I think most mowers use plain SAE 30 weight oil for the normal range of temps during mowing season.

Did you remove the plug wire for safety before changing oil and reattach it afterwards tightly? If it's not pushed on securely you won't get a good spark.

Also, there is a mechanical pressure relief feature to make starting by pulling the rope easier, on Tecumseh engines and I think on other brands of engines, too. If the mechanical thing doesn't free up, you will feel lots of resistance when pulling the rope and this can impede starting. I had this problem once or twice. But the resistance freed up after a number of pulls and I could restart.

Also, if you tilt the mower the wrong way when draining the oil, you could get oil or gas into the carb, I think. I'm out of my depth on this but I think you should tilt the mower to the side away from the carb. The air filter will be on the carb side and is easier to see which is the side you want to avoid.

- "Did you remove the plug wire for safety before changing oil"
No. I saw a wire unpluged, but I don't know where to plug back. It may be my problem.
- "there is a mechanical pressure relief feature"
I have no idea (You can tell I know nothing), but the rope is easy to pull. It turns, but won't start.
At first, I added wrong oil (steering cleaner), then I trained again, added new one (maybe not enough).

"At first, I added wrong oil (steering cleaner)"

Congratulations, you have destroyed your engine from the crankshaft to the cylinder walls to the piston rings.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

What is a GAM engine?
Your post isn't real clear.
Are you saying you changed the oil, and replaced the old oil with the wrong "substance".
You then mowed and the engine stopped 1/2 way through?
OR the engine stopped 1/2 way through mowing and you THEN changed the oil?

You should use the oil that is recommended in the owners manual, probably 10W-30 MOTOR OIL.

There is no amendment in the Bill Of Rights guaranteeing the right own a lawn mower. Therefore, I would support training and licensing before somebody could just buy one and kill it like this.

It doesn't mean that the engine is destroyed, come on. If the spark plug wire is loose it is not going to start, no matter what.

read what the poster said -- they changed the oil and filled it with "power steering cleaner". Whether it's power steering fluid or "cleaner" it doesn't belong in a crankcase.

Yes, I read it. He said he put in the wrong oil -- and then noticed his mistake and replaced it with the correct motor oil. He also says he the last time the engine ever ran was BEFORE the oil change. In other words the engine has never been run with the wrong fluid in it. Maybe somebody can explain to us how you ruin an engine simply by mistakenly putting in the wrong oil, noticing your mistake & flushing it and replacing with the right oil, all before you restart the engine.

Then we have different takes. What I gather from the two posts is...first oil change in two years, filled crankcase with something other than oil, went out to cut their grass and engine quit half way through. = lunched engine.

If my take is wrong, then the original poster isn't in that bad of a pickle and still has some options.

My engine was stopped in middle of my mowing and can not start. I called a fiend, he told me to change the engine oil (I never change it since I bought it two years ago).
At first, I put wrong one (steering cleaner), can not start. So I called my friend again. Then replaced it with right one (engine oil). Now still can not start.
There is a wire I can not find a place to plug. But I saw it was loosing before and I was able to start.
Maybe I "have destroyed the engine from the crankshaft to the cylinder walls to the piston rings". Is anyway to fix, instead of buying a new one?
Thanks for the info.!!

Are you out of gas?
What mower is this engine on?

You might have to bring it to a small engine shop, but I do not think you destroyed it just by putting in the wrong oil by mistake. Because you corrected this mistake.

I assume there is enough gasoline in the tank so that is not the problem.

I do not know what the other wire is you mentioned could be?

The "spark plug wire" is located very close to the "spark plug", and on a small engine there is usually no other wire near the spark plug, except for the spark plug wire itself. The spark plug wire has a shiny cap on the end of it that fits tightly onto the spark plug. It must be on there good and tight. If the spark plug wire is lose, you will not get a electric spark and the mower will never start.

The next thing I would do is remove the spark plug and replace it with a new one. If you never changed the oil you probably never changed the spark plug before either. You need a new one every 1-2 years.

During all of the turning over to change the various fluids in this engine, it is possible that the carburetor flooded the engine or a lot of oil got into the combustion chamber. Make sure you have it filled with FRESH gasoline, and you might use a little starting fluid sprayed into the carburetor to start it if it has been flooded. A new spark plug might help, as this one is two years old.

After you get it started, in consideration of the incorrect fluid put in this engine, I would run it about 1 or 2 hours and then drain the oil and refill it with fresh oil, considering the new oil you have in it now as a flush.

Read your manual, and use the kind of oil it recommends. Oh, and change the air filter.

Yes, I have plenty gas.
I just bought called "lawn mower engine oil" and refiled it.
Where is "spark plug"? I search my mower again, still can not find where to plug the wire.
I can not find my manual. Maybe I should go bookstore to get one. Thanks for the info.!!

okay, thanks for clarifying. No you didn't lunch your engine. The spark plug sticks out of the front of the engine on your Honda. If the wire that is loose is thick and black and at the front of the engine as well, it should slip over the spark plug. As another poster said, make sure it's tight.

Did you fill it to the full mark on the dipstick, or just dump the whole bottle in the engine?
IF it was a 20 oz. bottle, you're probably OK, but if you put in an entire quart, it's overfull.

Since you used it for 2 years without changing the oil, did you check the oil regularly to make sure the oil was at the proper level? It might be expected to use some oil if the break-in in oil was left in for two years, and the engine might be expected to suddenly seize if it was almost out of oil.

Ok, I think we're all off on the wrong track here. Let's review. Owner goes out to mow the lawn. Mows half the lawn. Mower quits. Logic, guys. If you didn't have all that nonsense about changing the oil and power steering cleaner, and all you knew was that the engine died suddenly in the middle of mowing, what would you suspect? First, out of gas. Apparently that wasn't the case. Second... Anybody?

Ok, here's what I'm thinking. On my first day of work at Dirty Al's Crotchrocket shop in Chewelah, Washington, somebody brought in a lawn mower that wouldn't run. I cleaned the carburetor and replaced the points, but when I tried to set the timing I noticed the timing marks were screwy. Eventually it dawned on me that the crankshaft was bent. We later confirmed with the owner that his son had failed to mention that the stopping of the engine coincided with the blade hitting a solid object.

Any chance that's what happened here?

First, I still think I need to find the place to plug the loosing wire. But still don't know what the 'spark plug' looks like and where is it.
I went to Homedepot. I can not find the similar wire I have on the new mowers over there.
Are we able to post a picture on this forum?
If you are able to point the 'spark plug' on a picture of the mower, could you please e-mail the picture to me at: juliebzhu@gmail.com?
Thanks in advance!

Hello juliez dba.

I really hope you get your mower started. Like yourself, I also am not a master lawn mower mechanic.
Did you ask the sales person at Home Depot to show you where the spark plug was located?
Have you tried taking your lawnmower to a local repair shop? This may be best for you.
I really hope that you get your mower started.
Good luck.

Thanks rollerzeke!!
It is a great idea!
I don't know there is a repair shop for lawn mower. Yes! I may able to find from yellow page!
But if it costs $150 to repair, I may just pay $250 to buy a new one.
I just found the forum and like it very much.
Thanks for the info. and help!!

The spark plug should be located above the "plate" that says OHC.
It should also be shown in the owners manual.
If you don't have one, download one at the link below. It's on page 7.

Here is a link that might be useful: Manual

I have 6 honda buffalo mowers. I'm located in Australia. They are used by my workers so I am familiar with minor breakdowns and problem solving. If a mower fails whilst in use, and there has been no apparent misuse such as hitting an object with the blades, then first things to check are the fuel, then check the spark plug cable (if you don't know where it is located or what it looks like, then you really should be taking the mower to a service shop), also check the throttle cable, has it come loose? the throttle cable is probably the number one cause of a mower break down, the cable can be easily caught on things and be pulled loose which in turns causes the carby to malfunction. Also check the air cleaner, it may be clogged with grass and dust, lack of air will suffocate the engine. I doubt that your first choice of changing the oil was ever going to be a solution to get the engine going again, but just for the record the egine holds 600mm, how much old oil did you tip out of the mower? If the oil level was very low you may have seized the motor?

I would like to share the good news with you, my mower finally started!!!
I met a couple, my friends yesterday and asked them to stop by my home to help me find out where to plug the wire. The lady said 'It must be covered, since you can not find it for a week". So, her husband opened the top of the mower, 3 of us almost pointed out where to plug the wire at the same time. Yes! aftre plug in the loosing wire, my mower was able to start (with few black smoke at the begiing)!!!
I would like to thank everyone for the warm hearts and the professional advices, especially heximaxmin, kubotabx2200, bill_kapaun, bellarinelawns, ....! My mower is back to work again, without cost me a penny. The forum is just beautiful!!

I think it's a shame so many people are making fun of this poor juliez. Not everyone has the good fortune to learn engines and stuff. At least give them credit for mowing their own grass.

That being said, has it occurred to anyone that the spark plug might be covered by a plastic cowling? I was at Home Depot today to get parts for my powerwasher, which also uses the Honda GCV160. And I happened to notice in passing that the mowers using that engine do, in fact, have a big plastic cowling around the engine. For an inexperienced person who does not understand the basics of engines, it would be easy to not be able to find where the spark plug is. Out of sight, out of mine!

My advice, if you're still looking for it, is to unscrew the plastic covering on the engine. At the front, you will see a little white cylinder sticking out. The spark plug wire pops on top of that. As others have said, you may need to change the spark plug. That is as simple as getting a spark plug wrench, which is a little $5 device that looks like a penny roller that you stick on top of the spark plug and turn to remove it. Remember, righty-tightie, lefty-loosie.