Briggs "Never change oil" engines??

[BLES]

I've heard they are marketing mowers with engines that never require changing oil for life of engine. Is it just me or does everyone laugh every time you hear that as a marketing line?? I have a neighbor that's been running equipment like that for years! Always runs the same oil for the life of the engine! Hahahaha!

BLES

[HondaG100]

Have not heard that but Evinrude has been selling outboards with a 3 year oil change interval on the lower units. With the newest synthetic oil technology and a good piston to cylinder seal I think it could work for years in light use.

[NO0C]

I look at that as an inane marketing ploy, a ploy to sell more product.

I have a B&S 3400 psi pressure washer with an AR pump. The manual states:

Pump Oil
DO NOT attempt any oil maintenance on this pump. The
pump is pre-lubricated and sealed from the factory, requiring
no additional maintenance for the life of the pump.

I can only laugh, 'for the life of the pump', as short as it might be.

My pump oil gets changed every spring. Yes it's not a pull the plug, drain and refill. There is no drain plug, in fact there is no way to even check the oil level, more silliness.

I put the washer through its paces to get the oil warmed up, remove the pump from the engine, remove the 'vent cap', drain, remount and refill with 4.5 oz. Mobil 1 10W40. The selected lube is based on conversations with and recommendations from AR's technical staff.

Anyone with half a brain knows that there is wear in any moving device and that wear relates to more wear with the abrasive materials that become suspended in the lubricant.

It's the easiest thing I can do to prolong the life of the pump. I try to help my bottom line, not B&S's or AR's.

[RoyM]

There is really no need to change the pump oil unless it becomes contaminated with water or metal shavings, there are no combustion byproducts like in an engine but if you prefer to go ahead. It's your time and nickel. Most consumer pressure washers don't get enough hours to cause problems from wear.
This engine series is on low end mowers, Briggs aims them at the consumer who never maintains his equipment anyway to boost sales. Once the two year warranty is past what do they care if the engine blows up, the machine won't be worth repairing so the schmuck will just buy another $179 mower. They still recommend regular maintenance at 50 hours instead of 25 or once a year in the fine print but how many suburbanites put that many on a mower.

[bgsengine]

There is really no need to change the pump oil unless it becomes contaminated with water or metal shavings, there are no combustion byproducts like in an engine but if you prefer to go ahead. It's your time and nickel. Most consumer pressure washers don't get enough hours to cause problems from wear.
This engine series is on low end mowers, Briggs aims them at the consumer who never maintains his equipment anyway to boost sales. Once the two year warranty is past what do they care if the engine blows up, the machine won't be worth repairing so the schmuck will just buy another $179 mower. They still recommend regular maintenance at 50 hours instead of 25 or once a year in the fine print but how many suburbanites put that many on a mower.

Yeah - mow your postage stamp lawn in 20 minutes probably about 26 times a year if that, gonna take you 4 years to hit 50 hours by which time it is way out of warranty. They should do that for lawn tractors judging by how many we have seen where they have not changed the oil, or sharpened blade or cleaned the deck or air filter since they took it home from the store - just put gas in it and go, when it breaks blame the repair shop for trying to sell you a replacement engine and blades, belts and maintenance for almost as much as they paid for the machine new when they got it on sale (and they always paid far less than what they actually did!)

[HondaG100]

Face it guys.... If everyone did maintenance as well as most regulars on this board we would all be out of business or just selling new stuff to first time buyers.

[bgsengine]

Face it guys.... If everyone did maintenance as well as most regulars on this board we would all be out of business or just selling new stuff to first time buyers.

Nah - we'd all be "quickie lube" shops competing to see who can do the cheapest oil change fastest. - See that is another trend in this business - Lack of experienced, trained technicians - the good ones often go out and start their own small shops and semi-retire from day to day pressure of working for somebody else - the ones that are left are frequently just the lazy, under-trained, or "dont care" parts hangers that have not the slightest clue how to do a proper diagnostic, because they're the only ones that will work at the shameful wages the potential employers could pay - if I had a full crew of techs as good as I am or better, the shop would have to be charging $100/hour so we could pay these professionals the $30-40/hour plus overtime that they really deserve.. (Which I'm counting myself lucky I can draw a regular salary of $1k/month - yes just a grand a month.. until my contract with the Corp. kicks in the bonuses next year.. )

So, lack of expert repair services with the high cost of same = manufacturers build "throw away" lawnmowers that would not be worth repairing because you'd pay as much of a repair bill as you would to buy or two brand new mowers at wal-mart. Just wait and see - give it another 10 - 15 years and they won't even be offering service parts - just modular assemblies - Carb module that you can swap out in 10 minutes, filter modules that snap in place, oil-free engines (engine parts impregnated with synthetic lubricants so they can run dry) and engine module, blade, transmission module, deck & handle module, and replacement control module, and that'll be the only parts stocked or available, all changeable in 10 minutes by any bonehead with a wrench - wait and see - that's my prediction for the future of gas powered lawnmowers (Until they are entirely replaced by cordless rechargeable ones - just look at the Core engine technology, it'll probably be able to develop enough to build a nice commercial grade high torque walk-behind that runs on solar-rechargeable battery packs - I believe I read somewhere that MTD bought them out.. )

[NO0C]

Unless I'm mistaken the 'module' concept has already started.

I just bought a Ariens edger with a LCT 136 engine and you can't purchase a push rod, valve, rocker arm, adjusting nuts, valve cover gasket, cylinder head gasket, crankshaft seal, carb mounting gaskets ...... without purchasing a kit of some type. Maybe I made a big mistake, but it's sure an easy start and sweet running engine.

[smallen]

briggs does have a new engine made in the USA that does not require an oil change, if consumers check and add oil on a regular basis the oil gets replenished with all the nutrients it needs. this applies only to the EXi series engines used on walk behind mowers, after 600 hours of run time on several engine, briggs found the oil and engines too still be in good shape