30 or 10W-40 in it, but I don't see the value. Fix the o-ring at the bottom of the dipstick tube and park it over a piece of cardboard to catch the crank seal drip.
I want real worried about the leaks on the lawn boy, I just wanted to mess around and see how well high mileage oils worked at slowing oil leaks. I've been running thicker than the required sae 30 to help with the oil burning. It was free, so i'm not to worried about sinking money into that one
One thing about lawn mowers is they are usually run in warmer temps. My snowblower is the opposite. It's like when you look in the motorcycle owner's manual they list a viscosity range for maybe down to 32 degrees. How many of us ride a motorbike at 32 degrees?
I'd just use the 30 wt, or maybe a 10-40/ 15-40 oil.
I'd just use the 30 wt, or maybe a 10-40/ 15-40 oil.
Well, I stuck to my original plan and used the 10w40 max life in the Lawn Boy (Techumseh), and used the G OIL sae 30 in the old snapper (Briggs). I'm a little worried about the snapper. The oil that was in it had a lot of silver and gray stuff in it it, and the oil was almost like water. I ran both mowers and got them hot before changing oil, and the oil ran out of the lawn boy much thicker. I guess I'll run it and see what happens. No unusual noises when its running, in fact it rans pretty [censored] good for its age (its a 77 model I believe). Does have some back and forth end play in the crank, but no side to side.
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