Thank you for your detailed advice. I always tip the machine to the left side. I have now tipped the old oil away and lifted the machine so any fuel can drip through the spark plug hole. Nothing came out. I have sprayed penetrating oil in the spark plug hole to try and lubricate the pistons. I think the cause of the problem was the float in the float bowl stuck. I cannot move the recoil starter it is jammed which is why I think there could be a problem with the cylinder . It should move freely when the spark plug is out that is why I definitely think there is something wrong with the cylinder but I cannot believe something like a float sticking can cause such damage. Hopefully I may be able to free the pistons having sprayed penetrating oil into the spark plug hole. I have been told to leave it for at least 24 hours before trying to pull the recoil. Thank you for your help!

Buddy, if you have seized the engine, Liquid Wrench ain't going to help. How could you have seized the engine? Maybe you didn't put enough oil in it when you changed it. On a Honda, you do not screw the dipstick in to check the oil - you just put the dipstick on the tube without threading it on. The mowers take 19 oz of oil. Or, so much fuel got into the oil that it diluted it to the point of being an ineffectual lubricant. It also is more common than you might believe to put fuel into the oil fill instead of the fuel tank. Are you sure the blades are on right? If upside down they will jam the engine.

I think that I might have seized the engine but I did put oil in the oil tube and petrol where you are supposed to. I know I am a woman but I have been using the lawn mower for ten years. I have never experienced petrol coming through the filter before and as the carb was cleaned by a professional last year and serviced by a professional I do not know why fuel was coming through the filter and exhaust. The pull cord pulled freely when this happened, it was not seized then. I took the carb off and looked at the float and put it back together and that is when I couldn't turn the cord. The strange thing is that no petrol has come out of the spark plug hold so I don't know. I only used it for about ten minutes before the fuel starting to leak. The leak is the thng that has really bugged me. In ten years it has never done that. I never use the machine after the winter without doing a mini service. I always check the oil every time I use it as well, so I honestly don't know why the thing has seized. Several people have told me to put penetrating oil in the spark plug hole and see what happens it sometimes work. Considering I look after this mower I am amazed it has seized and also leaked petrol. I could understand it if I didn't bother to look after it. My neighbour never services his mower and it starts first time and never has any problems...."sods law".

I would have surely thought that what happened as 1saxman suggested is that you tipped the mower in the wrong direction, apparently that was not the case.

I think the possibility exists that when you started to mow some debris may have gotten into the carb and made the float stick causing the oil to become contaminated and losing its lubrication properties. When you shut it off it was so hot that the engine seized. When you drained the oil did you smell gasoline in the oil?

It may be too late but it's always smart to have an inline shut off valve (very inexpensive) on your mower to shut the fuel flow off when finished mowing. This will prevent flooding should the float valve stick. In my opinion, If the engine is in fact seized, it does noy make any sense repairing a 10 year old mower.

I did smell petrol in the oil. The sad thing is when I noticed fuel I could pull the cord easily but unfortunately while I was taking the carb off the damage was done. I will see if the penetrating oil does any good. Several people have suggested it. It is just a shame that it has died when it has been well looked after. Such is life unfortunately!!!

From your responding you did smell "petrol" in the oil I do believe the oil became diluted causing heat and seizing the engine. I see no harm in trying the penetrating oil but quite frankly I don't think it will help. But stranger things have happened and you never know.

Don't feel bad I once made a very very stupid mistake. I bought a 2 year old Ariens 7 HP snow blower from my friend for 100.00. It was only used a couple of times and in like new condition. I was giving it to my sister as a gift who was driving 180 miles to pick it up. I drained the oil as not to mess up her mini van. I was so excited to give it to her I just had to demonstrate how it worked.

I completely forgot I drained the oil. It ran about a minute then stopped, I seized the engine. I was beside myself saying how stupid I am.
Well I took the head off and discovered the connecting rod had broke and the cylinder & piston were fine. Replaced the connecting rod for 15.00 and she was like new. The worst part was I had to drive the 180 miles one way and deliver it to my sister, I didn't want her to make the drive again for my stupidity. That was like 5 years ago and the snow blower is still working perfectly.

We have all done stupid things but at least yours turned out good in the end. I wouldn't mind with my mower, if it was due to neglect but it wasn't. I think what happened is that someone mowed the lawn for me and I told them not to bother to collect the cuttings because mine gets rid of the cuttings and I think it was a clump that got caught in the filter. Oh well an expensive lesson unless I can fix it. I take it you are American? Honda engines seem to be very popular over there. Thanks for your help anyway. Julie

A clump of grass got caught in the air filter? Honda engines are extremely popular over here as you surmised. They are a lot tougher than they look and actually economical to maintain. I still have no idea what caused your engine to seize. I think you should take it to a shop for an examination to see if they may be able to find out what happened, because not much of what you have posted makes sense. Assuming you cut the engine off to pull the carb, there's no way that could have caused it to lock up.

Something just occurred to me; is it possible you dropped a fastener or other foreign object into the engine while the carb was off?

I have spoken to one of my English neighbours here in France and he said if petrol or as you American's call it gas, got into the engine, then it will seize When I took the carb off, the spark plug was still in place so therefore nothing could have dropped into the engine. I went down the local lawnmower shop to talk to them about it and he was surprised that it had seized, but I honestly have no other explanation. All I know is the cord will not pull and the blade is as solid as a rock. It will not turn a millimeter. I have asked a good friend who builds motorbikes and he is pretty nifty with engines and he has said the same, petrol in an engine is not good and it will seize. There was definitely petrol in the oil when I drained it.. When it initially happened and I noticed fuel in the filter and the exhaust I could pull the cord, so in the time I took the carb off and put it back on, it had seized, and I have taken the carb off again just in case it wasn't on quite right and not forming a complete seal, but alas it was!

Removing the carburetor has nothing to do with having a complete seal so the engine will not turn when turning the blade by hand. With the spark plug removed it should turn freely by hand as long as there is no brake system on your model. I am not familiar with your Honda GCV160e if it has a brake system. BTW, NEVER work on engines with the spark plug wire on, serious accidents can happen.

I think what you experienced with the seize involved temperatures.

It turned freely before you removed the carb, while working on the carb the engine cooled and then seized. Maybe your friend that builds motor bikes may want to help with a repair, but it may not be economocally feasible.

Bill From America via Fixya has told me something that I thought about last night, and that it could be the blade that is causing the problem. I had to drag it because the grass was so long and wet and although the mower is a huge flymo with wheels, I had to drag it because I couldn't get it through the grass. He said maybe a small stone has got lodged between the frame and the huge disk at the bottom, which is a possibility. I asked a lawnmower shop yesterday regarding the engine seizing and he was surprised if that is what has happened. He shook his head and said no and to take it in. I will give the blade a shot and then I shall have to put the next plan into action. As I had changed the oil I would have thought that even with petrol in it, there would be sufficient lubrication for the engine not to seize but I don't know. I cannot believe that a simple problem like fuel leakage can cause so much damage. Definitely a design fault. I would have thought there would be an automatic shut off valve if too much petrol was being forced through the carb, and then of course the engine would stall . I will endeavor to get the blade off and see. Prior to this happening I had only used it for about ten minutes. I left it for fifteen when It wouldn't start and it still pulled smoothly and then of course post carb it won't pull but in between the pull and getting the carb off, I dragged it and maybe that is the problem.

Keep us posted on what you find and if you bring it in for service what they say. I'm still sticking with in my opinion the engine is seized.

Good luck in your quest to find the answer.

This is without a doubt the craziest #^&* I have ever seen on here, and that takes in a lot of territory. 'The spark plug was in when I took the carburetor off so nothing could have fallen into the engine'. Now how do you like that example, which is only one of many. How do you help somebody who on the one hand already knows it all, but on the other hand appears to be stumped? And this Honda engine is on a 'Flymo'-type hovering mower? That would have been very informative to know up front although since such a machine is, as far as I know, not available in the USA, it may not have been much help in figuring out what happened.

Oh, and to the other poster, engines don't sit there not running and seize up when they cool off. In fact, the opposite is fairly commonplace; I have seen them get hot and seize, then relax when they cool.

But now we know that we're dealing with a flying lawn mower, it certainly starts to sound like a foreign object or rough handling has jammed the works in the blade area and it has nothing to do with the engine 'seizing'.

For your information 1saxman, I don’t “know it all” unlike you, otherwise
I wouldn’t be asking advice but I said the spark plug was in just in case you
thought a foreign object had lodged through the spark plug hole. YOU DO NOT
NEED TO MOCK ME TO MAKE A POINT!!!!! Interestingly someone who knows a lot
about engines suggested at the beginning that it could be the blade, and he didn't know it was a Flymo, (obviously he has superior knowledge) but as he said, it could also
be the engine. It is a catch 22
situation. However, I have now freed the
blade and it could well have been a foreign object.........we will never know.
I spent several days spraying penetrating oil through the spark plug hole and
the cord got much easier and this is before I freed the blade!.

May I suggest
that you leave your ego, which is clearly the size of America, behind, before
posting on here again, and criticising everyone.
I have just lost my husband from a massive heart attack and I could do
without toxic people. To everyone else,
thank you so much for your input, it is much appreciated.

Hmm, well gas in oil is not good and penetrating oil nor anything else is going to help IF as I suspect contaminated oil caused the seizure. I just had a similar model engine down (different crankshaft) and they have an aluminum cylinder bore. While they start and run well, I am not at all impressed with the quality nor construction of this model Honda.

Sorry about your Husband.

Walt Conner

The update on the mower is it has died again. I have petrol pouring from the air filter and exhaust There was smoke coming through the filter, I have been told that it is a stuck valve as the machine is getting very hot, so it wasn't a stuck float in the float bowl initially causing the engine to seize.. It is a ten year old mower that has probably done as much as a mower over twenty years, so I cannot complain. I will probably try and get a new engine for it as it is a brillaint machine and you don't have to collect the grass cuttings because it annihilates them, which is ideal when you have half an acre. Julie