How Do You Know If You Need To Change Your Oil?

Recently, we posted an article explaining how to change the oil in your small engine, but how do you know if you need do it? First, you should make sure your machine even requires oil changes in the first place. If you have a two-cycle engine, where you mix the oil with the gas manually, you don’t need to worry about it. If oil is added separately, however, you will want to change the oil periodically.

Recommendations can vary when it comes to the regularity of oil changes in small engines, even from the same manufacturer. Small Engine giants Briggs & Stratton recommend changing the oil after every 25 hours of operation at one place on their site, and every 50 hours at another. To be safe, you should check the owner’s manual for your specific machine for specific service intervals.

For most people this means one oil change a summer, but that is assuming the machine was operated under relatively mild conditions. If you have a habit of mowing through wet grass, or letting it grow to the point that your mower can barely make it through, you will need to do this more regularly. Other conditions that can cause you to go through oil more quickly are if you are consistently working in extreme heat, dusty conditions, or operating over rough and hilly terrain.

Any scenario that causes the engine to work harder or run at unusually high RPMs for extended periods of time will require more regular maintenance in all areas, not only engine oil. Changing the oil is an easy thing you can do to increase the life of your machine, so you aren't needing to call for a snow blower repair in the middle of a snow storm! If you aren’t particularly mechanically inclined, you can easily find a nearby small engine repair mechanic to take care of everything for you.

By: Kyson Crowell