As most people realize, whether you have a walk-behind mower or a riding version, Lawn mowers are expensive pieces of kit. For this reason, it is important to ensure the oil is always topped up to the correct level to help keep the engine in good working order as well as to prolong its life.
If you’re not sure about how to keep your mower topped up correctly, here, we will look at Lawn mower maintenance and try to answer the question, How Much Oil Does a Lawn Mower Take?
Why do you need to keep oil at the right level?
Before we look at how much oil Lawn mowers generally need, let’s have a look at why they need oil at all. This will help you understand what happens if you don’t add enough or if you add too much.
As we just mentioned, oil helps keep a mower engine – or any other type of engine – in good working order. Specifically, it is used to lubricate the engine as well as to help keep it cool and prevent it from overheating.
If an engine doesn’t have enough oil, it can overheat, which may cause irreparable damage. Not having enough oil can also lead to increased friction and premature wear due to a lack of lubrication, and in the worst-case scenario, the engine may simply break down altogether.
If any of these occur, the engine may be so damaged that it is cheaper to replace it entirely, something you will obviously prefer to avoid.
On the other hand, if there is too much oil, it can cause the engine to smoke or can make it difficult to start. The oil may also become aerated, which will reduce its ability to lubricate and cool the engine – with a similar result to not having any oil at all.
Here’s a video about what to do if you have too much oil in your mower.
So, as you can see, if you have a gas-powered Lawn mower, it is extremely important to ensure that it has just the right amount of oil to keep it running well and to maintain it in optimum working order.
How much oil in a Lawn mower?
When we ask this question, we instantly run into a problem since all Lawn mowers and engines are different and there is no standard answer.
If you want to know the volume of oil required in a Lawn mower engine, we can only give a very general guideline – and if you want to know a more precise figure, you should check with the manufacturer of your mower or the company that makes the engine.
Here, we will give you a rough idea of how much oil a Lawn mower engine requires – but in the next section, we will go on to explain why knowing the exact volume is not necessarily the most important information.
As a rough estimate, walk-behind Lawn mowers usually require less than a quart of oil. Some models require only 15oz or 18 oz, others need 20oz or 24oz.
If we are talking about a riding Lawn mower, the amount required can be much more. These types of mowers generally require somewhat more than a quart of oil – but again, there is a lot of variation from one model to another.
How much oil add to Lawn Mower?
In some ways, knowing the volume of oil required by any particular Lawn mower is irrelevant. What you need to know is how to top it up correctly so that it has just the right amount, and this doesn’t require you to measure the oil out before you pour it in.
Let’s have a look at how to do this now.
Unless you are adding oil to a new Lawn mower for the first time, the first thing you need to do is check how much oil is in there already. To do this, you need to use the dipstick.
To check the dipstick, unscrew the cap, pull the dipstick out, wipe it clean with a cloth and put it back in place without screwing it in.
When you remove it again, you will be able to see the level of oil. The dipstick has two marks on it – one for the minimum level and one for the maximum level. The oil should be between them, but closer to the maximum than the minimum.
After checking the oil level, you can then decide if you need to top it up or if it’s ok. If you need to top it up, add the oil slowly and keep checking in the same way until you have added the right amount.
If you are adding oil for the first time, simply add oil slowly and use the dipstick to check how much you have added and how much more you need to add.
When to check and add oil to Lawn Mower
Since you need to make sure your Lawn mower engine always has the right amount of oil, you need to check it regularly. How regularly should you check it? The best advice is to get into the habit of checking the oil level every time you refuel.
If you do this, you will never forget to check the oil level and you will always know how much there is and when to top up.
When to change oil for Lawn Mower
Oil also needs to be changed periodically. If you don’t, it will become contaminated with debris or diluted and will no longer perform the job it is there to do.
The best advice is to change your oil once a year or once every 50 hours of use, whichever comes sooner.
Many people change their oil as part of their Lawn mower’s annual spring service before the growing season starts, and this is another good habit to develop.
Here’s a video that explains how to do it.
No simple answer – but maybe the wrong question?
As we have explained, it is all but impossible to give one simple answer to the question of how much oil in a Lawn mower. However, as we have also shown, this is perhaps not the right question to ask – more important is knowing how much oil to add, and this is something that is very easy to do.
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