[golgiaparatus]

Okay... when a car shoots white smoke out of the exhause I know what is going on... Oil got in the gas somewhere... a crack, a gasket, bad rings, etc. However, I'm not too savvy on lawnmowers. I assume it is similar but I'll run it past you guys since the has plenty of people with lawnmowers.

Anyway, I started my mower up this weekend and it started shooting fresh oil and white smoke from the exhaust. WTF? The thing is brand new... has had probably less than 10 uses from October to November. Is this common or do I need to take it back to Sears.

 

[SkaredShtles]

Take it back and get one of these.

 

[JRB]

I bought a used mower that was in good shape for my father in law yesterday. It had a spring issue, so I had it flipped upside down. When I cranked it, it smoked. It cleared up though.

 

[Angus]

I've seen that happen...cuprit, to much oil in engine.

 

[urbaindk]

Both loco and Munkeehucker are on to something.

If you over fill it will smoke until it burns off all the oil. Not great for the mower as it will develop carbon deposits that reduce the horsepower of the engine.

If you tip it over to take the blades off for sharpening (or for some other reason), depending on which way you flip it you can flood the engine with oil and it will smoke for the first few minutes you run it with no harm done.

You might have inadvertanly tipped the mower over and gotten oil in the combustion chamber. Double check the oil level. If too full, drain a little oil out. If it's ok then run it for a while and see if it stops smoking.

 

[golgiaparatus]

Well... the oil level hasnt changed all winter and it didnt do this before. I dont know how any oil would have gotten into the combustion chamber either, hasnt really even moved all winter. I'll start it up and just let it run for a few minutes, see what happens. Seems to run fine except for the smoke and oil thing. Maybe I'll just mow the lawn anyway, if it smokes the whole time I'll take it to Sears when I'm done.

 

[urbaindk]

It's possible that the piston head was in the bottom of its cycle when it was stored for the winter. This could allow oil to get on top of the piston head. Still I would think you would need to tip the mower to get it there.

Here's a real basic diagram which shows how a 2 cycle engine works. Notice when the piston is down oil can get on top of the piston head. If you tip a mower over towards the muffler you can usually get oil to pour right out on to the ground. (don't do that!)

http://www.keveney.com/twostroke.html