One Viral Lawn Mower Tip Proves We've Been Pouring Engine Oil All Wrong

While mowing the lawn is part of keeping a yard nice and tidy, ensuring your property stays in such pristine shape can also be a messy job. Along with working up a sweat and dealing with grass clippings, if your lawn mower is gas-powered, you also need to refill the gas on a regular basis, as well as change the oil in your machine periodically. For the latter, you likely have a particular way of adding the engine oil, but according to one TikToker, if you're like him, it's possible you've been pouring oil into your lawn mower the wrong way, all along.

In a now-viral video, TikTok user @that40yearguy starts off by shaking his head while noting he can't believe it's taken him 40 years to figure out how to properly pour oil into a lawn mower (or a car, for that matter). He then provides a brief demonstration of his previous process. As he tips the bottle over, the oil comes out in a rather wonky stream that's a bit hard to control. That's why he uses a funnel to ensure the oil ends up in the mower instead of all over the floor of his garage.

But does he really need the funnel after all? Turns out not necessarily, thanks to the fact that if poured out of the bottle the correct way, engine oil should go where you want it to go — funnel or not.

If you've ever poured oil into a lawn mower or a vehicle and experienced the wavy stream that @that40yearguy has faced, then it turns out you've also, most likely, been pouring your oil out wrong, too. To help with this, you might have tried coming up with various ways to make the process more efficient. Although that may have involved various tactics and aids (such as a funnel), all you really need to do is hold the bottle properly while you pour. Seriously, that's it.

As @that40yearguy demonstrated, he's always poured engine oil while holding the bottle with the spout down and on the lower side so it's closer to the funnel, which seems to make sense. However, this is what creates the wobbly stream as well as what's known as glugging and burping. Instead, he flips the bottle around so that the spout is on the top. This allows the oil to come out in a nice, smooth pour that will go directly into the mower's oil tank.

Although it might seem odd that this little switch would have such a big impact, it definitely works. Frankly, it simply has to do with the fact that the bottles are designed to let the oil pour out without air getting in. It's the air that causes the weird stream, which is why you want to avoid it.

As demonstrated, holding your bottle of engine oil the right way is the key to a smooth pour; however, that's not all you need to do to avoid a potentially gurgly, burpy mess. First, you may still want to use a funnel so that you don't have to be so precise or keep your hand perfectly still while pouring the oil. If you don't have a funnel, then you'll likely need to position the tip of the bottle's spout directly over or right into the opening of the engine's crankcase.

Next, you don't want to rush this task or go too fast. Instead, take your time and pour the oil out nice and slowly. This will help you to keep the stream steady and will prevent any glugging. On top of that, by going slow, you'll be able to make sure you don't use too much oil and avoid a potential spill. You can also stop to check the level on the filler plug dipstick, of course, and add more oil if necessary.