Your Guide to Lawn Mower Oil Changes

Changing your mower’s oil after every 50 to 100 hours of use can increase the service life of your engine by years! However, while you may know how to change the oil in a car or motorcycle, a lawn mower is a whole other story. To ensure you’re completing your model’s oil change correctly, we recommend reading through our helpful guide below.

Setting Up

To keep hot oil from splashing all over your garage floor, be sure to take a few moments to prep your work area. To start, grab an old canister to drain your oil into, as well as some old newspaper, rags, or even a tarp to catch any spills or splashes. Once you’ve got these in place, go ahead and start up your mower's engine and allow it to idle for a minute or two. The hot engine should also heat up your oil and allow it to drain more quickly than if it was cold. With your engine hot and your area prepped, you’ll want to go ahead and cut the mower’s power and use a cinder block or slab of wood to raise it up off the ground. To make sure you’re not having to stop constantly to grab necessary equipment as you work, go ahead and round up all of your necessary tools, such as a funnel, socket wrench, and your new oil and filter.

Getting Started

For your safety, we recommend using your socket wrench—or a spark plug wrench if you have one— to remove your mower’s spark plugs before you get started. Once this is done, double-check that your oil canister is correctly positioned under your mower’s drain plug before using your socket wrench to remove the nut and bolt. Once these components are loosened oil will begin pouring out into the canister below, so you’ll need to move quickly and have a few spare rags on hand. 

Once the old oil has finished draining out, you’ll want to reach up and remove the bolt holding your old filter in place. Using a bit of fresh oil, wipe down and lubricate your bolts and gasket before placing the new filter into your mower. Afterward, go ahead and replace your drain plug—which we also recommend wiping down and lubricating with clean oil—before refilling your oil reservoir.

If you’re located nearby in Garland, Canton, or Greenville, Texas, we hope you’ll visit us here at Four Brothers Outdoor Power for all of your lawn care and landscaping needs! Our convenient locations in Royse City and Terrell, Texas both offer a wide variety of equipment, as well as a ton of helpful parts to help you with all of your equipment’s various maintenance needs. You’re also welcome to take advantage of our helpful service center for any repairs or installations that are beyond your expertise.