# Checking Oil Level.... Briggs vs Kohler



## Bob Driver (Nov 1, 2017)

It is true that you learn something every day. Sometimes it crosses into the realm of "Damn, I didn't know that". I came upon one of those yesterday while having a customer check the oil in a machine with a Kohler engine he was picking up and then saying I over filled it. I gave him my usual eloquent response "BS".... I checked the oil and it was right on the money. He said "You didn't check it right, you've got to screw the dipstick all the way down. Here's where I get this post churning..... 

I told him if it is a Briggs engine, with a screw-in dipstick, you screw it all the way down. If it's a Kohler engine, with a screw-in dipstick, you measure when the dipstick just touches the top of the fill tube. The answer is in both of their Service Manuals. 

Did you end up saying...... "Damn, I didn't know that"?


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## BigT (Sep 15, 2014)

"Damn, I didn't know that".


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## Bob Driver (Nov 1, 2017)

BigT said:


> "Damn, I didn't know that".


They always get you with the details....


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## bbirder (Feb 26, 2006)

And what does Kawasaki say?


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## Bob Driver (Nov 1, 2017)

bbirder said:


> And what does Kawasaki say?


With a screw-in dipstick, Kawasaki is the same as Kohler, just touching the top of the fill tube (Page 2-20 FH Series Service Manual) 

With a bayonet-type dipsticks, it is seated all the way.


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## andyvh1959 (Jul 1, 2015)

Hmm, I would have assumed its when the dipstick just touches the fill tube as a general practice for all small engines. 

Huh,...guess I'm the dipstick this time. Ever notice that DS can stand for "dip stick" and "dumb s**t"? Does for me anyway.


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## Bob Driver (Nov 1, 2017)

Yep.... You wouldn't believe the number of motorcycles I've seen, with screw-in dipsticks, that are running around over filled on oil. Briggs is one of the few small engine OEM's that says screw it all the way down.


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## bbirder (Feb 26, 2006)

Bob,
At one time in my life I ran a small shop that mostly dealt in pumps and a few generators. At that time Briggs came out with a small hand cranked diesel to compete with the Listers etc. They bought out Farymann which was a German company that built small diesels mostly for sailboats. Had a customer bring one in that wouldn't turn over. They had overfilled the oil and the crank had whipped it until it hardened like tar. One and only time I saw that. Didn't even try to save that engine.


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## Bob Driver (Nov 1, 2017)

I've seen those Farymann diesels on generator sets. Pretty neat little engines.


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## andyvh1959 (Jul 1, 2015)

Sounds like a classic BMW Oilhead twin oil window level argument. The level from just at the bottom of the window to the top of the window is about a pint. The BMW Oilheads hold nearly four quarts in the 1100 flat twin crankcase. Yet, on the BMW owners website many obsess over the oil level being EXACTLY at the red dot level of the window. Some add oil, then it's high (near the top of the glass), then drain some off, and its low. Add. Drain. Repeat. The 1100 and 1150 oilheads were known to sometimes hold some oil above the sump, and those obsessors freaked out. 

But the worst are the ones that sense the oil level is low, then add oil. Then at some time the engine holds some oil above the sump, looks low, so they add oil again. Now they got oil pumping into the air box. Those big flat 180 degree twins move a lot of air through the crankcase.


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## Bob Driver (Nov 1, 2017)

Yep.... My 77 GL1000 has a stupid plastic oil window with a worthless "wiper". On top of that, what genius thought of mounting it under the exhaust pipes so you have to get down on your hands/knees with a flashlight to check oil level and the heat from the pipes, on a 43 year old motorcycle, has made that plastic window about the same color as sweat tea. 

At my age, down is not a problem.... For up, I might as well call the same tow truck I'd need if I dropped the bike

Used to hang out on a vintage Goldwing forum.... Talk about a bunch of "obsessors"(to put it politely). Finally got kicked off the site for posting a list of the Parker (Ever heard of them?) part #'s for all the viton seals you needed to rebuild the 4-carb rack. For less than $10, you could buy enough seals to rebuild five carb sets. One of their main sponsors was selling those same handful of seals as a "rebuild kit" for $149, but he was including $3 worth of SS metric float bowl screws to add to the value to his "Kit".

That didn't go over well.... It was like I blasphemed the Pope.


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## jerryh20 (Dec 18, 2019)

Bob Driver said:


> It is true that you learn something every day. Sometimes it crosses into the realm of "Damn, I didn't know that". I came upon one of those yesterday while having a customer check the oil in a machine with a Kohler engine he was picking up and then saying I over filled it. I gave him my usual eloquent response "BS".... I checked the oil and it was right on the money. He said "You didn't check it right, you've got to screw the dipstick all the way down. Here's where I get this post churning.....
> 
> I told him if it is a Briggs engine, with a screw-in dipstick, you screw it all the way down. If it's a Kohler engine, with a screw-in dipstick, you measure when the dipstick just touches the top of the fill tube. The answer is in both of their Service Manuals.
> 
> Did you end up saying...... "Damn, I didn't know that"?


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## jerryh20 (Dec 18, 2019)

Bob, when you place the dip stick in the engine don't you pull it back out and look to see if the oil is between the lines? if you touch the top and it shows full no need to screw it in but if it shows low screw it in and see if it shows full or over full you know which way to check levels. i guess you could consult your manual, but who does that???


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## Bob Driver (Nov 1, 2017)

Or.... You could just read what it says right on the side of the screw-in dipstick for a Kawasaki V-twin

_"but who does that???"_

That's the point I'm trying to make about reading the actual details in Service Manuals. You won't believe the number of times you'll end up saying..... "Damn, I didn't know that".

For example... That's where I learned to put a paint pin mark on top of the hex nut on spark plugs. It's so you can "clock" the open end of the electrode so that it faces the intake valve for the optimum fuel charge burn.


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## Eric in PA (Apr 28, 2020)

Bob Driver said:


> It is true that you learn something every day. Sometimes it crosses into the realm of "Damn, I didn't know that". I came upon one of those yesterday while having a customer check the oil in a machine with a Kohler engine he was picking up and then saying I over filled it. I gave him my usual eloquent response "BS".... I checked the oil and it was right on the money. He said "You didn't check it right, you've got to screw the dipstick all the way down. Here's where I get this post churning.....
> 
> I told him if it is a Briggs engine, with a screw-in dipstick, you screw it all the way down. If it's a Kohler engine, with a screw-in dipstick, you measure when the dipstick just touches the top of the fill tube. The answer is in both of their Service Manuals.
> 
> Did you end up saying...... "Damn, I didn't know that"?


I did not know about differences in Koehler and B&S, but I do recall learning about Hondas at a young age. I had a Honda 50 trail bike. The manual was a translation to English and said “do not screw in cap in”. We laughed about that and I never forgot it. Read your manual! I am an engineer, and was in a heavily regulated industry, so I was trained to read everything. (Curse and blessing, both)


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## Bob Driver (Nov 1, 2017)

Eric in PA said:


> I did not know about differences in Koehler and B&S, but I do recall learning about Hondas at a young age. I had a Honda 50 trail bike. The manual was a translation to English and said “do not screw in cap in”. We laughed about that and I never forgot it. Read your manual! I am an engineer, and was in a heavily regulated industry, so I was trained to read everything. (Curse and blessing, both)


Yep.... One of the questions when you're filling out a warranty claim for a failed Briggs, or Kohler engine.... "Was the unit overfilled with oil?"

It's kind of difficult to determine with a 2" chunk missing out of the block, but you get the idea why they are asking.


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## andyvh1959 (Jul 1, 2015)

Heh, heh. Reminds me of my old 60s vintage Dynamark/AMF snowblower that I got cheap and repowered with a vintage Kohler 6.5 hp. Ran that engine for years until I bought a failed Tecumseh 8hp for $20 from a friend. It threw the rod, cracked the crankcase. Some JB Weld, new rod/piston set, ran that same snowblower over ten years. Heavy old beast, no safety crap (stupid enough to stick your hand in the auger chute? Well?).

About three years ago Green Bay got an early April wet 18" snowstorm. Snow before that storm was also heavy and worked that engine hard. Should have checked the oil use. ALMOST finished clearing the driveway the next day from that heavy wet snow. Just at the end of the driveway and BANG, dead. Hmm, that is a piece of the con-rod on the snow. Hole in the crankcase the size of a coffee cup, and no oil anywhere. Bought a used 2004 Ariens 8hp and been good since. The old snowblower went on the curb with a "free" sign and was gone in a day.


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