# Do you add oil?



## Kestral (Dec 22, 2013)

I have found that on my modern 5 year old Simplicity snowblower with its cool bore Briggs & Stratton motor seems to drink a little oil during the winter season. I usually run a synthetic and the oil consumption has increased slightly say in the last two years not huge by any means but say less then half a quart in about six hours of run time. From what I am reading on line this seems to be normal for the B&S cool bore engine. I am wondering how may of you have to add oil during the snow season?


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## uberT (Dec 29, 2013)

Kestral, not sure if you're asking about sno blowers in general, but I had been running a syn 0W30 in my MTD machine (Tecumseh) and it didn't consume any oil during the course of the season, or longer.


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## Blue Hill (Mar 31, 2013)

That sure sounds like quite a bit to me. I've never had a piece of OPE that used oil like that.


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## Grunt (Nov 11, 2013)

According to Briggs and Stratton, an engine running full throttle could expect to use one ounce of oil per hour.

Engine Burns Oil | Mower & Small Engine Repair | Briggs & Stratton FAQ


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## detdrbuzzard (Jan 20, 2012)

Grunt said:


> According to Briggs and Stratton, an engine running full throttle could expect to use one ounce of oil per hour.
> 
> Engine Burns Oil | Mower & Small Engine Repair | Briggs & Stratton FAQ


 glad i got a tecumseh then 
i haven't had to add oil to either 521 and i haven't used the 826 to know if its using oil


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## Blue Hill (Mar 31, 2013)

Grunt said:


> According to Briggs and Stratton, an engine running full throttle could expect to use one ounce of oil per hour.
> 
> Engine Burns Oil | Mower & Small Engine Repair | Briggs & Stratton FAQ


Maybe the new ones. I've had lots of briggs lawn mower engines over the years and pretty much never need to add oil.


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## Brucebotti (Feb 10, 2013)

I don't think I ever had to add oil to any snowblower or mower I have ever owned in 40 years. The only exception was an old Craftsman mower that was "on its way out".

In your case, as long as it doesn't get much worse, I wouldn't worry about it. Just keep a close eye on it. Oil is cheap.

Bruce


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## Kestral (Dec 22, 2013)

Brucebotti said:


> I don't think I ever had to add oil to any snowblower or mower I have ever owned in 40 years. The only exception was an old Craftsman mower that was "on its way out".
> 
> In your case, as long as it doesn't get much worse, I wouldn't worry about it. Just keep a close eye on it. Oil is cheap.
> 
> Bruce


This is true oil is cheep and the unit runs great so I guess it really does not matter much.


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## ken53 (Nov 7, 2013)

Kestral said:


> I have found that on my modern 5 year old Simplicity snowblower with its cool bore Briggs & Stratton motor seems to drink a little oil during the winter season. I usually run a synthetic and the oil consumption has increased slightly say in the last two years not huge by any means but say less then half a quart in about six hours of run time. From what I am reading on line this seems to be normal for the B&S cool bore engine. I am wondering how may of you have to add oil during the snow season?


Your spark plug will tell you if your burning to much oil or not. Just keep an eye on it.

This link might help:

http://www.jackssmallengines.com/reading_sparkplugs.cfm

Ken


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## Surge (Dec 31, 2013)

I have the same blower which is now about three and a half years old. I have not had to add any oil between oil changes so far. Starts up with one pull most of the time, and once in a while it takes two pulls. 
Perhaps you have more hours on your blower than I do? I probably have between 20 and 30 hours. Most of the hours were put on in the first year when we had record snowfall. Maybe that helped during the break in period. I don't know what is typical for Briggs engines, as this is my first. I always check the level a few days before a snowstorm is about to arrive. I will let you know if that changes this year. I only had four small storms this year, so it has not had much use this year. Hopefully that will change in February.

I use full synthetic oil.


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## JRHAWK9 (Jan 6, 2013)

I haven't had to add oil in any of my small engines. Although I try to change the oil yearly depending on what it is. My blower I change it before I put it away for summer.



Surge said:


> Most of the hours were put on in the first year when we had record snowfall. Maybe that helped during the break in period. .


IMO that definitely helps with break-in. I try to break in my new motors under decent loads. Higher load = higher cylinder pressure = better ring seating. Letting a new motor sit and idle doesn't do much to help break in.

I use -GERMAN CASTROL SYNTEC 0w30- in my small engines. It's an older oil, but I change it quit frequently so not having the latest & greatest cleaning agents made for extended intervals don't bother me.


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## Kestral (Dec 22, 2013)

For kicks I am going to change the plug tonight and I will have a look at the old one. I will report on how it looks I expect it will be fine as it runs great just drinks a little oil now and then and I can live with that.


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## JRHAWK9 (Jan 6, 2013)

Kestral said:


> For kicks I am going to change the plug tonight and I will have a look at the old one. I will report on how it looks I expect it will be fine as it runs great just drinks a little oil now and then and I can live with that.



Hope you're not changing the plug out for one of those gimmicky plugs....


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## Blue Hill (Mar 31, 2013)

JRHAWK9 said:


> Hope you're not changing the plug out for one of those gimmicky plugs....


Gimmicky plugs not good Hawk? I bought one for my guaranteed to start (my foot!) lawn mower engine, but haven't tried it yet.


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## JRHAWK9 (Jan 6, 2013)

Blue Hill said:


> Gimmicky plugs not good Hawk? I bought one for my guaranteed to start (my foot!) lawn mower engine, but haven't tried it yet.



Read from -POST 28- on down and visit the thread I linked to in one of my posts. I don't know which plug you bought, but I'd stick with what you know works.


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## Kestral (Dec 22, 2013)

I picked up a champion platinum plug. I have had good luck with them I. The past so we shall see. I usually have the best luck with NGK plugs but could not find one.


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## JRHAWK9 (Jan 6, 2013)

Kestral said:


> I picked up a champion platinum plug. I have had good luck with them I. The past so we shall see. I usually have the best luck with NGK plugs but could not find one.


What model champion plug is it? You should be able to cross reference it to an NGK. That Champion will be fine, I thought maybe you were putting in an E3 or something


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## Kestral (Dec 22, 2013)

JRHAWK9 said:


> What model champion plug is it? You should be able to cross reference it to an NGK. That Champion will be fine, I thought maybe you were putting in an E3 or something


I would tell you the model number on that Champ but it's in my car that is at the end of a long parking lot at work and it's -8F hear right now so it will have to wait till later.. Lol.. Anyway I will try this Champ and if it does not start like it usually does (first pull) then out it will come. And yes I know all about them E3 junk plugs I will never buy them again.


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## Blue Hill (Mar 31, 2013)

JRHAWK9 said:


> Read from -POST 28- on down and visit the thread I linked to in one of my posts. I don't know which plug you bought, but I'd stick with what you know works.


E3 guilty as charged. Oh well, back to the drawing board I guess. I'm going to order a new carb so I can be ready when lawn mower season rolls around. I'll buy a regular plug too.
Muchas Gracias for the heads up Hawk. I owe you a beer.


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## Kestral (Dec 22, 2013)

Actually I might add that I have had good luck with basic Autolite plugs as well and they are cheep.


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## Surge (Dec 31, 2013)

I bought a platinum plug to replace the one in my blower when I do my annual oil change, clean up, grease up, and inspection in the spring. Not sure if it will make any difference since it runs just fine now. I still have the plug that came with the blower when I bought it. Its hard to see what type is in there now without removing it, but I think its just a regular plug (probably a champion). 
Does everyone else automatically change the plug to their blower every year, even if it was only used for a few hours in a warm winter? The manual says to, but I have a hard time figuring out why someone should change a plug after only two to four hours of use.

I use NGK plugs in my mower and trimmer. No problems at all with them.


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## Blue Hill (Mar 31, 2013)

Surge said:


> I bought a platinum plug to replace the one in my blower when I do my annual oil change, clean up, grease up, and inspection in the spring. Not sure if it will make any difference since it runs just fine now. I still have the plug that came with the blower when I bought it. Its hard to see what type is in there now without removing it, but I think its just a regular plug (probably a champion).
> Does everyone else automatically change the plug to their blower every year, even if it was only used for a few hours in a warm winter? The manual says to, but I have a hard time figuring out why someone should change a plug after only two to four hours of use.
> 
> I use NGK plugs in my mower and trimmer. No problems at all with them.


I wonder about that too.
The plugs in the newer vehicles are good for over 100,000 kilometres.
Why would OPE be so different?


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## Surge (Dec 31, 2013)

Blue Hill said:


> I wonder about that too.
> The plugs in the newer vehicles are good for over 100,000 kilometres.
> Why would OPE be so different?


 
I have no clue. I was wondering if someone knew why. They are cheap enough so its no big deal. But is it all that necessary?


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## Kestral (Dec 22, 2013)

Surge said:


> I have no clue. I was wondering if someone knew why. They are cheap enough so its no big deal. But is it all that necessary?


It is possible that they are worried about the plug oxidizing with the aluminum head?? I have a Toyota 4Runner V6 and my plugs are supposed to be changed every 30K. I asked the service advisor and he told me it was to keep the plugs from oxidizing in the heads. On that note I am about to change the plug on my Simplicity for the first time tonight. I thought about changing it sooner but it just runs so darn good I said why bother? Anyway it will be interesting to see how it looks.


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## Surge (Dec 31, 2013)

Kestral said:


> It is possible that they are worried about the plug oxidizing with the aluminum head?? I have a Toyota 4Runner V6 and my plugs are supposed to be changed every 30K. I asked the service advisor and he told me it was to keep the plugs from oxidizing in the heads. On that note I am about to change the plug on my Simplicity for the first time tonight. I thought about changing it sooner but it just runs so darn good I said why bother? Anyway it will be interesting to see how it looks.


Let me know if you have any problem removing it due to oxidation. I bought a fifteen year old mower from my neighbor that had the old spark plug in it (gapped way too much to boot) from when it was first purchased. It stayed unused in their garage for ten years. I had no problem removing the plug.


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## JRHAWK9 (Jan 6, 2013)

Kestral said:


> It is possible that they are worried about the plug oxidizing with the aluminum head?? I have a Toyota 4Runner V6 and my plugs are supposed to be changed every 30K. I asked the service advisor and he told me it was to keep the plugs from oxidizing in the heads. On that note I am about to change the plug on my Simplicity for the first time tonight. I thought about changing it sooner but it just runs so darn good I said why bother? Anyway it will be interesting to see how it looks.


Most plugs have a coating on them that is supposed to keep this from happening.

http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/pdf/tb-0630111antisieze.pdf


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

You have to read that Briggs info sheet more carefully. It's acceptable up to 1oz per hour at full throttle. It's not the normal it's just Briggs upper limit before they consider the engine losing excessive oil and they recommend repair/rebuild.


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