Norm201

New engine: never add oil

B & S announces new small engine that never needs an oil change.

Just Check and Add

I wonder how many people will change oil in spite of what the manufacturer recommends.

marksr

I likely would. It sounds to me like they're marketing disposable engines

Norm201

Supposedly guaranteed for the life of the machine which is estimated at about 12 years. I'm a firm believer of manufactures recommendation when it comes to things of this nature unless PROVEN otherwise. They are the designers of the machine. For this type of product and because of the brand name I'd be willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Pulpo

They might be the first when it comes to engines but when I tried to check the transmission & power steering fluid on a late model Hyundai, I couldn't. They were totally sealed.

marksr

life of the machine which is estimated at about 12 years.

I usually get about 20 yrs out of lawn mower Maybe I'm just old school but I can't see not changing the oil! I think they need to put the zerk fittings back on all automotive joints too

chandler

The Briggs and Stratton engines I have encountered on pressure washers with slinger type oilers change themselves. All you do is add oil, and you'd better do it every time you use it Not a new innovation, just justification for their poor design, IMO. I prefer OHV Honda, or Kawaskaki on small equipment. Less pull power to start them, and adequate power to run.

Norm201

I did not read anything about adding oil on a reglar basis. This is suppose to be a maintenance free engine. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

chandler

Treat it like a Harley.....if it isn't leaking oil, it's out of oil

Pilot Dane

It sounds a bit like auto manufacturers. They all recommended regular oil changes until they (I'm staring at you BMW) started offering free routine maintenance.

Now that B&S is saying you don't have to change the oil can you imagine the neglect those engines will suffer? There already was a large group that never changed oil or looked at the dipstick until the engine stopped working. I can't imagine consumers will get any better about making sure the oil is topped off or the air filter is clean. Heck of a marketing gimmick though.

Norm201

I didn't read the article word for word, but what kind of oil are they using? Would it be a SYN? If it's sealed from the combustion chamber then I suppose organic would do.

czizzi

It said to never "change" the oil, not never "add" oil. States that you continually add oil as needed during regularly scheduled maintenance. One would assume some new fangled oil filter to get rid of the sludge that traps more gunk (and oil) therefore you need to continually add more oil.

Norm201

Now that sounds bad to me. Adding clean oil to old dirty oil is only contaminating clean oil. When I read the original article from the news paper it said something to the affect that the crankcase is sealed from the combustion chamber. Did you see the actual words that oil must be added as a maintenance procedure? I'll need to re-read the article but I thought it read that no oil maintenance is needed, new or added.

czizzi

This is from the article entitled - Just CHECK and ADD (your original link)

"...the first that never needs an oil change.* While the EXi engine requires that consumers need to only check the oil level and add as necessary, regular scheduled maintenance must still be performed."
Emphasis added

Norm201

Well, that's a no-go for me. I don't believe any filter can continuously filter without an oil change at some point. Thanks for the clarification.