White Smoke

Hello...

I own a Troy-Bilt mower with a Briggs and Stratton engine and just found out that somebody tilted the mower on the incorrect side when trying to remove build-up from the blade area. (how long it was tilted, I have no idea)

The mower does start, but there is a good deal of white smoke and I've determined that oil has found its way into the carb area. Also, when started, oil drips onto the top part of the deck.

I'd like to try and fix this problem myself instead of taking the mower to a shop, but I have very limited knowledge of small engine functions and parts, however I do have a copy of both the mower and engine manuals. Of course the engine manual does not provide instructions for fixing this type of problem (it just says do not tilt it on the incorrect side.)

Is there away of cleaning/removing the oil from this area and getting the mower functioning again? I'm sure it's not sensible to just let the oil burn without some type of cleaning or adjustment.

Any help is appreciated...

Thanks!

 

The air filter is probably soaked with oil, so take it out and wipe the oil out of that area. Check the oil to be sure it is full and doesn't have any gas in the oil. Then with the air filter off, crank it up and let it run. Oil may blow out the muffler a bit and drip a little until it clears out. It will smoke like crazy for several minutes and clear up. If a lot of oil builds up, shut it down and wipe it up and go again. Once it is done smoking and blowing oil out the breather, install a clean air filter. If there was gas in the oil, change it first and check often for a week or more to be sure gas isn't re-entering the oil.

 

Hey Cheese... Thanks for your advice--it's runnin' like a champ now. Your help is appreciated.

 

Great! thanks for the update, and glad to help.