Avoid Destroying Your Lawn Mower's Engine By Following These Tips
Updated: Sep 10
Your lawn mower might look tough enough to handle just about anything, but even the most reliable mower can suffer serious engine damage when it’s treated poorly. The problem is that many engine-damaging habits don’t seem like a big deal at the time.
The good news? Most of these problems are preventable. By following these tips, you can avoid destroying your lawn mower's engine, extend the life of your equipment, and avoid spending money on repairs that could have been prevented.
In this post, we’ll look at the most common lawn mower user habits that can damage or destroy an engine—and what you can do instead to keep your mower running reliably season after season.
To begin, lawn mower maintenance can be categorized into two distinct areas:
Preventing Issues pertaining to the engine
Preventing Issues pertaining to the mower
The following post will explore preventive maintenance measures you can perform to prevent issues related to the engine.
Before we begin, it is imperative that you understand the three ingredients necessary for an engine to fire; we will investigate maintenance measures you can take for each one next.
Spark
Fuel
Compression
Preventive maintenance related to spark:
After 100 hours of service, replace spark plug. Refer to previous post linked here: https://www.maverickmowers.com/post/your-spark-plug-is-telling-you-something-and-it-never-lies for instructions on how to remove and "read" spark plugs. Also refer to this post https://www.maverickmowers.com/post/the-following-insights-will-surely-spark-your-interest to determine that your using the correct spark plug for your unit!
Perform an overall inspection of spark plug wiring, cleanliness is key for wiring as dirt can hide broken wiring, and oil can rot the wiring insulation.
Preventive maintenance related to fuel:
The importance of using fresh gasoline is imperative to keeping your lawn mower running optimally. Our previous post here: https://www.maverickmowers.com/post/want-to-avoid-expensive-repair-calls-for-your-lawn-mower-mind-your-gas outlines reasons why this is critical due to the degradation of gasoline over a short period of time.
It is important to check fuel lines for cracking and leakage, as well as fuel filters for potential blockages, if your unit has one.
Preventive maintenance related to compression:
Compression is essentially the health of the internals of the engine; issues of this kind are not easily detectable or repairable. They are however, easy to prevent with proper care with regards to lubrication, intake air cleanliness and the prevention of engine overheating.
Proper lubrication is critical to the internals of the engine, as it prevents quick wear between moving parts, and has a cooling effect. In general, four cycle engines require an oil change after every 25 hours of use. Can't figure out whether yours is a two or four stroke? Refer to this post for the tips to learn how https://www.maverickmowers.com/post/learn-the-simple-steps-to-start-most-any-small-engine
Its important to not overlook the importance of your machine's air filter. It is designed to prevent unseen particulates from entering the engine and causing often irreversible, and costly damage. Under normal conditions, air filters should be cleaned or replaced after 25 hours of use. This time frame may be decreased depending on more severe operating conditions such as use in overly dusty locations and the cutting of excessively tall grass. Foam style filters can be effectively cleaned and reused, paper filters can be cleaned if slightly dirtied, but are often replaced. For more information on this critical maintenance component refer to this link: How's Your Engine Been Breathing Lately? Air Filters and Engine Maintenance Tips for Lawnmowers to Live By!
Preventing overheating is critical to the life of your lawn mowers engine! Small engines are air-cooled and thus rely on the cooling fins on the engine to be clean, in order to dissipate heat. When dirt, and grass build up in these areas, heat is essentially packed in and insulated in areas meant to be kept cool. The result is an engine running with hot spots, that accelerate the engine wear process substantially. The cooling fins on the cylinder head of your lawn mower must be free of grass build up and dirt or other debris, in order to effectively cool the engine. It is advised to remove the engine cover every 50 hours of use, or 25, when used in high grass or dusty conditions, in order to clean these cooling fins, located underneath and on the engine's cylinder head.
Stop Bad Habits Before They Cost You
Small mistakes—skipping oil changes, ignoring dirty filters, or putting off routine maintenance—can add up and shorten the life of your lawn mower.
Want to make sure you’re taking care of your mower the right way? The Ultimate Lawn Mower Maintenance Guide gives you straightforward maintenance schedules, essential care tips, troubleshooting advice, and practical guidance to help prevent avoidable problems.
Protect your mower. Avoid costly mistakes. Keep it running longer. Get The Ultimate Lawn Mower Maintenance Guide today and turn good mower habits into a routine.
By being aware of these simple maintenance measures you can take, you can effectively prolong the life of your mower and avoid costly repairs or worse yet, potential early replacement!
Never the Norm!
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