Yearly oil change

[showkey]

Here's a new concept......never change the oil.........check and add when needed. No joke ?

Just Check and Add Never Change The Mower Oil | Briggs & Stratton

Well not a new concept it's been around for years:

Never change oil again, just add! | Passenger Car Motor Oil (PCMO) - Gasoline Cars/Pickups/Vans/SUVs | Bob Is The Oil Guy

 

[Beemerphile]

I know a guy who smoked for 60 years and never got lung cancer. That means that smoking won't hurt you.

 

[showkey]

I know a guy who smoked for 60 years and never got lung cancer. That means that smoking won't hurt you.

But the real question is did he change his oil early or often or both.

It does mean Briggs did testing and they think there's is market and their engine can tolerate no changes. Pretty big gamble......

 

[lootzyan]

But the real question is did he change his oil early or often or both.
......

He changed it early, every morning. I knew this guy. Couldn't get lung cancer because he died before that, on heart attack. Atherosclerosis from 60 years of smoking. Hard bastard.

 

[Beemerphile]

But the real question is did he change his oil early or often or both.

It does mean Briggs did testing and they think there's is market and their engine can tolerate no changes. Pretty big gamble......

My sarcasm was aimed at those who do it against manufacturers' recommendations. It is possible to design one that way. Thinking of oil free air compressors and such. Different bearing materials, larger clearances, more noise, and don't last as long. Maybe that figure it will go "long enough".

 

[dynamo]

Here's a new concept......never change the oil.........check and add when needed. No joke ?

Just Check and Add Never Change The Mower Oil | Briggs & Stratton

When I first heard of this new Briggs engine that never needs an oil change I was 100% sure it was a joke and typical internet misinformation. When I learned it was for real 2 things popped in my mind: 1-another example of how Briggs has destroyed their brand in recent years, and 2-another example of just how lazy and negligent the general populace is in this country. There should not be a market for this ridiculous engine.

 

[670cc]

Re: the Briggs engine. I can easily understand how this can work. I see this as marketing ploy to turn a flaw into a perceived benefit. You take a crap engine that burns and leaks oil, and rather than fix that problem, you eliminate draining the oil and instead just top it off as needed with fresh oil. If the engine was built right to begin with, it would never consume or lose oil and you would never be adding any.

I bought a Briggs powered garden tractor in 2003. I was amazed that the owner's manual cautioned against using 10w-30 oil as it might promote excess oil burning. This is a joke and a poor excuse for a modern engine. By comparison, my NC goes 8000 miles and consumes no oil.

 

[lootzyan]

Engineers and scientists try to develop engine without need of lubricants for many years. And one day they will succeed with use of ceramics, graphene and such. There are already some examples built. But I didn't hear about any lawn mower engine like that so far.
Base component of motor oil, petroleum, doesn't change in time as far as we're concerned. Part of it is burned in combustion chamber and turn into charcoal (carbon). This is what makes oil to become dark. Carbon is pretty hard stuff (think of carbide or diamond). Another component which is messing with oil is gasoline which find its way into crankcase, effectively diluting oil. And there is a water (discussed here already) and metal particles. It cost less than $40/year to change oil and filter (for those who ride less than 8k miles per year).
It's easy to understand why this discussion is popular on motorcycle forums. Most of us are changing oil in a garage or somewhere outside. Not to pleasant job. Changing oil filter without proper tool can be difficult. With car or track we go mostly to closest place, get a coffee and go back to twitter activity. No worries what to do with this nasty, dirty oil.

 

[Beemerphile]

BMW had a final drive once with "lifetime lubrication". They were right. The only problem is that the lifetime was only 30,000 miles. Two years later the drain plug returned without fanfare. We'll wait and see how the B&S engine works out. With the average small engine only getting about 80 hours per season it may take a few years to know.

 

[speedfox_2002]

Aside from the manufacturers covering their behinds and making money off services there are some subtle points. many have already been mentioned. I didnt see this one though so here it is
Some Combustion by products go into the oil(obviously) and some of these are acidic. now when left to sit for long periods of time they tend to attack the bearings. Its not pure acid though so its not like you will need to replace your engine if it stood for 2 years. but you will notice that bearing lifetime is less. then again if youre doing that amount of millage you probably would not notice it for many many years.
personally i don't bother with the yearly change concept. But i do high millage so i service at least twice a year. but even if i didnt i would probably let it stand 2 years.

 

[anglachel]

BMW had a final drive once with "lifetime lubrication". They were right. The only problem is that the lifetime was only 30,000 miles. Two years later the drain plug returned without fanfare. We'll wait and see how the B&S engine works out. With the average small engine only getting about 80 hours per season it may take a few years to know.

The briggs probably functions on a similar concept.

Make a standard briggs engine, ensure it only gets installed on mowers with stamped steel decks.

Briggs motor with no maintenance will last several years (perhaps even a decade or two, especially if they do the break in oil change at the factory and use fancy new spark plugs like in cars that go for 100k miles)

Stamped steel deck that isn't meticulously cleaned after each use will rust through inside of that same time period, to much moisture in grass to have a stamped steel deck work out (and to much opportunity for collisions with the deck for paint to do much good at preventing rust)... and no one who buys a mower that doesn't need maintenance is going to meticulously clean and repaint the underside of their mower after every use.

The engine doesn't need to last forever, it just needs to outlast the rest of the vehicle.

 

[dduelin]

The briggs probably functions on a similar concept.

Make a standard briggs engine, ensure it only gets installed on mowers with stamped steel decks.

Briggs motor with no maintenance will last several years (perhaps even a decade or two, especially if they do the break in oil change at the factory and use fancy new spark plugs like in cars that go for 100k miles)

Stamped steel deck that isn't meticulously cleaned after each use will rust through inside of that same time period, to much moisture in grass to have a stamped steel deck work out (and to much opportunity for collisions with the deck for paint to do much good at preventing rust)... and no one who buys a mower that doesn't need maintenance is going to meticulously clean and repaint the underside of their mower after every use.

The engine doesn't need to last forever, it just needs to outlast the rest of the vehicle.

My 1994 Honda Harmony 215 will probably outlive me. I use it about 30 hours a year and it sits idle between about now and March.

 

[VE258]

BMW had a final drive once with "lifetime lubrication". They were right. The only problem is that the lifetime was only 30,000 miles. Two years later the drain plug returned without fanfare. We'll wait and see how the B&S engine works out. With the average small engine only getting about 80 hours per season it may take a few years to know.

hah..mercedes was same. they said-tranny,transfer case,etc-for life. yeah right..then-revision..then another one..

 

[Mike Smith]

Ok new member and I admit that did not read the entire thread... This bike is easy to change oil on. I change the oil on all my bikes every year even if they haven't hit the mileage requirement. So why not just do it? It's cheap and easy to do and doesn't take a lot of time.

 

[670cc]

Ok new member and I admit that did not read the entire thread... This bike is easy to change oil on. I change the oil on all my bikes every year even if they haven't hit the mileage requirement. So why not just do it? It's cheap and easy to do and doesn't take a lot of time.

Because I have better things to do with my time, and it's a waste of resources to do it if it's not necessary. Some reasons were given in the thread, which you admittedly did not read.

Anyway, I'm not trying to start off on a bad note. Welcome to the forum! Glad you are here.

 

[ST13Fred]

Engine internal condensation is as damaging as the effects of old oil; more or less, who knows. And the older/more worn the engine, the sooner the oil becomes old.
The wider the daytime/nighttime temperature swing, the more condensation will develop. The temperature itself is irrelevant, its the swing that causes the condensation.

My one bike, that is parked for the winter, is under a cover, in an unheated garage, with a 60 watt bulb to keep this temp/humidity swing to a minimum, hopefully.
GN4 oil is plenty good for the very mildly tuned NC engine. Full synthetic is a waste of money. All of the above; IMHO.

 

[GT928]

I bought a new Lawnboy mower on sale (less than $300) when I bought my new house 17+ years ago. It was not the 2 stroke version but the Briggs and Stratton 4 stroke motor. I never changed the oil and I only had to add a little oil one time. I recently moved to a condo so I sold it to a landscape guy for $75. Maybe if I changed the oil regularly I could have gotten $95.00.

 

[jayceegee]

Forgive me(moderators can delete this thread),if this already been discussed
my question is about "mandatory" change oil every year,as manual recommends.
is it a must? i'm using honda's top of the line synthetic oil,but this year (after oil change) i got only 1000 miles or so after the change. do i have to change it again?
same situation on my old mercedes-manual says same thing-change oil every 10K miles OR once a year. same mileage after oil change. the only difference is that MB uses 9qt of it

Thank you!

Change it every year regardless of miles. Also be careful because of Leap Year !!

 

[Beemerphile]

Some oil musings on a cold winter's eve...

I use Amsoil 10W-30 synthetic and Honda OEM filters. I change oil every 5K miles or annually and filter every 10K miles. I store the machines indoors in a conditioned space.

However, I cannot defend the practice. Whatever you are doing will probably work too. I would bet that if you used Wally World Dead Dinosaur oil in close to the right weight and the ugliest $1.98 bright orange Fram filter that you could find and changed them every two years regardless of mileage, topping off where necessary, that you'd never experience an oil-related failure. Go ahead and park it outside under a tree (or not). And unless you are OCR you'd probably never wear the engine out before you got bored and traded it in. But I would still never do that to my machines.

Come to think of it, I don't recall ever hearing of an oil-related failure in a motorcycle that was not the result of lack of oil. I've torn down some motorcycle engines that had lots of wear that I believe would have given longer service with a better maintenance regimen, but dang-it, lifters clacking, pistons slapping, smoke bellowing, horsepower declining, they were still running (sort of). I recall some Toyotas, however, that did themselves in because of some engine design problems that caused the oil to turn to sludge.

linky> Victims of Toyota Oil Sludge | Toyota Sludge

...but then I still have a 1977 BMW that I bought new, so I guess I will keep doing what I am doing (especially in my Toyota).

 

[dbtx]

I send off my oil to Blackstone for analysis and get their newsletter. In one issue they asked their lead tester which oil he uses and he said "The cheapest one I can find at Wal-Mart". That is interesting insight from someone who has seen a lot of oil.

I personally base my change interval on the results of the testing and for my usage once a year works fine. I've done 10k intervals on my truck for the last 160k miles also.