Oil rec for new Craftsman 5.5HP B&S mower

[bodeh6]

Hi all. I just bought a new Craftsman push mower (no self propel) with the Briggs & Stratton Silver Series 158cc engine 5.5HP. Looking at the oil recommendation in the manual


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I am going to run the included SAE30 oil for the first 5 hours break in, then I have some 10W-30 Motorcraft Synblend to use for a couple of months. What do you think I should run afterward? Should I continue the Motorcraft? It is relatively cheap ~$3.30/Qt. Should I step up to a cheap Full Syn like Oreilly's or Advance Auto 10W-30? Operating temps during the summer will be mostly around 65-80 with some 90+ days near the end. During the fall, I continue to mow while it may be about 50 outside. Thanks

 

[chubbs1]

Why would you not use syn 5w30 after you use up the MC 10w30?? Covers all bases. If you are just stuck on 10w30 I would use a "syn" Housebrand is fine.

 

[Hootbro]

The manual is right there, just follow it with recommended weight and spec for anticipated outside temperature use. Brand is of no consequence if the above weight and spec is used.

You many others over think small engine oil requirements.

 

[johnachak]

Feel free to dump the original oil after maybe 1-2 hours. It will be seriously full of filings. Then do 5 hours on the new oil. Even that one had a lot of gray particles in it. I think you will be happy with the results. After that I went with full syn and it starts soooooo easily.

 

[steve20]

my preference is for PYB straight 30

If you want to use syn any 5-30, even Wallys, will work fine-except Mobil-1 which I have read on this board, does not do well in OPE (oil consumption)

 

[stephen9666]

Wow, Sears finally updated their mower manuals. I bought a Sears mower a few years ago and it said to use straight 30 only. I then went to the Briggs and Stratton website and found the B&S manual for my engine. They recommended synthetic 5w-30, so that is what I used.

Evidently Sears had been using the same manual for the mowers for quite a few years.

As others have mentioned, I'd probably do 2 short OCIs to start with.

I now do 1 oil change per year and the mower is running great.

 

[tomcat27]

Use 30 weight oil. or a synthetic 30. that's what I use in my briggs/tecumseh motors and my lawn tractor. 20 years of use should not be a problem (at least for the engine itself)

 

[Boomer]

I use Rotella straight 30 weight in my B&S. It is SJ (but no longer listed as such as SJ is not supported). It runs very nicely, doesn't consume oil and starts easily.

 

[fdcg27]

It looks like Briggs is subtly suggesting a syn 5W-30 for all weather use.
Why not give it a try after a couple of short break-in runs of whatever?
The amount of oil required is so small that cost isn't really a factor, and if consumtion seems excessive, you can always go back to a straight 30.

 

[bodeh6]

Thanks for the recommendations.

 

[Johnny]

I use PYB 30 in my Briggs engines and it has served me well for the past 45 years. I personally see no use in using a multi-vis oil in my mower as I have no intentions of mowing the grass in temps below 50 degrees. Now, my snowblower is another story.

 

[addyguy]

In OPE, I'd use GC 0W-30. A robust, thick 30-weight that will cover all bases.

 

[01rangerxl]

I think any 10W30 will work fine. Motorcraft sounds good to me. Maybe step up to synthetic if it gets really hot.

Remember, most mowers get their factory fill for life and are lucky if they get top ups after that. This engine will run forever on some Super Tech 10W30 that's changed yearly.

 

[boraticus]

As stated above, B&S lawn mower engines will live reasonably well with virtually no maintenance. I've seen examples of such mistreated engines that I was amazed that they ran at all. I recall working one mower that was smoking badly. When I pulled the oil plug a few tablespoons of thick black grease oozed out. The mower was around 15 years old and I'd be willing to bet that it had not seen an oil change nor a top up yet it started and ran fine despite the constant cloud of blue smoke.

I buy any brand name oil (Shell, Havoline, Quaker State, Imperial etc.) for the best price and use it without hesitation nor concern. Right now, I'm running Formula Shell 10W40 in my mowers. At $1.79/liter, it makes great mower oil and is dirt cheap.

 

[odie]

Using a blend of leftover 10w-30 PLATINUM (SM) , SHELL 5w-30 synthetic (SN) , SHELL 5w-30 (SM) conventional , and P.Y.B. 5w-30 (SN) for the B&S push mower . Think it's about 60% syn and a 7 > 8w-30 . Been putting it through tough times with this new season with no consumption yet . The BOLENS riding mower bought early last spring gets 40 ounces of PLATINUM 10w-30 (SM) with no loss of oil . The BOLENS gets about 3 > 4 hours of use in a day every week . Sometimes more a week .

 

[Hokiefyd]

Even in the heat of North Carolina, I use a multi-vis oil in the mower engines. They're harder to pull-start cold (even in 90*F weather) when I'm using SAE30, so I know the oil's thicker than a 10W-30 is.

I just buy a 5-quart jug of Mobil 1 HM 10W-30 and use it down in my various pieces of equipment. When I need another, I go buy another. I like that it's a multi-vis oil. I like that it's rated SL and it's not an energy conserving oil. I like that it's widely available for a decent price. 26 bucks every 2 or 3 years to keep all the engines in top shape is nothing.