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rh455

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
I've got about 8.5 hours on my mower(Kawi 19) and I was told to do the first oil change at 8ish. How often after that? What brand oil and what weight? Dino or synthetic? What brand filter?
 
#2 ·
After the first 5-10 hours, you should change the oil. At that point, I run synthetic oil in my machines. I use Mobil 1 synthetic or Amsoil Formula 4 stroke oil. (Thats "made specially" for lawnmower engines and such.) SAE 10w30. Also, I run the OEM oil filters, in which case the cost about $7.50 each.

I'm oldschool with my oil changes and even though I have synthetic oil in the engine, the oil gets changed every 60-65 hours.
 
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#3 ·
the manual for my kawi says oil every 100hours and filter every 200hours.

i'm following the recommendations only because i use really good synth oil and a high capacity 15 micron oil filter. ... and a oiled prefilter.

if i was using dino ,stock filters and a non oiled prefilter like kawi recommends, (go figure) i'd be doing both at 50 hours.

whats the part # on the current oil filter? call up amsoil for a match.

i believe my 15hp uses a EAo09 amsoil filter ... same as my motorcycle, so its fairly likely that'l be yours too.
 
#5 ·
After 10 hours change the oil and filter. After that you should change it every 50 hours even though the engine manufacturer recommends every 100 hours. This is critical especially if you live down south.

Be cautious about synthetic oil especially in a new engine. It takes about 300+ hours to seat the rings. If you put it in they will not seat properly and loss of power will occur.

Hope this helps.
 
#6 ·
Changed oil at 8 hours, then at 50, and every 50 after that (easier to remember if on the 50's and 100's). The book says 100, and I've no doubt that would be OK, but I always treat the engine like I'm going to own the mower for the rest of my life, whether I do or not.

As for synthetic, I changed to it on the 8 hour oil change on my last mower with no problems (800 hours), and did the same on this one.
 
Discussion starter · #8 ·
I was planning on waiting to switch to synthetic (Royal Purple) after 200 to give the rings time to seat. Does any other filter manufacturer (like Wix, Napa Gold, etc.) make an equivalent filter?
 
#10 ·
I did the first change on my mowers at 8 hours as recommended.

I've switched to synthetic and change the oil and filter every 50 hours rather than the recommended 100. Some of the conditions I mow in are pretty dusty and dirty, and I am certain that it can't hurt to shorten the interval. Oil isn't that expensive compared to a prematurely fried engine.
 
#12 ·
swingset said:
I'd like to see objective evidence of that claim.
Click to expand...
So would I. Corvettes and other cars come with Mobil 1 as the factory fill.

rh455 said:
Does any other filter manufacturer (like Wix, Napa Gold, etc.) make an equivalent filter?
Click to expand...
Yes. Purolator L14476 or PL14476. You can cross reference from those numbers to your favorite brand of filter.
 
#14 ·
I live out in West Texas where there is substantial dust and dirt on a regular basis, and I change my oil every 25 hours. I figure oil is cheap and ZTR's are expensive so I like to baby all of my machines. I use Kohler Magnum 30wt. oil.

Tlvoskamp
 
#15 ·
swingset said:
Yeah, but it's not like the Corvette is a high performance car with a hot engine or anything. :dizzy:

I've never seen a reasonable explaination why rings won't seat with syn. oil but will with dino.
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Years ago you were told to not switch to synthetic right away, to get the engine broke in first.

It's the same thing when people say don't switch to synthetic when your engine is old either, that the rings will leak.

Basically they're both myths from people that didn't believe that you could switch to a synthetic oil.

We have a local radio talk show, an auto show, where the guy still swears that you have to change your oil every 3,000 miles, even though there's car manufacturers now where the service intervals are 7,500 or even 15,000 miles listed in the book.

It's not the oil that goes bad, it's the filter.

Personally I change my oil about every 400 hours, but the filter every 200 hours.
 
#16 ·
LwnmwrMan22 said:
It's the same thing when people say don't switch to synthetic when your engine is old either, that the rings will leak.

Basically they're both myths from people that didn't believe that you could switch to a synthetic oil.

We have a local radio talk show, an auto show, where the guy still swears that you have to change your oil every 3,000 miles, even though there's car manufacturers now where the service intervals are 7,500 or even 15,000 miles listed in the book.
Click to expand...
I switched my F-150 over to Pennzoil Platinum 10w30 full synthetic at 116,000 miles from regular Pennzoil 10w30 dino oil. It has used 1 quart of oil in 3,000 miles and I plan to push it to 10,000 miles per OCI. I use Purolator Pure 1 filters or Motorcraft, whichever is available.

I have had my wife's Cobalt on the same oil but a 5w20 since the first change at 3,000 miles. It's up over 24,000 miles now and hasn't used a drop of oil. OCI's are via the computer's recommendations and average about 12,000 miles.
 
#18 ·
LwnmwrMan22 said:
Years ago you were told to not switch to synthetic right away, to get the engine broke in first.

It's the same thing when people say don't switch to synthetic when your engine is old either, that the rings will leak.

Basically they're both myths from people that didn't believe that you could switch to a synthetic oil.

We have a local radio talk show, an auto show, where the guy still swears that you have to change your oil every 3,000 miles, even though there's car manufacturers now where the service intervals are 7,500 or even 15,000 miles listed in the book.

It's not the oil that goes bad, it's the filter.

Personally I change my oil about every 400 hours, but the filter every 200 hours.
Click to expand...
400 hours? what oil you use?
 
#20 ·
LwnmwrMan22 said:
It's not the oil that goes bad, it's the filter.
Click to expand...
Uh, not exactly.

Ever run a turbo hot? You can scorch the oil. Even synthetic. Oil will burn if you get it to hot remember. And, the oil doesn't go bad but the additive package wears out. And, the cleaning the oil does can over load the oil. Your filter doesn't go down to 1 micron. And, there are particles in suspension that small. Guess what, they build up. Guess how you get rid of them? You change the oil.

I use a bypass filter on my diesels. It goes down to 1 micron. On the new diesel the oil still looks clean. On the old one, it doesn't. But there are a lot of years without a bypass filter.

And, synthetics do have a thinner film. That's part of the plus to them for the new cars. Less gap and still seals. Where dino would shear. So, yea, going from dino to syn you could have a problem with oil usage.
 
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