12 yr old lawn mower matinence?

[digitaldrifter91]

i have a honda ohc lawn mower and its about 12 years old. pretty good though it has auto drive and stuff...well i never changed the oil. haha. its pretty dark, how do i change it?? o my fuel filter is like clogged too for some reason..once in a while it will konk out and i have to squeeze the line to get it started again. how do i fix the fuel thing and how can i change my oil?? i have some 12 year old honda oil here...i dont know if thats to old to put in the engine though. o and another question..where to i get these air cleaners?? i have one and it used to have foam around it. i ripped it off and now its just some filter...thanks!!!

sorrie i neglected it, but it still runs

 

[Bror Jace]

drifter,
There's a plug on the side of the motor near the bottom ... but I never use it. It's a lousy design. They expect you to open the plug, have the oil drain on top of the deck and then find a deck drain hole to drain down off the machine completely.

Here's what I do:

1) Run the thing out of gas ... completely.

2) Undo the check dipstick and tip the mower on its side so that is on the bottom and drain the oil that way.

3) Refill through the same hole ... about 2/3 of 1 quart?

That's it. Just be sure to do it when the engione is hot after running at least 15-20 minutes. So as much accumulated crud is in suspension and will drain out with the old oil.

ANY oil is better than the highly contaminated goo you have in there now.

As for a replacement air filter, try manhonda.com

To service the air cleaner, remove the whole element then remove the foam rubber band and clean only that. I use Simple Green and lots of water. It takes 2-3 washes to get it really clean. Dry, re-oil then re-install.

--- Bror Jace

 

[digitaldrifter91]

cool thanks for the advice, so any oil is fine?? how about 10w40?? hehe the oil is black black and smells yucky..but still has viscrosity i think..hehe maybe thats the dirt clinging to it hahahahahahah. after i change the oil should i let it run for a while then do it again since i never done my oil change?? i like ur technique of tipping it over..makes it much easier

what about my gas thing?? i took out the area where the gas goes and cleaned it out but later it gets clogged again..you think that i can use that injector cleaner that we use in cars?? it uses normal gasoline and maybe i can create a mixture so that it wont be to strong you think?? or should i do something else??

 

[Bror Jace]

Yeah, the 10W40 should be fine. I like the idea of doing two rapid succession oil changes to clean out a neglected motor. After the first change, run just one tank of gas through the mower until it quits and then change again ... hot, with no fuel in the tank.

Our Honda doesn't have an actual fuel filter, just a cone-shaped screen. Maybe it does but I haven't found it? Mine, like yours will occasionally run for 20-30 minutes then stall out like it ran out of gas ... although it's full. I tore the thing apart once trying to figure out why ... maybe I'll do that again over the winter.

I use automotive cleaners in my Honda Harmony every year ... and it's 15+ years old. Just a tablespoon or so in the tank once or twice each year ... same with isopropyl alcohol (drygas).

--- Bror Jace

 

[TheTanSedan]

I finally gave away my 1975 Jacobsen to a lady at the church. Had more hours on it than you could count as I used to use it in a lawn-mowing business. And there isn't a simgle month out of the year we ain't mowing at least every 2-weeks.
April thru August is twice-weekly.

Have a good friend in small engine repair these past twenty years. His formula for long-life is simple: Get one of those little hour-meters that is magnetic, change oil/service air filter every 25-hours and use straight 30W. Or follow the manufacturers advice in a similar plan. Sharpen blade at same time; always use STABIL in gas can (four-stroke) and use all factory parts. Major service every year or other year.

That old Briggs motor didn't have much left to start with, but once running, she was a good 'un.
Wore out four sets of drive wheels.

Of course, it's just a baby compared to the 2.5 hp Briggs on the old mans 1959 K & S Edger that still gets run an hour a week in season.

[ January 30, 2003, 08:49 PM: Message edited by: TheTanSedan ]

 

[digitaldrifter91]

hehe till this day i havent changed the oil in my lawn mower. hehe i wonder if i can adapt an old k % n filter on there...hahah i have a old one sitting around that was on a huge small block chevey...it was for the breather tube but its huge...hahah ill do it for fun...the filter that it has now has like almost no filtering. lol ill be the first guy on the block wiht a tuned lawn mower! hahah...

 

[bretfraz]

I agree with using 30W as it seems most engine mfr's recommend this. I think 10W-30 would be OK too. New mowers with Honda engines include a bottle of 10W-30 so it must be OK to use. I've read a few places that 10W-40 will cause some oil usage which is prolly not good for someone who never checks their oil, let alone changes it

Your oil tank likely takes 21 ounces. The easiest way to do this is buy oil from the home improvement stores, they usually sell 30W in 20-22 ounce containers. It's expensive that way but you don't have to worry about measuring.

I can't believe Honda has such a horrid oil change procedure. On my MTD mower there is a plug under the deck directly beneath the oil tank. I put the mower on some saw horses, remove the plug, the oil drains straight down, replace the plug and refill. Takes all of 5 minutes. There is no oil filter on my mower.