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Briggs "no oil change ever" engines?


steve-wis

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Hello everyone,

Just saw the advertisement for the new "no oil change ever" briggs engines.  Are they serious?  I can't believe they are actually advertising this!  Does anyone have any idea of what they could have done, except for the better, paper air filter, to keep oil clean year after year?  My opinion is this is junk, what do you all think?

https://www.briggsandstratton.com/na/en_us/campaigns/just-check-and-add.html

 

Steve

Edited by steve-wis
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You can't sell new product without the old wearing out first.  My guess there is a built in oil useage schedule so you add oil enough so a change becomes unnecessary.  

 

We are/have raised a generation of non doers.  There is no motivation to learn how to do anything no less to actually fix something.  We are in a throw away society.  Thank god I'm not one of them!

 

Ken 

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I would think they can get away with it if for no other reason than  that the mowers and equipment these small engines are attached to by far ...will .die before the engines will.

At least thats my experience and observation.

Most people probably dont change the oil in their pushmowers anyhow .

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2 hours ago, SmilinSam said:

I would think they can get away with it if for no other reason than  that the mowers and equipment these small engines are attached to by far ...will .die before the engines will.

At least thats my experience and observation.

Most people probably dont change the oil in their pushmowers anyhow .

I have some old engines and mowers that I don't care if they blow up so I never change the oil and they keep running.....one is 21 years old. My neighbor has a 1953 farmall cub that he cross threaded the drain plug in the mid fifties and the oil has not been changed since then!!  Now I do change oil in my 'babies' like my 314.

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Better metallurgy and improved sythetic oils?

Sounds like blasphemy to me!

I just cant imagine an american company to stoop to the level of planned obsolescence.

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I saw one of those at my local Simplicity dealer when getting a part for my b112.  I thought it was a joke but sure enough there is not a dipstick or oil drain.  The mechanic in me is screaming!

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These have been around for years....you should see some of the oil in some of the used mowers I purchased in the past. O.o

Maybe they fill the new motors with Amsoil ? dOd

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The way it was explained to me last year from Schultz Power Equipment in Beloit WI was that the engine consumes oil & you are still supposed to check & add oil routinely.  However I have  not verified whether or not there is the provisions to perform this.  Since the homeowner is continuously adding oil, they feel there is adequate new oil added thus eliminating the need for an oil change.

I do not agree with this practice & keep in mind, this is one dealership's explanation.

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1 hour ago, ShaunE said:

Since the homeowner is continuously adding oil, they feel there is adequate new oil added thus eliminating the need for an oil change.

I ran a Briggs on a Yazoo for well over 30 years, never changing the oil because of that. It needed rings when I got it, did not have the change to put them in, so just kept running the engine. I added a bit of oil every time I cranked it, used it for a couple of hours, then repeated next week. When I finally took it down to look at the bore..how do you say, WORN OUT beyond repair? I change the rebuild oil, then change once a year for a couple years, then just add until worn to the point I am using as much or more oil than gas. Might not be right, but is how I do it. A new set of rings in a .005-.007 oversize bore will usually last 12-15 years as I use them.

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It is one thing to have a no oil change or even ability to add oil to a push mower designed for the lowest price point.  The decks fail before the engine, as Sam mentioned.

 

But major manufacturers of cars are doing just that with transmissions etc.  Imagine spending high coin on a car, and not be able to change the fluids.

 

Subaru does not recommend changing fluid on their CVT transmissions.  Also VW the same, even though the manufacturer of the Trans (ZF) says to change at 60,000 miles !  Huh?

 

They all just want to sell more, faster.

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I change the oil in my typical mowers regularly. But, out at the cabin we have an old Coast To Coast riding mower from the late 70's. My brother brought it up to the cabin 21 years ago because he figured there wasn't much life left in it. So I never ever changed the oil in it, just added if necessary. Well, that single cylinder Briggs is still going after 40 or so years and it's never been apart.

I knew a fellow who said he never changed the oil in his cars, just the oil filter every 5 000 miles and added as needed. He said he never had an engine failure in all the years he drove. I also knew a mechanic who did the same thing,  only changing the oil filter every so often and adding as required. And this was back before the oils of today.

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I know when I work at Lowe's the walk mower you had to turn over to change oil because people didn't get the oil plugs tight and they would fall out and burn the engine up, but never heard of never changing oil

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We run several big trucks and several pieces of equipment. We have a mechanic that works for the local Cummins dealer, he’s been sent all over north and South America fixing motors no one else can figure out. He says the new recommended oil change intervals of 500 hours is crazy. He says he’s never seen so many premature wore out engines from this. Said the fact of it is the oil can’t hold up that long, he says it does mater how the motors are ran and in what kind of conditions. That being said, never changing oil? Screams nothing but issuies to me.

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Oil is cheap insurance. We sell 500 hour oil at work, but advise customers against waiting that long especially due to the extreme temperature changes and humidity in the Midwest which result in condensation. 

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5 hours ago, fishnwiz said:

So NOBODY here has run Amsoil in their mowers in the past??

I run Amsoil Small Engine Oil in all my mowers & snowblowers.  However I change it every spring along with my OEM Kohler, Kawasaki or Briggs filters.

My dad was running Amsoil in his 6008 in 1979 when the dealer delivered it.  It was short lived as my dad wasn't about to spend that kind of money on oil back then.

20 hours ago, GregB said:

But major manufacturers of cars are doing just that with transmissions etc.  Imagine spending high coin on a car, and not be able to change the fluids.

This has been done with hydrostatic units on some these tractor for years & hasn't created this much discussion LOL.

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I don't think you can compare a hydro to an engine.  The engine produces contaminants that are impossible to keep out of the crankcase and these small engines do not have an oil filter to change regularly.  I do agree that I have known folks who run a push mower for 10 years or more without changing oil, but I don't think the throw away engines of today are comparable with what briggs used to make.  I guess, for me, I will change oil regularly regardless of what they recommend.  I am still a bit amazed that briggs would advertise engines that way tho.  One last thought, my Tacoma has a six speed automatic with no dipstick or fill spout, sealed with synthetic fluid in it, but it is still recommended to be changed occasionally, I think about every 100000 miles but would need to look to be sure.  

Steve

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2 hours ago, steve-wis said:

I don't think you can compare a hydro to an engine

I wasn't.  I was comparing it to a transmission.  It was common for the older hand controlled Broadmoors, Landlords & Regents to lose the hydro long before the engine. I don't remember if they were Hydro-gear or another brand.

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My work van takes some super expensive euro oil and recommended oil changes at 16000 miles intervals but I don’t agree I change it at 6000 and it’s almost as thin as water just don’t see it as they advertise it. Young ppl mostly lazy lazy lazy they’ll love it probably an attractive feature for ordinary ppl.  More than likely boost sales will probably see other companies doing the same 

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For most of us changing oil is a sign of affection for our machinery. However, I have seen neglected engines rack up an incredible number of runtime hours.

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On 3/31/2019 at 6:26 PM, spi said:

Better metallurgy and improved sythetic oils?

Sounds like blasphemy to me!

I just cant imagine an american company to stoop to the level of planned obsolescence.

Planned obsolescence has been around since at least 1932.  Ford built 1 year of a Deuce. A '33 was different, so was a '34.  That way your neighbor wanted to buy a new car because your year old car was, well, a year old and the old style and he could have the latest and greatest. 

This scenario is a little different, but just another example of our throw-away society attitude.  Not so much obsolescence as it is just indifference to maintaining something.  I assume the majority of these engines will be on units that can't be justified cost wise to really maintain, let along do any major repairs to once they have a couple seasons of use.  

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With the move to 15 percent ethonal in our gas the oil change  is going to be the least of our worries.

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22 hours ago, fishnwiz said:

With the move to 15 percent ethonal in our gas the oil change  is going to be the least of our worries.

I suppose the fuel mileage will drop again, the price remain the same. and the big winner will be the government with increased gas tax revenue.

When they first put corn into the gas I was a rural mail carrier. I was getting two and a half days out of a tank of gas. with the switch to 10%, a tank of gas would only go me two days. With no increase in mileage pay and paying more gas tax it amounted to a pretty decent pay cut.

This is something I've never heard anybody talk about anywhere.

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Another bad thing for us and our small engines is this.  As far as I know, the EPA still requires small engines to be emissions certified using 100% gasoline.  So, the engines are tuned accordingly.  Then, since the vast majority of us have to run gas with 10% ethanol in it, our mixture is already off a little bit (not to mention the problems associated with alcohol...)  Now, our brilliant politicians are going to cram 15% ethanol content into our engines.  It won't be good.  Older cars, tractors, small engines, boats etc. are all going to suffer.  

I am lucky - a local gas station did a major remodel late last year and added an ethanol free "rec fuel" pump that is 90 octane.  Yes, it costs a little more, but is worth it in my tractors.  Until then, it was a 15 mile drive or so to a gas station that carried ethanol free fuel.

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