My stepson has a push mower with a GCV 160 Honda engine. He wanted me to work on it because it was running poorly [fouled plug and nasty air cleaner] Now it runs good and I'm going to sharpen the blade and change the oil BUT there isn't an oil plug and turning the mower upside down to remove the oil out of the fill tube only lets a little oil out. Each time I turn the mower over a little more comes out but not much more than a 1/4 cup total. What am I doing wrong? surely it wouldn't run if it was almost out of oil.

 

There should be a fill port on each side of the motor...one side might just be a pipe plug. Remove both sides.

 

The only thing that remotely resembles any place for an oil plug on the other side is a round indentation in the casting that looks like it could house a plug IF it was drilled and tapped.

I did get more oil to come out of the fill tube when I went back out there, as much or more as before but it still doesn't seem like that would be all of it. Worse case scenario I'll just top it off with fresh oil, he just bought a rider so it won't see a lot of use.

They ought to hang the guy that decided mowers no longer need a drain plug!!!

 

I agree it makes no since, but there is no drain plug.

 

A friend gave me their Murray push mower when they moved. The first thing I did was change the oil and it too had no drain plug. No pipe plug underneath and no drain or fill caps on the case above the deck. The only way to change the oil was to tip the mower and pour the oil out the dipstick tube. It's a selling feature of the mower that you never have to change the oil. You are supposed to just add oil when it's needed. When I drained the oil it was some of the dirtiest and nastiest oil I've ever seen with three+ years worth of gunk.

 

My mower is a Murray and works fine for me BUT it also doesn't have a drain plug. I can't see not changing the oil but having to turn the mower upside down will almost make you postpone the oil change. The owner's manual for mine said to turn the mower upside down on a tarp to change the oil I haven't seen the manual for my stepson's mower.

 

I've never had a mower without a drain plug including an old Murray. The only mowers without a drain plug are new PoulanPro units that burns oil at slow rate with combustion and you add new oil as needed.

On all the mowers I had the drain plug is on the bottom of the unit. I usually lift the mower on saw horses and put a pan on the floor. Most often the drain plug is a female square plug.

What might help to drain the oil by turning upside down is to insert a short hose on the fill tube to allow air to escape.

 

I'm done with it. I suspect I only removed about half of the old oil [going by what I put in] Tomorrow when the rain quits I'll crank it up and recheck the oil level, the color should let me know how good/bad I did.

All my previous mowers [including a few murrays] had drain plugs.

 

Marksr,

Just for sh*ts and giggles, can you throw us a pic of the bottom side?

 

My wife broke her camera and the camera on my phone isn't compatible with my pc not to mention I'm barely technological savvy enough to post a pic

The bottom of these mowers pretty much looks like any other except there is no drain plug

 

I was thinking on the horizontal Honda 160, if you have the long dipstick, there is usually a plug at the bottom of the fill tube....

Most all new smaller engines do not have drain plugs. I have a 3qt vacuum pump that I use at the shop to suck the oil out the fill tube, even still I only am able to get about 3/4 of the oil out.

 

People like us DIY'ers are fast becoming a relic. Today's products are not meant to be serviced, fixed or re-used. They are meant to be replaced. The bottom line is to manufacture a mower at the cheapest cost, to last the minimum amount of time and provide a new market of consumers to buy new ones. I don't think it's necessarily a deliberate attempt by the manufacturing community to cause this affect. But instead a method to maximize profit by reducing cost at any and all levels. The advances in technology drives this affect. Better metallurgy, better chemistry and technology. Eliminate the drain hole can save possibly millions in the manufacturing arena. No hole to drill or tap. No tooling to program, no inspection of that process, less design parameters, less labor and holey cow a fantastic savings in production and a marketing ploy to boot by saying it's labor saving for the consumer. And last but not least they can charge more for the whole thing.

Back in the early to mid 20th century, even if this technology was available I doubt it would "sell" to the public. The mind set was different than today.

Alas, I ramble too long.

 

I just went out and double checked but the fill tube just screws into the block, no drain plug

I understand that but that doesn't mean I like it! I've always been a believer of buying the best you can afford and then taking care of it.

 

I have specifically looked on my "free" mower and there is no plug on the bottom. There is also no plug anywhere on the case.

As for draining the oil I found that it worked better to tilt the mower in the direction of the dipstick tube. Turning it completely upside down let much of the oil go elsewhere but tilting towards the dipstick got most of it out.

 

I tried tilting that mower in different positions but none of them allowed the oil to drain out like I'd expect it to. But he won't be using it much and it does have a new air filter, plug and about half the oil is new, maybe more. It just irritates me that the manufactures have made such a simple job so aggravating!

 

Would this work to siphon the oil out of the crankcase?:

https://www.harborfreight.com/multi-...ump-61364.html

 

I've used pumps like that on boats but I doubt it's worth the mess for such a small amount of oil.

 

Craftsman
Tecumseh Engine
Bought 1991

Does yours have a long oil tube like this?

Manual says: To change oil remove engine oil
cap with dipstick; tip mower on its side (toward
you in pic)

That's all I've done, all the oil drains right out.
Took a peek and I do have a drain plug, this is
just easier?

Stick a small wire with a hook down the tube, maybe
there is some gunk stuck down there.

 

I think my stepson's mower has a slightly shorter tube at a slight angle .... to accommodate the big plastic engine cover. His also has the air filter/carb on the left side. I've preached to him about rinsing the deck when he's done, he's finally listened but apparently if you tip the mower to the left and don't shut off the gas it will flood the filter with gas

Anyway I'm done with his mower until the next time.