OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Engines Questions On Briggs & Stratton Engines engine service

hey guys,

I want to service my Victa ride on mower. I cant for the life of me find and oil drain plug on the motor though. Am i blind or do they not have one? seems like a simple thing to include on a motor, surely any motor would have one? Reason being is i called my local Victa dealer and asked what oil i put in it, he suggested SAE 30. Which is a red coloured oil, much like ATF fluid for most cars. The oil on the dipstick in the motor is a typical bronze colour. Perhaps the last service was done with a different oil, synthetic etc? Either was this is why i was to completely drain the motor, mixing different oils cant be good.

is the drain bolt under the dipstick? otherwise just use a oil pump

SAE30 is the right oil, and it is straw-coloured if it is clean, and gradually darkens as it gets dirtier, like any other engine oil. Red oil is usually automatic transmission fluid and is completely unsuitable, but there is nothing to stop an oil company from dyeing any oil red if they choose. I can't recall ever seeing any red SAE30 oil, so if you know someone with red oil in his mower engine, please tell us about it. Offhand I'd wonder if someone hasn't erroneously put ATF in his engine sump.

If you post the Model, Type and Code numbers of that Briggs and Stratton engine, we will be able to identify it. It does have a drain plug, but they aren't always easy to get at on ride-on mowers. Incidentally Victa does not make ride-ons, they buy them from major American manufacturers and sell them with the Victa brand attached.

My first guess is that the engine is a Model 219807, but we need to know for sure, so I can look it up in the manual. The 219807 is an Intek engine - Briggs' cheaper line of OHV mower engines. The drain plug is usually vertically mounted underneath the engine, so you'll have to crawl under to find it. Be sure and disconnect the spark plug before you do so, though.

Yes the model is a briggs and stratton 219807 0172.

Hello gents, the red SAE30 is very common and comes from many manufacturers, a few for certain are Penrite, "rover" and "Masport" branded oils along with many others that dont spring to mind right now. I also believe the "Briggs" branded oil is red too but am not 100% sure on that one.

Just used the Briggs and Stratton SAE30 oil today, definitely red/cherry coloured

Thank you bigted and ferret, I don't recall ever seeing any red engine oil myself, but as I said, there's nothing to keep the manufacturer from putting dye in it if that seems like a good idea. If so many of the single grade SAE30 oils are red, there may even be a reason for doing it (like they all buy it from the same oil manufacturer, for instance).

unknownVicta, here is the Illustrated Parts List for your engine:
http://bsintek.basco.com/BriggsDocumentDisplay/18mttLXRnfBhU7y.pdf

If you look at the first illustration, Item 15 on the far left is the drain plug. If you go down to Page 10 and look up Item 15, you'll see it is "90946 Plug--Oil Drain (3/8� Standard)". However now that I've been able to look up the specific engine, I see that the oil drain plug is shown as "side" for your model. Here is the specification sheet, which says it is located "Opposite Carburetor Side":


I don't have a picture of the muffler-side of the engine, which seems to be what they mean. Please post one, when you've had a chance to look there, low down on the crankcase cover of course, for a plug.

Try this img from the owners manual.

Thanks for that AVB, just what we need. The Briggs site only gave me the IPL, no owner's manual, which is unusual.

unknownVicta, now that AVB has done the heavy lifting for us, you can see the drain plug at Item F, circled in red, in his picture. It is just to the left of the starter motor.