How to Add Fresh Oil to a Lawn Mower

Regular maintenance of the oil in your lawn mower can extend the life of your engine and maintain a high performance level. You should change the oil in a new lawnmower within the first 5 to 8 hours of use to remove debris or metal shavings left from manufacturing. For used lawn mowers, do an oil change every 25 to 50 hours of use.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 30-weight lawnmower oil
• Funnel
• Paper towel or rag

1. Check your manual to determine what type of lawnmower oil you need. Most lawn mowers use 30-weight oil.

2. Locate the oil tank on your lawn mower. If you have a dipstick, you can check the oil level with it; for the best results, though, drain the old oil rather than just adding new oil to it.

3. Drain the old oil from your lawnmower. If you have to tip the lawn mower to do this, remove the fuel and disconnect the spark plug wire for safety purposes.

4. Take the lid off the oil tank, insert a funnel and begin to pour in the oil. You may want to take the funnel out to check the level of the oil.

5. Fill the tank to the desired level, replace the oil tank lid and wipe off any excess oil. If necessary, reconnect the spark plug wire and fill the fuel tank.

6. Start the lawn mower and allow it to run for 30 seconds before turning it off. Wait 30 seconds and then check the oil level. Put more oil into the tank if the oil level reads below full.

Tips & Warnings

• Place the lawn mower on a level surface before adding oil.

[sorensentrees]

on 7/27/2009 I just saved myself a ton of time and a whole big mess by using an oil change vacuum pump to suck all the oil and debris out through the dipstick tube. I bought the LiquiVac system at Lowe's for $35 and changed my oil in just minutes. Plus, all the oil was sucked out into a portable container so I could transport it to the recycling center. You've got to try this thing. I found their website: http://www.liquivac.com