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Ruined My Lawn Mower


ColoradoSkiCountry

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Lesson learned, the hard way. When the owners manual calls for standard 30 weight oil make sure you use standard 30 weight oil. Not 5W30, not 10W30, not Synthetic, just standard 30 weight oil. Last year at the beginning of the season I changed the oil and spark plug and air filter and sharpened the blade like I usually do. Instead of using the standard Penzoil 30 weight like I had been doing since I got the mower new back in 2001, I figured hey, why not try some synthetic 30 weight? Well halfway thru the season I started to notice it using up more oil than normal. So of course I would add a little, top it off, and check for any leaks. By the end of the year, I started to notice a leak around the oil dip tube. No big deal, the o-ring seals around there wear out every now and then, right? I'll just take it into the small engine repair shop this year and have them replace it along with having them clean and rebuild the carb. Well went to pick it up on Friday and the man who I have delt with for years and had purchased parts from proceeded to take me out and point out a few things on the mower. He showed me the old air filter, the old plug, and an old drive belt. All were much more worn out then they should have been. Part of the air filter had actually melted and the old plug showed signs of over heating and being fouled. He asked me flat out "Please tell me you did not run synthetic in this thing?" I told him yeah, I ran 30 weight Synthetic last year. He shook his head and sighed deeply. "You pretty much screwed up your engine by doing that. Your probably the 20th person I've delt with so far this year who has done permanent damage to the engine by running synthetic. These smaller older engines are not designed to run with synthetic and they literally will start to burn themselves out and the rubber seals and such do not handle synthetic as well as standard conventional 30 weight. So that started a lengthy discussion about running synthetic vs standard in cars, trucks, small engines like a lawnmower and snow blower and so on. He now has a bright orange sign at his front counter that says "DO NOT RUN SYNTHETIC OIL IN YOUR SMALL ENGINES! PLEASE ASK FOR DETAILS." The guy loves running Synthetic in the bigger machines and runs it in his personal vehicles.

 

So now a 9 year old Craftsman 6.5HP push mower sits in my garage, still leaking oil, with me wondering when it's going to blow up. Thankfully I don't have a large yard so it only gets about 30 min of use if even that, a week and I'll nurse it along until it siezes up or I get tired of the burned oil smell. What a painful $195.00 lesson to learn.

 

:thumbs::dunno::fume:

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It's probably not even bad. Break the mower down and see what kind of wear is on the cylinder wall. I'd be willing to bet that new rings might solve the issue pretty well. Or just use it until it explodes and use it as an excuse to buy a shiny new one.

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i run whatever oil i got laying around in the garage in my craftsman...it leaks and burns oil but i don't give a damn its 12 years old and still mows the lawn fine

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I don't understand how running a synthetic can cause all those problems. :thumbs:

 

We have an old Murray 5 hp 22" cut push mower that we bought new back in 1989, been running synthetic 5w-30 in it since new and it still runs great and doesn't burn oil. Something just doesn't add up. Heck we haven't even changed the spark plug. The mower gets about a half hour of full throttle run time on it a week. It is a small yard.

 

Sorry to hear you had problems with yours.

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I run mobil 1 5W-30 in my mower, tiller, snow blower, power washer, and weed wacker. The manual for all of these say 5w-30 synthetic is acceptable and the snowblower actually requires it.

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I run whatever I have left over from oil changes. That usually varies from 5w30 to 10w30 and conventional to synthetic. The mower has been running fine except for the stuck fuel float in the carb every once and a while.

 

 

Mike

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I have an old Craftsman lawn mower from the 80's that I ran synthetic oil in from day 1 and never any problems. I have a 7 yr old Honda mower that is running 0W-30 synthetic oil since it was new. I have a 10 yr Ariens snowthrower with 13hp Tecumseh and same thing, synthetic, have Husqvarna 4-stroke engine (Honda) and its using 0W-30 synthetic too.

 

That guy sounds like the service manager at the local Honda dealer I ran into last year. I was in there to have some new tires put on my 2006 Rincon ATV and he was telling the guy ahead of me to never use synthetic oil in his Honda ATV. He said it would last 50 miles if he did that. So I spoke up and asked him to explain why my 06 Rincon 680 has been running synthetic oil since 10 miles and it now has 2,500 miles and it has not blown up yet. I also mentioned a friend who has a 2003 with over 20,000 miles on it using synthetic and its not blown up either. Wen I went to pay for the tire mounting, there in front of me at the parts counter were qts of Honda synthetic oil for ATV's.

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I have an old Craftsman lawn mower from the 80's that I ran synthetic oil in from day 1 and never any problems. I have a 7 yr old Honda mower that is running 0W-30 synthetic oil since it was new. I have a 10 yr Ariens snowthrower with 13hp Tecumseh and same thing, synthetic, have Husqvarna 4-stroke engine (Honda) and its using 0W-30 synthetic too.

 

That guy sounds like the service manager at the local Honda dealer I ran into last year. I was in there to have some new tires put on my 2006 Rincon ATV and he was telling the guy ahead of me to never use synthetic oil in his Honda ATV. He said it would last 50 miles if he did that. So I spoke up and asked him to explain why my 06 Rincon 680 has been running synthetic oil since 10 miles and it now has 2,500 miles and it has not blown up yet. I also mentioned a friend who has a 2003 with over 20,000 miles on it using synthetic and its not blown up either. Wen I went to pay for the tire mounting, there in front of me at the parts counter were qts of Honda synthetic oil for ATV's.

You didn't know that 0W30 Synthetic oil was totally different than 0W30 Dino oil...whats wrong with you. :thumbs::thumbs::dunno:

 

Oil is oil...as long as the right weight is used. Now synthetic offers longer OCI's and more protection at startup etc....but as for the viscosity...I would wager that a 30 weight synthetic oil has the same Viscosity as a 30 weight dino....30

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and unless you're running a synthetic oil from around 1970 (?..before my time) then there is no compatibility issue with synthetics and o-rings.... that leak around your fill tube was not caused by synthetic oil

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My $5000 generator which is some type of air cooled small engine which runs 30 w... I was told to use 30W synthetic. I will check the book again just to be sure but it s a few years old now and apperas to run fine.

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:( I've run 10/30 synthetic oil in my 6.75 hp John Deere push mower since first oil change, starts first pull. Of course the Slick 50 helps too :cheers:

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shouldnt make a different... the oils are all compatable.

 

engines arent like dogs where if you suddenly change their type of dog food they throw up...

 

changing oil from an sae30 to a synthetic 5w30 did not cause your problems. could be coincedence OR you had a difference issue that the sae30 was hiding during startup and it wasnt noticeable until you put the 5w in

 

edit: what oil does your owners manual call for? SAE30 or 5w30 or 10w30? (conventional/synthetic doesnt make a difference)... because if your manual specifically calls for SAE30 and you put in 0w30, 5w30,10w30 then you could have actually done damage to the bearings due to low startup viscosities.... but most mowers are W grade compatable

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edit: what oil does your owners manual call for? SAE30 or 5w30 or 10w30? (conventional/synthetic doesnt make a difference)... because if your manual specifically calls for SAE30 and you put in 0w30, 5w30,10w30 then you could have actually done damage to the bearings due to low startup viscosities.... but most mowers are W grade compatable

My thoughts too....

Problem is that it has clearances for 30 weight oil...10W30...or whatever...is actually not 30 weight until it gets hot...when cold it acts like the first numbers weight.

 

I don't think you ruined anything man....just switch back to 30 weight and toss a touch of stop leak in there. You will be fine.

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