I was mowing the lawn today when the mower started making clanging noises. I stopped the engine and turned it on its side to check for blockages. Not finding any, I righted it, started it up again, and this time a white cloud billowed out of the exhaust. I inspected the engine from above and found oil pouring out of the air intake filter.
I think this is bad.
The engine still runs strongly, though a little rough and with a definite clang with each compression cycle. I’m guessing some internal engine component has gotten below the piston or maybe part of the engine has cracked (though it is still able to maintain compression).
Now that I think about it, I’m pretty sure part of the engine cracked. When hand-rotated, there is a “sloosh” noise with each stroke that sounds like the piston plunging into a pool of oil. I’m pretty sure you only hear that when the thing has about bitten the dust.
I do like the idea of working on small engines, but I think I’m going to shelve this mower and consult the latest Consumer Reports magazine which just rated the latest lawn mowers. Hopefully I can get one with variable engine speed and a simplified deck height switcher. This one has just one engine speed and a very rudimentary power drive.
I can say that having your mower blades sharpened was a great idea. I was able to jaunt through grass that would previously bog down the engine. I could get a full mulch in a single pass instead of backtracking over each cut I’ve made. The sharpened blade was nearly knife sharp. The factory blades aren’t even butter-knife sharp, so it might be a good idea to get your blade sharpened even if your mower is fairly new.
