What Happens If You Put Synthetic Oil In A Lawn Mower?

If you have a gas- or diesel-powered lawn mower, then there are a few regular maintenance tasks you need to perform to keep it running at its best. The spark plug and filters should be checked annually, and most experts recommend that the oil should be changed about once a year (or every 50 working hours). Fortunately, there are plenty of practical tips for how to easily change the oil in your lawn mower yourself.

Choosing the right oil for your lawn mower is important due to its role in lubricating the engine effectively. The wrong choice can have a negative impact on how long your lawn mower will last. Your owner's manual should recommend one or more types of oil, with different weights (viscosities) often suggested depending on the climate where you live. Synthetic oils are an alternative that tends to be more tolerant of temperature differences. However, those who have used regular oil for years understandably wonder what happens if you put synthetic oil in a lawn mower.

The good news is that for all practical purposes, it will make almost no difference at all, and there's certainly nothing to worry about. Leading brands, such as Briggs & Stratton, Cub Cadet, and Toro, among others, all recommend synthetic oil as an option. It is safe for use in both gasoline and diesel engines.

Synthetic oil is not as modern as many people think. In fact, it's been around since the late 1920s. Improvements were made during the energy crisis of the 1970s in an attempt to get more miles per gallon from vehicles, and those developments led to its use in high-performance machinery and jet engines.

However, synthetic oil is usually more expensive than regular oil, and the lawn mowers owned by most homeowners are generally low-performance. Unless you're running commercial lawn equipment day in and day out, it could be argued that synthetic oil is an unnecessary expense. The lawn mowers most people use around their backyard run just fine on the standard stuff. However, it is worth mentioning that using synthetic oil with older mowers may lead to leakage, especially if they have worn-out seals. And synthetic oil has been known to experience additive separation in cold temperatures.

Having said that, if changing the oil on your lawn mower is a job you only do once a year, there's no more than a couple of bucks difference — and synthetic oil is claimed to give better protection to your engine and be more eco-friendly. It is still important to choose the type recommended by your mower manufacturer and to fill carefully, as mistakes with either can be among the reasons why your lawn mower won't start. That aside, whether you use the regular oil you always did before or put synthetic oil in your lawn mower is really up to you.