Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

I would have to assume I already have 5 hours and being its 50 degrees outside, I figure its a great time. When I bought the machine I had the dealer put in B&Stratton 5w30 synthetic oil but it was the last one. Called around to a few places but seems nobondy has it in stock. Do I buy it online or can I use Mobil 1 synthetic 5w30 in its place. My plan was to stick with one oil for the life of the motor. My second question is does this motor have a filter, I would say not. Just trying to make sure. Is there anything else I should do after the first 5 hours?

Borat, can you please crop your picture to be a reasonable size, convey what you want and not blow out the thread?

trouts2 wrote:

Anyone experiencing the same blowout issue?

Borat, that spark plug looks nasty. Are you attributing it to the synthetic oil blow by the oil rings?

This kinds of paint a bad light for synthetic oil, and maybe unnecessarily so.  Would conventional dino oil produce the same results?  I suspect that oil type is not the root cause of the problem.

aa335 wrote:
Yes.

I'm really not sure what the image of the nasty looking spark plug is supposed to represent.  If you are/were using synthetic oil and your spark plug looks like that, there are clearly other engine/maintenance issues going on.
In any event, there are other advantages to using synthetic oil besides extended oil change intervals...even though most synthetic oil manufacturers will tell you to follow the OEM guidelines on when to change the oil.  Aside from a few niche brands like Amsoil or Royal Purple, most synthetic oils on the market don't really push the idea of extended oil change intervals. 

Even though these are only  basic/small engines....You're dealing with machines that are really only subjected to extreme conditions, the coldest temps of the year...an advantage synthetic oil has over dino oil.  Especially when starting a cold engine.  Also, these are engines that typically have no filter, with the additives synthetics have, your engine is better protected.
The fact is, a quart of a quality full synthetic oil will cost you some where between ~ $7 - $9.  Is that more expensive than dino oil...absolutely?  But what's the point of penny pinching on machines that people are spending $1000, $1500, $2000, $2500+ etc on?
Sure I'll buy  an $1800 snow thrower but I won't waste an extra $3 or $4 dollars on a synthetic oil for it?  That's ridiculous... imho

I'm not implying you'll see a night and day difference between synthetic and conventional/dino oil...but there really is no advantage sticking with dino oil unless your intent is to save $3-$4  every which way you can.

Unless the manual/OEMr explicitly says not to, you can't go wrong with synthetic...and change the oil when manual says to change the oil.

The original detail in a reasonable size would get the point across without blowing out the thread.

Looks like you need a tuneup or check the rings.   MTD did not always order the best components in their engines.  There Craftsman products carried lesser 8hp engines than used in better brands like Ariens.  All Tecumsehs are not alike.   Murray did the same thing. 

Possibily Briggs who as turned to mass marketing their products is doing the same things with their offerings of Deere, Snapper and Simplicity.  I would guess Briggs could put what they want in their winter OHV's and still call them by the same name.  The Briggs Murray line is now showing up at ACE and other places.  If that's oil fouled maybe you need a ring job.

The origina cropped and enlarged to 640.  Plenty of detail.

There is no real advantage to running synthetic oil in a snow blower engine as previously stated. I can tell you from experience (i used to build race engines) Never, Never, Never break in a new engine with synthetic oil.  While synthetics are good for a broken in engine (normal automotive type use) synthetics will prevent a new engine from breaking in and it will cause glazing on the cylinder wall and will not allow the rings to seat properly. The end result will be poor compression and oil consumption. As is evidenced from the photo of the plug, this engine has a problem with its oil control ring, likely due to the use of synthetics being used before the engine was properly broken in.

Spartan:

I do not agree  with much of what you've said regarding synthetic oil.

The first point that I'd like to address is your use of the term "penny pinching" when in fact it's the wise use of one's money.  

"Ridiculous" is spending 2 to 5 times the amount for a product that will NOT deliver any substantial gains over an equivalent but much less expensive product.   

I've been working on small engines for over thirty years and I'm talking complete engine re-build on numerous OPE, motorcycles, ATVs, snowmobiles, outboard motors etc.  I own in excess of thirty machines with small engines.  Both two and four stroke.  Therefore, I have plenty of hands on experience. 

Since we're talking about snow blowers, I will give the forum a brief history of my use and ownership of same.   I owned and operated two Craftsman snow throwers with 10 h.p. Tecumseh engines for more than twenty years.  From day one, each engine was run on nothing but conventional 10W30 oil of what ever decent brand name for the best price.   Both engines started and ran flawlessly, never needed any work whatsoever, and never used a drop of oil.  Each engine outlasted the machines they were mounted on.  So your suggestion that synthetic oil will provide additional protection is a moot point.  If an engine can outlast the machine it's on, using conventional oil, why spend unnecessary money for an oil that will offer no rewards?  That doesn't make any sense no matter how you look at it. 

I've come to the conclusion that most die hard synthetic oil advocates have little or no experience with conventional oil.  They've been sucked in by the promises and hype of synthetic oil when, in fact, there's no real need for it, in all but the very harshest of conditions or extended OCIs. 

Now, some facts about the B&S Kool Bore engine on my snow thrower:

The engine has approx. 75 hours on it.
The engine has 155 lbs. cold compression.
The engine starts on the first pull every time and is very strong.
I adjusted the valves and only the exhaust valve was very slightly out of spec.
The engine is fuel efficient but likes to eat Mobil 1 5W30 synthetic oil at approximately 1 oz. per hour of hard use.
It does not emit any smoke of any kind.
It presently has Castrol conventional 5W30 high mileage oil in it and so far, I don't see any appreciable consumption although that's only after a tank and a half of fuel being burned under moderate loads.

I've also read accounts of other people having problems using this oil in their OPE.  One person stated that his valves coked up so bad that he had to pull the head off of his B&S engine to clean them because the engine stopped running.  He switch to conventional oil and all has been well ever since.  It was that person's post that caused me to think about my engine using oil and to pull the spark plug to look for possible clues.  You have seen what I found. 

So, in conclusion, considering the apparent excellent health of the engine, what else could be causing the excessive spark plug fouling?  

Once I get to operate the snow blower under some extended period heavy loads, I be able to confirm one way or the other if it was the Mobile 1 5W30 synthetic oil.