Engines and oil (1 Viewer)

[Paul D G]

Hey friends! I've not been around here much - my company moved us to work from home full time so instead of spending my lunches browsing here I spend them with my dog. I'm sure some of you will understand.

So, my question - I'm not an engine guy. One of my pet peeves is how instructions for things like my snow blower and power washer are very vague in terms of putting oil in. For example, I bought a new snow blower last year and when looking in the manual on how much and what kind of oil, all it says is "Add oil from the included bottle of oil into the oil filler opening to the top of the filler opening (upper limit)." Well, I didn't get a bottle because it was pre-assembled, but beyond that, it would be nice to tell us HOW MUCH. 4 oz? 6 oz? The opening is at an 60 degree angle and under the engine so it's not possible to pour direct from the bottle, so you must use a funnel, and a long one at that. My only option here is to keep pouring / stopping / guessing until oil starts spilling out all over the place, and of course there's oil still in the funnel and it goes everywhere. It's just a mess. It just seems they make all this harder than it needs to be. 'Pour +/- 6oz of SAE 5W-30 into the opening' which happens to be a straight pour on top of the engine, like on a lawn mower.

My lawn mower is a whole different rant. The only way to remove the oil is by turning the mower on it's side at enough of an angle where the oil drains out and yet still makes it into the collection tray... without tipping the tray over. If there's gas it in the gas oozes out so I need to run it dry. Just a pain.

Meanwhile, the snow blower has a very handy gas drainage tube. Nice! But the tube is like an inch long and behind a plate so it's impossible to easily get to so, again, I can only use a separate tube to get the gas from the opening into my gas can. They couldn't make the tube longer?

I wonder what you other guys do. Do I NEED to fill it? Can I just put 4 or maybe 5oz (so I don't make a mess and can pre-measure)? You never know how harsh the winter is going to be. I might use the blower three times all season, or I might be using it a dozen+ times.

EDIT: My last comment made me think and I found measured oil cans on Amazon. Nothing really like that at Home Depot or Advanced Auto Parts. That seems a better option for filling oil.

 

[Doug2000]

Have you tried looking the specs up online by the make and model? For example, I looked up mine. I have a 24" Champion snow blower (Model #100534).

Engine Size: 224 CC
Oil Type: 10W-30
Engine Oil Capacity: 0.6 qts. (which my math says is 19.2 oz)

 

[Paul D G]

I have. No mention of oil. Plenty on gas. I did find information on Lowe's website - says 16oz of oil. I neglected to check how much oil I had in the bottle but I did use most of the bottle so that sounds about right.

Thanks for triggering me to hunt deeper for that information. You'd think the manual, or at least the brochure would have it without having to hunt around various websites.

 

[Kevin Hewell]

This question has always been on my mind. What's the difference between an engine and a motor?

 

[Duane R]

An engine is gas powered and a motor is electric powered.

 

[BobO'Link]

An engine is generally a collection of mechanisms interconnected to perform a specific task while a motor is a single mechanism - but not necessarily.

Webster defines motor as:
1: one that imparts motion
specifically : prime mover
2: any of various power units that develop energy or impart motion: such as
a: a small compact engine
b: internal combustion engine
especially : a gasoline engine
c: a rotating machine that transforms electrical energy into mechanical energy
3: motor vehicle
especially : automobile

And engine as:
1: a machine for converting any of various forms of energy into mechanical force and motion
also : a mechanism or object that serves as an energy source
black holes may be the engines for quasars
2: a railroad locomotive
3:
a: something used to effect a purpose : agent, instrument
mournful and terrible engine of horror and of crime—E. A. Poe
b: something that produces a particular and usually desirable result
engines of economic growth
4:
a: machinery
b: any of various mechanical appliances
—often used in combination
fire engine
c: a mechanical tool: such as
(1): an instrument or machine of war
(2)obsolete : a torture implement
5: computer software that performs a fundamental function especially of a larger program

 

[Kevin Hewell]