What have I done? Help me undo rookie mistake.

15 years ago

I've had an electric mower for years and whenever I needed to disentangle my blade, I just flipped it over and pulled out the tangle. Problem solved.

Just bought my first gas-powered mower. Can you guess what I did after my blade got tangled in some wire? Duh! I flipped the mower over mixing up the fuel and lubricants. Now my mower barely starts and belches smoke.

From a technical perspective, what have I done to my mower? What can I do to fix it?

Thanks for your help. I've learned a good bit while searching your posts for a solution.

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Comments (5)

equinox_grow
15 years ago
Let it sit a few hours. When you do start it it will likely smoke for a short time since oil made its way past the rings. It sould be fine if you let it run a little while. Dont tip a gas mower if you plan on using it right away or you will run into this each time. Suggestion, remove the things that keep tangling it up.
mr_peel
Original Author
15 years ago
Thank you Equinox. It's been over a week since the tipping incident and the smoking and sputtering persists. I'm considering draining all the gas and oil and starting from scratch. Any more thoughts?
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canguy
15 years ago
You likely tipped it the wrong way and flooded the air filter with oil. If a paper filter, replace it. If a foam filter, wash it out, put a light film of oil in it and re install.
1saxman
15 years ago
In the future, only raise the side with the carburetor. The mower is designed for the carb side to raised when servicing the blade or dumping the oil out of the fill tube. What canguy said is what happened - oil got into the intake tract via the crankcase vent, and your air filter is oil-soaked, causing the engine to run rich and smoke. Oil is also in the exhaust tract now including the muffler, so once you get it running right by replacing the air filter, it will take about 15 minutes to burn all the oil out of it. Don't forget to check the oil before running it again, and do not over fill!
This actually happens frequently. My neighbor came over one time looking bewildered - he has a commercial power-washing rig on a pickup truck. He had tilted the engine to do something or other and then he couldn't crank it. I told him to take the plug out and crank it until it stopped blowing oil spray, then go ahead and start it - and watch the smoke! You're lucky because you didn't lock yours up by filling the cylinder with oil, which is not compressible. Since yours does actually run, there's no need to take the plug out.
mr_peel
Original Author
15 years ago
Checked the air filter and it was clogged with oil. Bought a new filter and runs sweet. Thanks everyone!

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What have I done? Help me undo rookie mistake.

Comments (5)

equinox_grow

mr_peel
Original Author

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What have I done? Help me undo rookie mistake.

Comments (5)

equinox_grow

mr_peelOriginal Author

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