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

I changed the engine oil in a Toro 421Q snowblower.  First time at 2.5 hours, then again at 5 hours, per the manual recommendation.  I noticed both times there are glitter specs in the oil.  The engine is a Loncin 163cc engine.  Is it normal to continue seeing glitter specs at the second oil change? 

My other engine is a Honda GX340 which I changed the oil a couple times since new and did not see any glitter. 

Where did you find this article?  It applies at best to large fuel storage tanks or to long term storage in warm weather of ethanol and gasoline formulations.  This does not apply to OPE or automotive applications where the fuel is used daily, weekly or monthly.  If you are worried about water in your fuel I was told in the 70s to buy fuel from the busiest gas station and never to buy fuel when the gas station storage tanks are being filled.  This advice applies today as well.  The Lexus recall was due to Toyota selecting the wrong aluminum alloy tubing to use for the fuel lines.

fleetfoot wrote:
Good advice.
I happen to feel that avoiding ethanol if at all possible is also good advice.
If it weren't for all the government subsidies and mandates, they wouldn't even be able to sell it.
Wait till the 15% blends hit the market.
 I think I have seen several posts where you support ethanol and that's certainly your right.
You believe in it, I don't.
You can use it, I won't. At least not until the government forces me to.

I suppose that if the engine in your Toro has aluminum cyl. walls and not a steel sleeve.  That you might be seeing filings from break in.  Aluminum is also lighter in color and would be more obvious in the oil than steel.
Just a thought.

I do not support the use of ethanol.  It is not economically viable as it is currently being produced (corn based) and may never be economically viable.  I think that in many cases problems are attributed to ethanol without any data or critical thinking to support it i.e. excessive mileage reduction, small engine carburetor problems, etc.

jrtrebor wrote:
That might be the case.  The filings are light silver in color.

no matter which material it is steel or aluminum it will pretty much look the same when it is that fine.  If you are concerned, and I wouldn't be at this point you can send a sample of the oil to Blackstone labs for testing and they will give you a comprehensive report and even tell you if your particular engine is showing more PPM of any of the metals then the norm for that engine.

AA335,

I am sure the glitter coming out of your Toro is just normal and nothing to worry about.  At least you can see it.  If you have gotten 2-stroke engine, you would not have to worry about that glitter and a hassel of oil change. But then again not sure where the glitter goes.

Yeah, I'm not to worried about it  It does seem odd that i can still see it after second oil change.

So are you done blowing the snow or the wind is going to give you some more work tomorrow?

MN_Runner wrote:
It's done.