Briggs FH Engine Oil

Hi Folks, what is the proper oil for the Briggs FH? Would a straight weight or standard 10w grade work? Just won this FH off ebay and its in excellent condition. Nice engine for sure. CPC Reproductions is gonna supply me with the repro of the Ball Muffler and a few other items for it. Will post a pic soon once its set. This engine is the flat fin and not the slant style fins. And another question is what, is the lil button on the shroud? is that a way to shut it off? Seems like a spring loaded button of some sort? Not sure. TIA and Thanks Harry!

I would use 10W30 if i wanted to run it year round and SAE 30 is ok for summer use. that button is the kill switch......Tim

At the risk of restarting the battle over what kind of oil to use I'm gonna jump in on this one.

1) Automotive multigrade oil is not a good choice for air cooled engines. It is designed to run in engines whose operating temperature is controlled at a much lower temperature than air cooled engines run at. (Granted, most of these old engines aren't being run with a load so they won't get as hot as they did in their youth.) 2)Unless the engine has been disassembled and rebuilt it most likely has a good amount of sludge built up in it. In time the detergents will start breaking down the sludge which is filling in the valve guides etc. and cause the engine to start smoking.

My choice for old engines is a 30 wt Non-Detergent oil.

That's my opinion...next!!

I concur that multigrade oils shouldn't be used in air cooled engines unless it is being used when temperatures are dipping below freezing. For occasional use you might get away with a multigrade but don't expect engine longevity if used in a working engine during the summer months. I currently use a heavy duty diesel #30 oil in all my air cooled engines and have for years. I expect to get at least 15 years or more use from my Briggs lawn mower engine. My neighbour was lucky to get 3 or 4 years using 10W30 oil cutting much less grass.

Bill

What are everyone's thoughts on synthetic motor oil? Supposed to be bulletproof as far as not breaking down under extreme conditions (as it should for $4/quart).

Chris

Think it would be mostly an economic factor. Most air cooled engines don't have oil filters so recommend you change oil every 50 hours use. While the synthetic oil might not break down it would still hold as many contaminents as regular oil so you would still need to change as often.

Bill

i just bought a new 5 hp briggs replacement engine for a tiller.the manual says use 30wt oil.do not use milti-grade oil in this engine.don't second guess the maker of the engine.

get real this engine is not going to cut lawns on a hot summer day and i think 10w30 is good because the oil will coat quicker and no dry starts. non detergent in goop.

I have been playing with these OHV early Briggs engines about 18 years. First off, whenever I buy one,even if its running I drop the pan on it and clean the sludge out,forget about non-detergant in fear of breaking the sludge loose. Just take the time and remove it (sludge)to start with,make new pan gaskets too as they are leakers. On the FH engines half the time I was glad I pulled them apart because the oil pans had pin holes or were badly pitted and got soldered anyway. Once its back together you have peace of mind that all that grit of the last 70 years isnt grinding into your surfaces. Like the other gents said use SAE30 or SAE20 like the manual originally stated. Bear in mind that old oil had a heavier parrafin base and didnt stay as thin as modern SAE20 over time. In colder months if you must have a winter "fix" of seeing it run until next spring use the 10w30. Or if you feel you really dont want to pull it apart use the Non-Detergant like was also mentioned. Forget synthetic oils in it,complete waste of time and money,way too overkill for it. Trust me, go through it and also file and set the points, lap or grind the valves,make sure the carb is ok and that little FH will run great and be a very reliable runner at the shows.John.

thank you for telling it like it is......Tim

Detergents are not oil. Non-detergent oil is 100 percent oil. But...

Straight SAE 30 HD with detergents is probably best. If the manufacturers in 1920 had detergent oil available, they would have used it. Any modern oil is superior to any 1920 era oil.

BTW most of the FH-FI engines I see running at shows are running too fast for just a display engine. Some are running too fast altogether,they were made to run about 1750-1900 rpms originally. I find that if I can play with the carb and enrichen the mixture so it will run on lower rpms with those early carbs that 1100rpms is the perfect speed to run that engine all day. It still gets plenty of oil and doesnt run too hot. Bear in mind if you go to throttle it faster it will choke up unless you lean the carb back to higher operating speeds.John.

I ran a 21" Honda lawnmower for 25 years on 10W30 and never had a problem, I have a Sears now for about 5 years also running on 10W30 with no problems so far. For those who are wondering, I got the Sears cause I wanted a self-propelled, the Honda weighed a ton. I also have a 25 year old Ariens snow-throw with a 5HP Tecumseh that has always been run with 5W30, and it runs wide-open throttle 95% of the time. Again, no problems. And I use the cheapest 10W30 I can find.

I work at a Honda power equipt shop and Honda has used 10/30 in just about everything we sell. The only gasoline generators that take sae30 are the propane ones because they run hotter and they dont want the oil to suffer from thermal breakdown. Honda even uses 10/30 in the gear boxes of their tillers. The reason they use it in their engines is because they have closer tolerances than your garden variety Briggs,Tecumseh,etc. It also keeps the engines cooler. I have a 1977 Ariens 7hp snowblower that I have used 10/30 as long as I can remember with no problems either, it also is used in much colder weather than a mower. I would not run a multi grade in an old cast iron engine because its too thin and also the engine doesnt displace heat like the newer aluminum blocks and the oil turns to water when hot. Im kind of confused why you bought such a quality mower years ago but settled with a Sears today? The Sears will never be what that Honda was and wont last near as long. We have lots of fairly new ones in the junk pile. Was it the prices of the new Hondas that affected your decision, because I know they are pretty high but in my opinion worth the extra cost.John.

The sears mower engine is designed to last 2 - 3 years in homeowner service, 90 days commercial! Their engines have different production features then even the factory Techempseh engines,sold on other machines, although techempseh builds them. The honda is designed to last a lifetime. You pay for what you get. Lately, sears machines engines have been outlasting the machine's mower deck. I have seen quite a few that have severe metal fatigue cracks and rust thru after only 1 season! (my mother in law's machine split the entire deck in half, due to stress cracks, after only 7 months. Sears replaced it, but the new deck already has fractures in the same areas and this is after 5 weeks! The 2 to 3 year self destruct is designed into the machine - Programmed obsolescense! If they made a machine that lasted forever, they wouldnt sell so many machines! or replacement engines, or decks, or blades etc!!! Most aluminum block lawnmower engines built today are designed to run on 10-w-30 oil. In fact, most snow blowers will blow up if SAE-30 was used, as the con rod dipper would not throw enough oil under 20 degrees F. to properly lube the engine. OIL CHANGES are a must - If you want to keep the engines of today! Andrew

I bought the Sears for two reasons, price and the fact that my local Honda dealer has grown a big chip on his shoulder that keeps getting in the way of business. In any case, I will say the Sears doesn't cut as well as the Honda did so I need to overlap more but otherwise I'm very happy with the performance.

Larry you dont live in CT do you? It sounds like my boss your talking about.

Reading from a Honda Owner's manual (page 28) for GC135-GC160 air cooled engines, it indicates SAE #30 for temperatures from 50 degrees F and upwards. SAE 10W30 is recommended for GENERAL USE (occassional use??) from slightly below 0 F and up while 5W30 is recomended for below freezing temperatures. I still maintain from experience that #30 oil for extensive summer use in air cooled engines will give you the best longevity.

Bill

Does anyone have a number or email address for CPC Reproductions. What all do the reproduce? THANKS.

[Pat Barrett]

Stevie, seems like alot of opinions on oil. I use 30 wt. Valvoline for break in oil, and go to 10-40 or 20-50 Castrol syntek for running. I also build racing Go Kart engines for my sons and many customers, I use $10.00 a quart "Power Plus" totally synthetic oil in them. No matter what oil you use, (I think 30 wt H.D. would be fine in the F, if it is clean already inside) the trick to life on any engine, is to change oil twice as often as the machine mfg. recommends. I have a Y , WMB, ZZ 5S 6S Briggs, and I spend the $1.50 a quart for 30 Wt Valvoline and change it every 20hrs or less, in those engines. The main key is changing the oil very often and keeping air filtering clean, (which shouldn't be a problem on a show engine) My 2 Opps, no cent mark on a computer keyboard.