Wednesday, October 11, 2006

The Amateur Mechanic

Welcome back to the special mid week Tukang Kebun Show. Today I'm going to show you how to change the oil of my lawn mower, the amateur way!

This is my lawn mower, its actually a mulching mower because it shreds the grass to bits and dumps them back onto the lawn so there's no need for a catcher like normal mowers do.

To begin we must first fold the handle down onto itself because I'm going to tip the mower upside down later to drain the used oil out. Also make sure that there's no petrol left in the petrol tank before starting.

Next we disconnect the spark plug so there's no nasty accident with the engine going off while I'm working on it! I know its highly unlikely that it will happen but its better to be safe than sorry.

Then we can open the cap off the engine oil compartment. There's usually a dip stick attached to the cap for measuring oil level, keep it somewhere clean.

Use a shallow tray and place it underneath the mower, tipping the mower so that the oil can drain off the engine and into the tray.

While the remainder of the oil is still draining off, its a good idea to clean the undercarriage of the mower scrapping away those stuck on hardened grass clippings and check the blade too making sure its not kinked or loose.

Once the oil finished draining tip the mower back onto its wheels. It is time to put in new fresh engine oil. I've bought the Shell lawn mower oil for 4 strokes engine. Make sure you get the right oil for 4 strokes or 2 strokes engines!

I think the manual says to pour in 60 ounces of oil but the bottle of oil is 1 litre so how much should I pour in? Just play it by ear and oops! I overfilled it!

Using the dipstick it tells me I overfilled the oil by heaps! I'm not going to drain it now, it'll be OK. Worst that can happen is it'll burn the excess oil and it'll be smoky.

Next replenish the petrol and damn! I'm not very good at telling when its nearly full and overfilled it again! Nevermind just wipe it clean and she'll be right mate! And thats how you change the engine oil, the amateur way, my way! I started up the mower after and expecting to see plenty of smoke because of the excess oil but the engine purred like a happy kitten!


One last thing, do not pour the used oil down the drain which will be bad for the waterway and the environment, I soaked it up with the crass clippings I scrapped off the mower and threw the whole lot into the rubbish. Comprente?

19 comments:

FooDcrazEE said...

capice - err...lawn mower....dont know anyone here using it.

Anonymous said...

OI~! No action no video... What lah... Go take some next time ar~!

Cynthia said...

interesting!
next time i get my own one.. i know what to do.
at the moment.. my neighbour doing mine =)

Jo said...

errr... ok... this is totally beyond me. I cum bek tomolo ah.

Anonymous said...

Too tough for me, furthermore I have got no lawn mower. Come help me on the grass please.

Cocka Doodle said...

If I may add my 2 sen....oil change is recommended when the engine has run a while and the oil is still hot.
This way, the residue dirt in the engine will be 'loosened' and flushed out during oil change.
When the engine is 'cold', the residue is 'settled'. hence, changing oil at this stage may not remove dirt effectively.

Same goes for your car lube too. Take it for a rev up before you send it in to the mechanic.

seefei said...

privelege of landed property owner :-(

Anonymous said...

When do you know it's time to change the mower oil ?

Wuching said...

foodcrazee: why not? there's lots of ppl using it in malaysia!

wong: u wanna see action video issit? ok..coming soon!

cynthia: aiya, in that case just keep letting ur neighbour do it!

lil' joy: come back everyday!

neo: u dun have lawn mower, i'm not cutting ur grass manually..too tough!

cocka: wuah! i didn't know that! thank you for the tip! i will do that next time!

see fei: u can buy landed property in singapore too! i've seen heaps of 2 & 3 storey semi-d & terrace houses there!

ah nel said...

after drain the oil put some petrol in it n light it...sure no more dirt inside then pour the oil in.... ;)

Anonymous said...

Dear Tukang Kebun,

My rosemary plant is withering away in the perpetual haze that is enveloping Kuching, and on top of that, I suspect my helper has been too liberal with the watering. How do I revive it back into tiptop shape, in time for me to use it in my roast lamb on Christmas day?

Anonymous said...

wahh you so terror wan. lawn mover oil oso you know how to change.

Wuching said...

che-cheh: the manual says to change the oil every number of hours running the mower but how to keep track? so i agak agak lah! hahahaha..

ah nel: chi sin ah! want me to blow it up kah?

C4STP: rosemary loves sunshine so make sure it is placed in a sunny position but it also need plenty of water but well drain soil so if the soil is soggy after watering u may have to fix the soil or plant it in a container with good draining potting mix.

ah pek: haha..its like changing underwear lah!

Anonymous said...

C4STP if it fails to grow by Christmas, you can always go and gather some more from the source where you got the rosemary plant..hehehehe..mine is growing like mad so far, I think its the soil, yours is not properly irrigated.

Wuching..interesting insight on lawnmower, so, how much did SHELL pay you to advertise their oil? You should insist that they give u free supply for that shor advert space hahahahaha

Anonymous said...

Wah, such a tedious job. You must be very rich hor.

PabloPabla said...

Terima kasih cikgu!

sengkor said...

since i dun have a lawn, can i use the lawn mower to trim my bonsai..?

King's wife said...

troublesome wor. No need to mow lah. Just plant those grass that don't need any trimming. Pearl grass, for lazy people like me! ;)

Wuching said...

QV: i was hoping they see this & offer me money! hahaha

hijackqueen: its no tedious job & how does that make me rich?

pablopabla: sama sama!

sengkor: NO! u use a special secateur to trim ur bonsai!

king's wife: can! but i've never seen pearl grass here wor!