i hate my lawn mower oil filter location
 

I looked into relocation kits for my Toro LX420 lawn mower oil filter but i cant afford to pay that much (over $100) to do it.

the problem is the design is such that you cannot avoid dumping a pint of oil all over the mower frame and driveway because it doesn't empty back into the drain pan. the filter is an oil trap that is position tight inside by the side of the Briggs & Stratton engine so you cant get a pan under it so you just let it run all over the place to drip from everywhere it finds a place to.

since I only do the oil & filter change nonce a year I have been putting up with it and using a hammer and ice pick to punch a hole through the filter housing in order to drain it before removal but even with that its still messy.

does anyone know where to buy a bypass cap to eliminate the oil filter altogether? half the mowers out there don't have oil filters so its not a new idea to run without one even though it does give a "little" extra protection.

anybody got any ideas that will work to relocate or just eliminate the oil filter and cost less then $50? im tired of beating holes in the filter to remove it.

Don't change the filter . Just the oil . The last thing to go out on any mower is the engine . Typically everything else is wore out on it, that's why most people get another .

Funny that you say that but it was one of first things to go out on mine. I have a commercial Dixie Chopper that I try to treat well and didn't even get 100 hrs out of the trashy Kohler engine.

Stop hatin the Kohler. Got one at work with about 1900 hr been to he!! and back, never been to the shop

Make an oil catch/funnel out of a 2 liter coke bottle. Works like a charm on my mower and Harley.

thought about it, or aluminum foil but theres just no room to get under it so the oil pours down the side of the engine and spreads out on the frame.

there just isn't a lip or edge there for it to drip from to get something under it to redirect the oil. that's why I punch a hole in it to let the oil out of the filter first before unscrewing it.

I agree with the idea you don't need to change the filter because its not doing anything but it can block oil flow if it gets dirty enough so that's why I would love a way to bypass and cap it off, like if there was an empty can you can screw onto it to just let it flow without filtration.

life would be easier if they simply designed the filter setup to fully drain back into the pan when the mower is shut down because my only issue is the mess not that I have a filter, I like having a filter, but not if it has to be this messy.

here is a video that pretty much shows you something similar to what I have but my frame is wider and comes out about another 1 1/2" farther then that mowers frame and I don't have nearly the room to get access to it that he has. this video does show how low to the frame the oil filter is and how there is no room under the filter to catch the oil with anything. look at about the 1:00 mark to see it

well after quite a bit of web surfing it appears that these little engines don't work like the big ones and all the oil filter and pump does is circulate the oil from the pan thru the filter then right back into the pan so it doesn't go thru the engine by being pumped by the oil pump thru the filter. that's why some engines have oil filters and some don't, they don't use a pressurized oiling system.

this means if you change oil regularly then it truly is useless to replace the oil filter since it does nothing to lubricate and protect the engine bearings and is just there to clean the oil in the pan.

so sniper3726 was indeed correct to say forget about it and you never have to change the filter, just change oil regularly.

I don't like taking short cuts or not doing suggested maint on engines but in this case its the best solution and if I feel the need once every few years I just have to put up with the spilled oil everywhere.

thanks for your input guys :cheers: