Air cooled briggs oil temps

[Nick R]

Now that it works, I took pictures today with it when I mowed the lawn. This is running rotella T6 5W-40, ambient was 82 degrees.

It took longer than I would have expected to warm up too.
This is the average running temp, and the one below is the hottest it got. This is the 540CC OHV 21HP Briggs Platinum, pressurized lubrication.

 

[eljefino]

neat!

 

[Quest]

Thanks for sharing and pics, NickR!

It's nice to have some real pics to be seen.

I'm supposed that we have more armchair scientists out on the internet nowadays than that of a real "doer" like you, to share the "real" observations and the willingness to gather some "real" data, as opposed to just talking....

Kudos!

Q.

 

[ARB1977]

Pretty cool.

 

[spasm3]

It would be cool to try a few different oils say a 30wt straight. a 5w 30 , 20 50 and a straight 40wt and see what the running temps are. all on the same height grass at the same speed , same outdoor temp.

 

[SwampDweller]

Would also like to know if the oil temp follows the ambient temp. It was 100 degrees here when I cut at my home last week. I use the same oil in a V twin Briggs.

 

[Cujet]

That's a well set up Briggs. I had a couple of stationary Honda powered water pumps and the oil temps were high enough to result in engine failure. While I did not have a gauge, the end result was clearly overheating.

 

[TFB1]

I've taken temps on single cylinder B&S with a infrared thermometer and gotten similar readings at the front of the block... The flathead models do run around 270* in the area of the valve springs...

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: SwampDweller
Would also like to know if the oil temp follows the ambient temp. It was 100 degrees here when I cut at my home last week. I use the same oil in a V twin Briggs.


It's got to, to a point. I'd be curious to see those numbers as well.

I'd bet if you went from an 82deg day to a humid 102deg day, you'd see another 10deg at that particular oil temp reading.

Joel

 

[punisher]

Close to my readings. I have a Robin EX on my generator and I was worried about oil longevity and temps, 90F ambient, oil ran about 210-220F with ~1/2-3/4 load. I felt a lot better about running my Delo 15W-40 in it after that. If it would have been much over 250F, then synthetic would make me sleep easier.

PS: If you use your wife's kitchen thermometer to get oil temp readings, don't tell her, ditto for using the dishwasher to clean parts.

 

[jeepman3071]

Have any pics/info on how you set that up? I'd like to put one on my 25 hp Kohler.

 

[Oldwolf]

That is neat. I would have thought an air cooled engines oil would have run hotter than that.

 

[lexus114]

Originally Posted By: Oldwolf
That is neat. I would have thought an air cooled engines oil would have run hotter than that.



If it wasnt for the cooling fan, I`m sure they would run a lot hotter. Now just think about a non water cooled motorcycle sitting at a very long stop light. On a 90+ degree day.

 

[zpa]

We have an old 18hp opposed twin Briggs, and it runs 120C (250F) oil temps on a 20C day. It seems to burn more oil on Delvac 15w-40 than on 5w-40 Mobil syn.

 

[steve20]

I measured a max of 270 degrees on an 8hp Briggs (1982 vintage)on a 50-60 degree day. It was in the fall and it was mulching/collecting leaves, so it was under a lot heavier load than regular grass cutting. Always run straight 30

 

[lexus114]

Originally Posted By: steve20
I measured a max of 270 degrees on an 8hp Briggs (1982 vintage)on a 50-60 degree day. It was in the fall and it was mulching/collecting leaves, so it was under a lot heavier load than regular grass cutting. Always run straight 30



270 degree`s??

 

[Blaze]

I have a dip stick oil temp gauge on my Honda XR 400 and your temp is exactly what I see on my dirt bike. Running JohnDeere plus 50 15w-40.

 

[Nick R]

Originally Posted By: lexus114
Originally Posted By: steve20
I measured a max of 270 degrees on an 8hp Briggs (1982 vintage)on a 50-60 degree day. It was in the fall and it was mulching/collecting leaves, so it was under a lot heavier load than regular grass cutting. Always run straight 30



270 degree`s??

I know exactly the engine that he was talking about. Because my grandfather had an old MTD lawn tractor that had that exact same engine in it. I could believe that it could get that hot under load. Those flatheads don't have the best cooling compared to the newer OHV engines.

 

[Nick R]

Also we mowed yesterday and it was about 95 degrees. The temp hit 225 at one point, but that's still not anywhere near a temp that would concern me, especially with a 5W-40 HDEO.

 

[gman2304]

Nick,where did you have the "probe" to get the temp reading?It would be nice to have something like that to serve as a dipstick, as well as an oil temp sensor. That is a nice setup you have there. I would like to have a setup like that for a couple of my OPE engines. Thanks, G-man