New Yard machines 163 Briggs mower

[hardcore302]

Just bought a yard machines 163 cc Briggs engined push mower. It's got that new engine that sas I never have to change the oil, just top off. How does that work? It was 239.00 at home depot. 21 inch I think. Lovely machine. Couldn't be happier. Came with a 15 Oz pouch of sj approved sae 30. First pouch of oil I ever saw. I'm happy. It replaced my craftsman mower with Briggs engine that has been reduced to smokey puffs...

 

[1989outlaw]

Where ever you pour that pouch of oil is the orifice I would drain it out of in about 5 normal mowing hours. After that I would refill it with what ever oil I had on hand and repeat this process once a year

 

[The motor guy]

Originally Posted By: 1989outlaw
Where ever you pour that pouch of oil is the orifice I would drain it out of in about 5 normal mowing hours. After that I would refill it with what ever oil I had on hand and repeat this process once a year


I concur.

 

[The motor guy]

Is it all briggs and Stratton engines that don't require an oil change? I got a briggs and I'd give it another 10hrs before it throws a rod from lack of oil if I left the factory fill in.

 

[Linctex]

Oh, I don't know...... I bought an older Murray from the 90's at a garage sale for $25 about 12 years ago and have never changed the oil in it. I filled it once with Rotella 15W-40 and I keep it topped off.

Maybe their marketing department heard about me? LOL!

 

[4WD]

What are they thinking ? - it takes me 15 minutes once a year to do the B&S on my lawn tractor
Anyone not willing or having time to do that probably has someone else do the lawn ...

 

[AMC]

The "Never Change" feature is very unwanted around here. Briggs figures that the rest of the mower will fail beyond repair before a lubrication failure occurs due to never changing the oil. Wow, how convenient, what a great feature!

Pretty stupid logic if you ask me. I would just suck the oil out with your choice of a suction device and keep changing the oil every year....

I recommend either the hand operated "Topsider" or if you have a big enough compressor, a mityvac pneumatic brake bleeder / suction tool.

 

[skyactiv]

I have never changed the oil in my mower and it starts and runs just as good when I bought it new in 2002 when I bought my house.
It takes me an hour and 5 minutes to mow my lawn before doing trim work and blowing. My mower blows a little blue smoke on a cold start,
but I don't care.

 

[skyactiv]

Originally Posted By: skyactiv
I have never changed the oil in my mower and it starts and runs just as good when I bought it new in 2002 when I bought my house.
It takes me an hour and 5 minutes to mow my lawn before doing trim work and blowing. My mower blows a little blue smoke on a cold start,
but I don't care.

 

[Lubener]

All Briggs cares about is the engine getting thru the warranty period which it should even with no oil changes. Younger homeowners probably never did an oil change in their life anyway and look at this no change feature as a technical advancement.

 

[Pop_Rivit]

Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
Is it all briggs and Stratton engines that don't require an oil change?


No. I just purchased a new DR chipper with a Briggs engine that has an oil drain and a requirement to change the oil at the 5 hour mark.

 

[vwmaniaman]

Hey skyactiv, I'm with you on that one. The old 2 stroke Lawn-Boy never needs an oil change and even my wife can start it. After my first one, I never went back to 4stroke push mower.

 

[jeepman3071]

Originally Posted By: Lubener
All Briggs cares about is the engine getting thru the warranty period which it should even with no oil changes. Younger homeowners probably never did an oil change in their life anyway and look at this no change feature as a technical advancement.


Bingo. It's all marketing. Advertising a mower that never needs maintenance. The reality is you can still change the oil like others mentioned, just drain it through the hole you poured it into.

Also think about how many of the average Joe Homeowner actually change the oil in their mower anyway... they use it for a few years, maybe check it when there is nothing left, add some more, and then buy a new one when the engine seizes or smokes too bad.

My dad bought a brand new Murray lawnmower in 1988. He never changed the oil, just added some when it got low. That mower lasted 20 years until it was sold (still running fine) for a self propelled one.

 

[2004tdigls]

i have always changed the oil in my mower once a year, the older engines had a drain plug

now I use a 12v powered oil extractor

BTW, I just changed the oil in one of these "life time oil" engines, it had thickened to such an extent that my oil extractor could not pump it out (I had to turn the mower on its side to get the oil to drain)

the new oil in was supertech 15w40

so imagine what the oil would be like in 5 years from now????

 

[jeepman3071]

Originally Posted By: 2004tdigls
i have always changed the oil in my mower once a year, the older engines had a drain plug

now I use a 12v powered oil extractor

BTW, I just changed the oil in one of these "life time oil" engines, it had thickened to such an extent that my oil extractor could not pump it out (I had to turn the mower on its side to get the oil to drain)

the new oil in was supertech 15w40

so imagine what the oil would be like in 5 years from now????


Wow, if it was that thick I wonder what the factory "life time" fill is? Whenever I drain oil from a mower that has never had an oil change it is like water from all of the fuel dilution.

 

[2004tdigls]

i think fuel dillution is now not an issue as the engines run super lean for emissions

the factory oil was this:

https://shop.briggsandstratton.com/us/en...r-oil-100005web

 

[loneryder]

I read about these engines. B&S surveys show that most homeowners don't think about changing the oil much less do it. So they designed this engine to market it as "never needing service". The engine supposedly has better airflow and filtration. They say it should last about 12 yrs. Don't know if they use syn oil but when asked about changing it, they said it would last longer if you did change the oil.
Of course most people on this site think this is a joke.

 

[andyd]

I dunno. a B+S flat head, doesn't require much in the way of maintenance. They will last longer in a low/no oil situation than a Tecumseh is my observation. OTOH, minimal care and they'll run quite awhile. Check the oil level before use. If B+S really wanted to be helpful they would add a sight glass. I wonder, is there a flat spot where the drain used to be?

 

[2004tdigls]

Originally Posted By: andyd
I dunno. a B+S flat head, doesn't require much in the way of maintenance. They will last longer in a low/no oil situation than a Tecumseh is my observation. OTOH, minimal care and they'll run quite awhile. Check the oil level before use. If B+S really wanted to be helpful they would add a sight glass. I wonder, is there a flat spot where the drain used to be?


yes, you can see a circular boss where the casting used to be, a person with machine skills could drill and tap the block to install a drain plug

 

[DeafBrad]

To the original poster, congrats, I would love one of these as it is probably would last a long time like a Honda mower.

I remember reading they did some re-engineering to the motor to remove hot spots that would degrade the oil, and they gave it better air filtration. In other words they changed it to keep abrasives out of the oil, and made it easier on the oil.

It is probably a good selling point for people who do not do maintenance. I personally would still change the oil... I change the oil after the mower is warmed up, so in less than 5 minutes and I am mowing the grass.