To Screw, or Not To Screw....

[murphy1244]

The motors I have seen with a fill hole like that (which includes several generators, as well as my tiller) all say to fill basically until the oil is about to spill out. No dipstick required.

That because you have no oil pump or filter in those engines You have a dipper oil system and you check oil at the base of the motor.

[3930dave]

Briggs is not consistent either.

My recently bought Briggs generator is to be checked with the fill cap UNscrewed.

Rgds, D.

[Patches]

That because you have no oil pump or filter in those engines You have a dipper oil system and you check oil at the base of the motor.

You're checking all oil levels at the base of the motor, unless you have one with a "dry sump" and remote oil resevoir

[murphy1244]

You're checking all oil levels at the base of the motor, unless you have one with a "dry sump" and remote oil resevoir

I guess I could of explained it better.

[Diamondpilot]

This is a pain. My boats 7.3kw generator is a Kohler screw in. My Jinma tractor is a no screw.

Chris

[3930dave]

It's bad enough trying to keep this straight on your own personal equipment.

If I was buying fleet quantities of gear, a top tier manufacturer that had a consistent method for checking oil (and other fluids, ideally) would zoom to the top of the Buy list. It's a challenge to get most people to perform maintenance checks, even if it is part of their job. KISS on something like oil level would be a good start.

Normally, it is difficult to get consensus in most industries. Below that level, it strikes me as negligent when a single manufacturer is not consistent across their model lineup with something as critical as oil level checks.

Guess we are stuck with Read The Fine Manual, and tatooing the critical info onto the gear !

Rgds, D.

[sld]

Easiest way to deal with it.... make sure it is drained completely and add the required oil. See where it is on the dipstick and remember that.

Just go with one philosophy. Check them all screwed in or not.

I struggle with that too. Generally on small engines if I see oil on the dipstick it is good to go. I change every season and haven't ran dry yet!

[Patches]

Easiest way to deal with it.... make sure it is drained completely and add the required oil. See where it is on the dipstick and remember that.

Just go with one philosophy. Check them all screwed in or not.

I struggle with that too. Generally on small engines if I see oil on the dipstick it is good to go. I change every season and haven't ran dry yet!

?? I have a walk-behind Craftsman lawn mower with a Briggs that the manual calls for a 20 oz. oil fill(also states this on the dipstick). It has a twist-'n- pull dip stick so there's only one way to check the level and shows the case full with 12oz. How much oil do you pour into the engine(20oz per manual or 12oz per dip stick full mark) I've been going with the 12oz. dip stick amount for over 5 years with no ill effects

[3930dave]

Patches - that is one of my favourite designs - a caveman who used a stick to cross a creek would understand how to use that Briggs setup. A modern consumer could still probably goof it up, but I'll put that down to the price of civilization !

Sid - I hear you, as long as you are "on the stick" you are probably OK. I sleep better at night knowing that my small engines are at the proper Max oil level though - that 1/2" delta wouldn't bother even me on my big-block diesel sump, but on a small air cooled engine a 1/2" difference is a huge percentage. But yes, some of this is just my OCD talking/typing.

I came across an interesting oil viscosity chart in my new Briggs manual. Conventional 5W30 is spec'd for a bit above freezing and downwards. Synthetic 5W30 is spec'd for the same low range, but also up to 40C ambient.

If I had conventional 5W30 in my generator to accommodate Winter emergencies, then it's higher volatility would mean a higher oil consumption rate when running in the Summer heat. I'm not trying to start yet another Conv. vs. Synth flamewar.... but it is relevant where I live. In this situation especially, it would be critical for me to have the sump filled to the Max safe level initially. My new generator has a Low Oil Shutdown circuit on it, but my older/smaller generator does not.

Back when engines ran long production cycles, perhaps the printed Fill Quantity # could be trusted for the most part. As Patches example illustrates, often today there are so many production and model changes that you can not trust manual #'s for oil volumes. As I'm typing this, I'm realizing this confusion is a big part of why I find ambiguous dipstick designs so irritating. Yes, a factory could always install a wrong dipstick on an engine, but I tend to/want to trust what "stick" arrives on a machine over printed specs.

It's a rainy night here, so I don't mind spending this time typing, but this "simple" mechanical issue is way more of a PITA than it should be.

Rgds, D.