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How To Change Your Lawn Mower Oil

Subject: Snapper SPV21

When you own a lawn mower, it's important to remember the basic maintenance that should be performed on your unit at regular intervals. To keep the engine running in top shape, you need to change your lawn mower oil fairly often. It's not a difficult process and only takes a few minutes to complete.

For our demonstration, we will be using a Snapper SPV21 mower; it is recommended to change this machine's oil after every 25-50 hours of use. Consult your manual for recommended timeframes for your mower.

If you have recently bought a lawn mower, the oil needs to be changed after the first 5-8 hours of use. This is to get rid of any metal shavings or debris that might have been left in your machine during manufacturing and assembly.

Supplies Needed:

High Quality SAE 30 weight motor oil (consult manual for what type you need)
Container to collect old oil (milk carton or can)
Paper towel to wipe dipstick

Remove spark plug wire

1. The first thing you need to do is drain the fuel tank. You can either let the gas run out while you are mowing or siphon it out.

2. Disconnect the spark plug wire and keep it away from the spark plug. This is for safety purposes.

3. Pull out the dipstick and tip the mower on its side to drain the oil into a container. The simplest and cleanest oil change is by tilting your mower on its side to drain the oil from the top. If your mower comes equipped with side or bottom plugs, you can drain from there as well. Allow ample time for the oil to drain.

Tilt your mower

4. After the oil is drained, place the engine level again. For our unit we need to add about 18 oz. (or 0.5 liters) of new oil. Fill the tank to the FULL line on the dipstick. Avoid overfilling your oil tank. If you accidentally put in too much oil, turn the mower on its side again and drain a little, then recheck the level on your dipstick. Repeat until you have the desired level.

Things to Remember:

Never tip your machine with the carburetor or spark plug down. The oil will saturate the air filter and cause hard starts or cause the mower not to start at all. If you do accidentally contaminate the air filter, it will need to be replaced. Drain the oil through the dipstick tube into a container. Allow sufficient time for all oil to drain. Dispose of the drained oil properly.

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