How to Change Oil in Craftsman Lawn Mower
Do you know how to change oil in a Craftsman lawn mower now that you have one? Changing the oil is a requirement for maintaining lawn mowers because oil is an essential lubricant that helps the engine in preventing overheating and keeps the piston rings properly lubricated. And with Craftsman lawn mowers, these are available in different models and sizes so each model has a specific Briggs & Stratton engine size that requires specific oil grade, weight and type.
If you want to know what kind of oil does Craftsman lawn mower use and how to change oil in Craftsman riding lawn mower, stay with us because we will tell you why the Craftsman brand is unique when it comes to lawn mowers. We will also discuss lawn mower oil weight and the kind of Craftsman lawn mower engine oil that should be used on Craftsman lawn mowers.
The Craftsman lawn mowers are popular because of their engine power, superior cutting capacity and high-end durability. Because they are highly dependable, they can withstand rugged use in all types of weather especially with the right engine oil.
As of today, the most popular Craftsman lawn mowers are the 4-cycle models with single-cylinder engines up to 6.5 horsepower. And with this size, these machines require about .60 liters (20 ounces) of oil to keep their crankcase lubricated for best performance.
Craftsman lawn mowers are like our cars because they require specific oil grades to perform their best. In other words, if you put the wrong oil type on your Craftsman lawn mower, it may fail and will not perform to your expectations. So what specific kind of oil do these machines need?
Push mower oil change
All Craftsman lawn mowers use Briggs & Stratton engines and these engines are better off with the SAE 30W or the SAE 30 oil. If what you have is a self-propelled lawn mower, changing oil in a Craftsman lawn mower of this type is easy. You only need to unscrew the cap of the lawn mower, tilt the machine on its side and let the dirty oil drip from the oil reservoir mouth and into the waiting pan.
If your Craftsman is a riding type, changing oil in a Craftsman lawn mower can also be easy but you need to do it in a different process.
Here are the step-by-step procedures:
🏁 Start the engine until it gets warmed up and wait for a few minutes to make the oil circulate properly inside the engine.
🏁 Drive the riding mower on level ground and turn off the engine. Make sure the parking brake is on.
🏁 Open the mower’s hood, raise it up and secure it. Find the spark plug that is mounted on top of the engine and disconnect it from its wire. This is to ensure that the engine will not accidentally start during the oil change.
🏁 Find the dipstick that is usually located on the engine’s side and pull it out. Locate the drain plug just underneath the engine block and place a drain pan to catch the dirty oil once oil is released.
🏁 Use a wrench to release the drain plug by turning it counterclockwise. Once the oil is drained out, put the plug back in a clockwise turn and make sure it is tightly screwed in.
🏁 Use a funnel when filling the new engine oil but pour only the recommended amount in periodic and slow action. This is to allow the oil to settle properly and avoid overfilling.
🏁 To check on the oil level, remove the funnel, wipe the dipstick with a clean rag, insert it fully and remove it and check. The level of the oil should reach the “Full” mark on the dipstick.
🏁 If the Full mark hasn’t been reached, add oil little by little, check with the dipstick and stop once the desired level has been reached.
What Kind of Oil Does Craftsman Lawn Mower Use?
Knowing the type of oil your lawn mower needs can be easy especially if you have its user’s manual. You can also check your machine’s model on the web and the size of its engine and you’ll be able to know its oil requirements. But if you want to know now what kind of oil does Craftsman lawn mower use, you have to know the right viscosity of the oil based on the temperature where you’ll be using the machine.
How to change oil in Craftsman lawn mower can be a breeze. But you must also understand about the oil it needs like the viscosity which can identify the oil’s grade and weight. Viscosity is the measurement of a liquid’s resistance to flow. To put it simply, oil viscosity is the thickness of the oil and how it goes through the engine and lubricates it. The lower the viscosity, the faster it can flow and the higher the viscosity, the thicker the oil can become. Why we have to know the oil viscosity requirement of the lawn mower is because any oil can be affected by the surrounding temperature.
This is why the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) has put up a grading standard on engine oil to serve as the universal grading system to help us identify the perfect type of oil according to the type of climate the engine would be operating. But to put it simply , most of the lawn mowers we use today use the SAE 30 which is the standard type including the Craftsman lawn mowers. But what about the oil weight? How can the lawn mower oil weight affect the performance of the engine, especially the Craftsman lawn mowers?
Lawn Mower Oil Weight and Codes
If you own any motor vehicle including a lawn mower, you probably heard about the 10W-30 or the 10W-40 which specify the engine oil weight and grade in the alpha-numeric code. These motor oil can both be used for lawn mowers and vehicles because they contain the right viscosity that can adapt to different climate conditions. But what do these values and letters stand for?
In the 10W-30 oil grade, the “W” stands for winter. This means this oil grade can be used in a freezing environment. On the other hand, the 10 stands for the viscosity of the oil and the smaller the number, the better the oil can flow.
For example, a 5W-30 can flow better under a cold climate than the 10W-30 engine oil. For the value 30, this will tell us how the oil can flow at normal operating temperature. To put it simply, the 10W-30 engine oil has a 10 level viscosity, can be used for cold weather conditions and can also maintain its normal flow even at a regular temperature. So if you want to know how to change oil in Craftsman lawn mower, you must also know the type of oil you must use.
For the warmer climate, the SAE 30 is more perfect as it can withstand temperatures of 40° F (5° C) and even higher. If you noticed, there’s no W, which indicates winter use. But just the same, if the temperature in your area drops, better to use the SAE 10W-30 because it can withstand 0 to 100° F (-18 to 38° C). So if you’ll be asking why not use this oil both for warmer and cold temperatures? Well, using this oil in a warmer climate will eventually increase oil consumption by your engine once the temperature reaches 80° F (27° C) and higher.
If you already know how to change oil in a Craftsman lawn mower, we also suggest trying the synthetic SAE 5W-30 oil because this can protect your Craftsman regardless of the weather and it can also improve starting while oil consumption becomes lesser.
Now you know how to change oil in Craftsman lawn mower, don’t forget that you must only use the right Craftsman lawn mower engine oil like the ones we discussed above. If you happen to use engine oil that does not meet the right lawn mower oil weight for your machine, your engine may still start but the damage to your engine will be slow and irreparable in the long run. How could this happen?
It’s because without meeting the right oil viscosity, for example using an oil grade for warm climate while winter may bog down your machine. The same thing happens when you use oil for winter during summer can make your machine overheat.
Conclusion:
Now that you know how to change oil in Craftsman lawn mower regardless of whether it’s a self-propelled type or the riding type, you will realize this is fairly easy and quick. Oil changing may vary depending on the type of machines you have. If you’re using a commercial 4-stroke lawn mower and you use it only during spring, once a year oil change could be good enough.
For a heavy-duty lawn mower that you use regularly, every 25 hours is ideal to maintain a clean engine. For new lawn mowers, change the oil every 6 hours of use. But for the riding lawn mowers, changing oil every 40 hours of operation is ideal.