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I am a lawncare newbie (I've lived in an apartment the majority of my life). Now that spring is here, I need to get my lawn mower ready. How do I change the oil?? Sharpen the blades? What to use for an oil catch pan? I feel stupid for asking these questions, but I was never taught this growing up. Any help/suggestions are appreciated.

Quick and dirty for lawn mower tune ups:

1. Pull the spark plug. If it's fouled, replace it. Better yet, replace it anyway, as they only cost a few bucks.

2. Unscrew the air filter cover (or unsnap it, if it snaps into place) and check to see how dirty it is. If it has a foam element over it, clean the element with water, dry it, then squeeze some motor oil onto it and wring it out (it should seem mostly oil free, but still tacky). If the air filter itself is dirty, replace it. IMPORTANT: If the air filter looks even slightly dirty, replace it. The particles caught by the main filter are too small to see by the naked eye, so if you see particles, it is over-dirty.

3. Drain and replace oil:
- The drain plug will be square, so you can't miss it. It is normally located on the lower side of the engine (riders) or the underside (push). Simply unscrew with a sizable pan under it. Riders have 2-4 quarts of oil, Pushes have just over 1 quart normally.
- Once the oil is drained, replace the plug and fill it with the recommended oil (riders normally take 10W30, pushes normally take SAE30). Every brand has different specs, so look in your manual! Do not listen to people who say "every mower takes ..."
- Do not over fill the oil! The oil dipstick will tell you if it should be crewed in or not while checking oil level. On screw-in types, if you do not screw it in while checking the level, you will drastically overfill the crankcase and cause the engine to seize up in short order. (made a LOT of money from that one)

4: Sharpening the blades: Don't do this yourself! If not properly balanced after sharpening, you will destroy your spindle bearing (riders) or destroy your engine crankshaft (pushes). Not to mention sharpening a blade is not as easy as it looks. The angle must be right and mulching blades require steady hands to avoid damaging the blade beyond repair.

5: General lube/cleaning:
- Spray your mower down with degreaser and let it sit for a few minutes. Spray off with a jet water nozzle.
- Drip oil anywhere a hinge or cable opening resides.
- Grease anywhere a grease nipple resides (you need a grease gun for this). Many riders have them, almost no pushes have them. If you do grease, grease until grease comes out of an opening. Greasing a few shots does not cut it.

6: Check belts for damage. Replace if any damage is seen, especially dry rot! Belts take a lot of torture, but a damaged belt will fail in short order and sometimes a bit of damage to the mower or you upon failure.

7: Check tire pressure. Fill tires to nominal PSI stated on the side of the tire. e.g.: Different tire pressures in the rear end of a rider can (and will) kill your tranny. Sometimes the little things make a big difference.

8: Prior to storage, always put fuel stabilizer in the your mower and run it for a few minutes. Many people will say "run it out of gas to prevent fuel clogs", they are ignorant! No fuel = no lubrication of the rubber gaskets in the carb, which = dry, cracked gaskets in the spring and a complete carb rebuild in your future. PS: Carb rebuild kits cost very little, but let your mechanic do the job if you are not knowledgable in the area, as a properly tuned mower will add years, if not decades to its lifespan.

Doing your own mechanic's projects are fun and instantly rewarding when done properly. Why let your mechanic get all of the gratification? Do it yourself and save a few bucks at the same time, when appropriate.

Have fun!

2007-03-22 10:03:03 by scotty_doesnt_know

MTD Products Inc, manufacturer of outdoor power equipment, shares maintenance tips and tune up instructions for your lawn mower in a video ...

Pictures of the basic components.

http://www.lawn-mower-shop.com/

2006-04-03 19:06:27 by cimagee73

Price: $89.99

10-Inch Wheels with Radial Tread Tires, adjustable in 3 positions
16-Inch Cutting Width
Flared "T" style Handle with Cushioned Grips

I haven't done any maintenance on my lawn mower in three years other than clean it. What is recommended? Oil Change, Filter Change, Blade sharpening, etc....

Given you haven't done any maintenance; I'd do the whole thing: oil change, new spark plug, air filter change (buy 2 so you have an extra) and either a new blade or have the one you have sharpened.

Then check your owner's manual for the recommendations on service after this. Most recommend an oil change after around 100 hours and blade sharpening when you notice it's not cutting as well as it was or if you hit something with the blade. Changing the air filter now and about 1/2 through the season will help also. A dirty air filter keeps the engine from getting enough air and it won't work as well or as efficiently.

2009-04-13 13:43:25 by otmshank72

Price: $279.99 $274.00

Non-CARB compliant/not for sale in california
20-Inch wide cutting deck
3-in-1 Ready: mulch/bag/side discharge

I just purchased a Craftsman MRS 650 a couple weeks ago. I was getting ready to use it for the first time, and mistakenly put the 4-Cycle Small Engine Oil in the gas tank, and then put gas in on top of it. Since I thought I had put the oil in the oil compartment I tried to start the mower but it did not start. I then realized what I had done. Is this a situation where I can just pump out the fluid in my gas tank, or should I take it to the service center. I am thinking that since I was unable to run the mower little if any damage could have been done to it.

Any help/advice/ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

I would drain the fuel system, complete to the carbuerator, refil it with gas and try to run the mover, it'll probably smoke a bit until the mixed gas that was in the carbuerator burns away, maybe you lucked out, if it was a new mover, there might be a chance that there was a shut off valve in the fuel line, that by some amazing chance may have been shut off, check that and if it is shut off, all you have to do is unclamp the hose and drain out the mixed gas through that, and then flush it with regular gas letting in also run through the fuel line, replace the line and it should work fine.

2007-04-24 12:23:49 by Robert G

I have a problem. My daughter poured gas into the oil reservoir on our lawn mower. Is there anyway to drain this? Will it damage the mower? Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you all very much for your answers! I definitely feel more confident in taking care of this. Thanks all!!

simple don't start the mower just drain the oil and fill up with 30w oil because 30w is whats required in all small engines

2009-03-03 09:46:59 by Klarissa M