Hello, there. I am Pat Simpson and today I am going to show you how you can tune your own lawnmower. Do not panic, do not worry, you do not have to be a mechanic to do this. In fact, it is very simple to do. It only takes about 30 minutes to do it and you really only need to tune your lawnmower once a year. It is going to make it start more easily, it is going to make it run better and that results in fewer exhaust emissions into the atmosphere and what does that mean? Cleaner air for all of us and that is always a good thing.
Briggs and Stratton make us process very simple by providing this do-it-yourself tune-up kit. And the kit, you have your fuel stabilizer, your sparkplug, your oil and your air filter. It is very simple to do and right now we are going to show you how.
To change your oil, you want to make sure that you run the engine first for a couple of minutes. Just get the oil warm and we will change more easily that way. Make sure that your sparkplug wire is disconnected which this one is so that the engine will not falsely start. Then we will remove the fuel cup which in this case is also the deep stick. And this is where we are going to drain our oil from.
Now your mower maybe different but you can check your owner’s manual to see where your drain plug is then what we will do is simply tilt the mower up, filter side up, fuel side down, we are going to drain the oil right in to this container, all the way out. Now once this oil is drained into this container, will dispose of the oil and the rags properly, we have a recycle center near here. If you need to know where to dispose off your oil, there is link on this website, just click on it and it will tell you what you can do in your area.
Now that the old oil has been drained, we are ready to put in the new fresh oil. The Briggs and Stratton tune-up kit provides the exact amount of oil that you need for this particular engine. However, if you have any question at all about what capacity is needed in you engine, all you have to do is pick up the owner’s manual and follow the manufacturer’s instructions. So now, we use a funnel and simply pour in the fresh oil.
Now the sparkplug is a very important part of the Briggs and Stratton engine. We have already loosened this one with the wrench so we will just take it out. It is important that you change your sparkplug about every 100 hours or at the beginning of every mowing season. The Briggs and Stratton tune-up kit has the new plug in it, we will hand-tighten this one and then tighten it down with the wrench and we will be good to go.
Now we are going to talk about the air filter which on this Briggs and Stratton engine is on this side. With the air filter, you need to change this every three months or every 25 hours or if you are cutting in really dirty and dusty conditions where the filter becomes clogged, you need to change it more often. Tilt it back, lift it out, this one is dirty, put the pleaded side out. Now again, the Briggs and Stratton do-it-yourself tune-up kit has the proper size filter for this particular engine. If you are not sure it is the right filter in out that you are buying, just double check the owner’s manual and the manufacturer’s instructions.
Let us talk for a second about the fuel stabilizer. This is also included in the Briggs and Stratton tune-up kit. It does just what the name implies. It stabilizes the fuel. In fact I use it in every can of gasoline that I use to refill the lawnmower with and keeps the gasoline engine from gumming up as time goes by and certainly makes the engine start a lot easier every time you pull it. Briggs and Stratton recommends that you feel the tank all the way to the top, top it off before you store it each winter because that cuts down the condensation in the tank and that ensures easy starting when the mowing season comes around again.
Something new from Briggs and Stratton is this. It is called Fresh Start and what it is, it is the cup of the gas tank that actually has a fuel stabilizer cartridge on the bottom of it that will put stabilizer into the gasoline for up to six months. And when this cartridge is empty, you simply pop it out and pop the new in. That is something brand new from Briggs and Stratton. Alright, we have got new fuel, new oil, stabilizer, and air filter. And we should have to start right after that. Perfect.
We are always looking for things that we can do to help improve the environment. Tuning up your lawnmower is an environmentally friendly thing to do. In fact, a well-tuned mower can reduce exhaust emissions by up to 50%. Briggs and Stratton and the National Arbor Day Foundation have teamed up to create what is known as strive for five. What that means is you are encouraging home owners to look for five easy inexpensive things that they can do around their home or their yard to help improve the environment.
Transcription by:
Scribe4you Transcription Services