How to Read the Oil Dipstick on a Troy Bilt Lawn Mower?

You should alter the oil in your lawn mower at least every year (more if you are mowing commercially) merely I bet many people do not change information technology.  If you maintain your mower it should last a long time.  The reason you don't change your mower's oil should not be that it'south too difficult because it is like shooting fish in a barrel, information technology'south cheap, and I'll walk yous through it.  Some push mowers are 2-cycle and require a gas-oil mixture for their fuel and those mowers practice not need their oil changed because the oil is in the fuel.  Merely, if your mower has a dip stick, then you will need to change the oil.  Information technology'due south not solely because the oil is dingy, but oil breaks downwardly over time and looses its ability to provide the viscosity necessary to lubricate the pistons and other internal parts in the mower's motor.  This tutorial should be applicative on most lawn mowers and the only large difference would be the location of the bleed plug.

How to Change the Oil on Troy-Built 21″ Mulching Lawn Mower

Hardware:

• Troy-Built 21-Inch 6.5 HP, 190 cc, Mulching Lawn Mower (you can buy a similar new model here)
• Briggs and Stratton Model 123K02-0336-E1 Engine (don't know the model of your engine?  Check out Briggs and Stratton'south model identifier hither)

Tools Needed:

Parts Needed:

• 1 Quart of SAE-30 motor oil

Step one: Determine the motor model on your mower.

If you want to know the oil capacity of your mower and the oil type you can notice out by determining the model number and looking it up online.  In my case on the Briggs and Stratton website.  Knowing the oil capacity is not critical but information technology makes filling upwardly the oil easier since you lot know how much to put in.  I was able to make up one's mind the motor model past looking on the metallic plate to a higher place the muffler:

Briggs and Stratton Motor model number location on this Troy-Congenital 21″ Mulching Mower

Now-a-days mowers have all kind of plastic covers to make them look cooler (makes the engine run hotter though) and in my case I needed to button the red plastic cover out of the way to run into the full model number:

Briggs and Stratton Model Number for my Troy-Congenital Push Mower

After looking up that motor I learned that this model motor takes eighteen-twenty oz (0.54-0.59 L) of SAE-30 oil.  Y'all can pick up a quart at your local hardware or automobile parts store or use my link above in the "Parts" list.  SAE-thirty oil is a stock-still viscosity oil and that is but fine since y'all volition be running your mower merely in the summer (versus your car which needs a multi-viscosity oil then information technology can use the same oil in conditions of 100 degrees F to -twenty degrees F).  Once yous accept your oil y'all tin motility to the next step and get started changing your mower's oil.

Oil type and capacity for Briggs and Stratton Model 123K02-0336-E1

Step 2: Locate the drain plug of your mower.

My mower'south drain plug is located on the underneath side of the mower, below the deck, down by where the blades are:

Troy-Built 21″ Mulching Mower Oil Plug Location (click on the image to see a full size version)

Oil Plug Diagram

The bleed plug on this mower has a 3/8″ square hole in it, which is the same size equally the nub on a socket wrench without a socket on it.  An alternate location for the bleed plug is on the side of the engine every bit seen in this version of the same Briggs and Stratton engine:

Alternative drain plug location–on the side

The down-side of having a side drain plug is that it's hard non to become a deck total of oil when you drain it.  If you lot practice have a side drain plug be aware that your gas tank may leak if it's full and you just tip your mower upwards on its side so the oil drains straight downwards into your bucket.  Here is a diagram of dissimilar types of drain plugs you will come across:

Oil Drain Plug Types

Step 3: Prop up your mower.

Information technology'due south merely a lot easier to do this if you take information technology propped upward on something.  I don't propose just laying it completely on the side because often the gas tank volition leak.  Afterwards doing this repair I was reading the manual (yes, after the repair) and learned that Briggs and Stratton suggests that if you are going to tip the motor on i side that you should tip information technology with the spark plug up:

Briggs and Stratton suggests tipping with the spark plug upwardly

In my case this would be leaning the mower back by pushing the handle downwardly towards the ground.  I didn't tip my mower that much so it did not actually matter.  The reason you could feel the gas tank leaking when you lot tip the mower is that the gas cap has a hole in it, to allow the tank to draw in air as the fuel is consumed and so a vacuum doesn't develop in the tank.  I used a v-gallon bucket this fourth dimension but I've used a piece of 4×4 postal service in the past.  You could also utilise a milk crate.  I tried not to tip the mower any more than necessary and considering I was able to get low by going downward my basement stairs I didn't demand to tip it too much:

Propping upwardly the mower for the oil modify

Pace 4: Place a bucket under the drain plug to catch the oil.

I used a ane/two gallon milk carton to catch the oil

Step 5: Remove the oil plug.

Loosen and remove the oil plug with your socket wrench and hang on to the oil plug or information technology will driblet in your bucket.  Loosen the bolt by turning information technology counter-clockwise.  I really used a breaker bar but a socket will work the same.

Loosening the oil drain plug on a Troy-Built Mower

I always relieve the terminal quarter of a turn to do by mitt so I tin hold on to the plug:

Here the oil is beginning to leak

The drain plug removed

Footstep 6:  Let the oil drain out.

Every bit you lot can meet, my oil wasn't that nighttime considering I just mowed a dozen or so times and it's not that dusty in my thousand but it is still a twelvemonth old so for that reason information technology still should be inverse.

Draining the oil

I would remove the dipstick at this point to allow air to draw in as the oil drains out so you change equally much of the oil out as possible (sorry for my crooked picture):

Remove the dipstick to assistance all the oil to bleed out

Step 7: Reinstall the drain plug.

Once the oil all runs out and stops dripping likewise much put the oil plug dorsum in.Important: Make sure to offset the bleed plug out past manus to make sure you practice not strip the threads.  Then tighten it upwards with your ratchet.

Step 8: Fill the engine with oil.

Unlike mowers have different engines on them and even the same model of mower may have a couple of motors, depending on when information technology was produced.  From Pace 1 I know I take a Briggs and Stratton Model 123K02-0336-E1 190cc, 6.five HP motor on my mower:

Briggs and Stratton Model 120000 Engine Oil Specifications and Chapters

I like to mensurate out the oil I need to put in the mower just so I don't accept to "bank check the dipstick" so many times.  I know this mower takes .6 liters of oil, which is 600 mL.  A Quart is 946 mL.  If I put just the right amount in, I volition have 946 mL – 600 mL = 346 mL, or approximately 350 mL left in the bottle.

Computing how much oil will be left in the canteen when I've poured the right corporeality into the engine

Filling the engine up with oil

Here I can see that I need to put almost 100 mL more into the engine:

I still need to add together 100 mL

Pace 9: Reinstall the dipstick and check the oil.

You lot should reinstall the dipstick and lock into place and so, with the mower on a level surface, remove the dipstick to become a expert read on the oil level.  When the oil is fresh it is difficult to see on the dipstick so sometimes I lay it on a paper towel to make it easier to come across:

Using a newspaper towel to check the (fresh) oil level

Yous can see above that the oil is upwards to the second hole from the end of the dipstick, which is the "total" mark–perfect.  Put the dipstick dorsum in and lock it in place with the cap.  Mine has two notches on 1 side and 1 on the other so it will simply start on in one spot.  Now you've extended the life of your mower and are gear up to mow.

Other Helpful Links:

• Briggs and Stratton Model 123K02-0336-E1 Manuals
• Troy-Built 21″ Model 11A-426A711 Manual

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