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Those engines usually hold less than 1 qt of oil, so if you had to add...let's say...3/4 of a qt of oil, then you were running it with almost no lubrication. However, as was said by somebody else, in the worst case scenario, you would only need to spend a few hundred $$ if it is necessary to replace that machine.
Sorry for the random question, but I trust there are people who are sincere and knowledgable about such things that I felt that I could ask my question here.
Here's my issue: I was running my lawnmower today and didn't screw in the oil cap properly. The engine started to smoke up, but the lawnmower kept mowing.
Eventually, I realized the smoke and stopped my work. I cleaned off (as best I can) all the grease and grime that spilled over my mower, but I was more worried about the engine.
So I let the engine cool off a bit and then I started it back up. The mower was working, but then when I got to a thicker part of the lawn, it stopped. I thought I was out of gas, but I don't think that was it. I was worried that I really shot the engine, but when I let it cool down again, the mower started to work.
At this point, I didn't try to mow the lawn and thought it really needed a few hours to really cool down.
Question is simply this: Did my ruin my engine? Any thoughts?
TIA for your help.
these engines will seize up with low oil and long mowing period/heat buildup, most of the time let it cool down add more oil and away you go.
Let it cool completely, add oil but critical to not overfill!
Stall on tall grass could be a number of factors.
mid day best time to mow as grass is following the sun. don't mow when grass is wet.
I did add enough, I think. I probably ran it for about 5 minutes. I stopped as soon as I saw the smoke and I think I ran it for another 5 minutes after filling it with oil.
A few questions:
What type of oil fill do you have? Does it have a dipstick on top of the engine, or just a tiny port at the bottom of the engine that you unscrew?
Did you check the oil level AFTER the engine had been stopped at least a half hour? If you check it too soon after you shut down the engine, you will get a false reading. So:
If it has a dipstick, that one is obvious. Check the reading AFTER THE ENGINE HAS BEEN SITTING AT LEAST 30 MINUTES. It should read between the add and full mark.
If it has just a tiny screw port at the bottom of the engine, that should be up to the top WHEN SITTING AT LEAST 30 MINUTES.
Smoke? That leads me to believe you:
1) Over filled the crank case.
2) Tipped the mower over and oil leaked out through the filter and onto the hot engine where it was burning off.
I doubt there is anything catastrophic pending. In fact, some of the newer machines have a fail-safe feature that shuts down the engine if there is too little oil.
What type of oil fill do you have? Does it have a dipstick on top of the engine, or just a tiny port at the bottom of the engine that you unscrew?
Did you check the oil level AFTER the engine had been stopped at least a half hour? If you check it too soon after you shut down the engine, you will get a false reading. So:
If it has a dipstick, that one is obvious. Check the reading AFTER THE ENGINE HAS BEEN SITTING AT LEAST 30 MINUTES. It should read between the add and full mark.
If it has just a tiny screw port at the bottom of the engine, that should be up to the top WHEN SITTING AT LEAST 30 MINUTES.
Smoke? That leads me to believe you:
1) Over filled the crank case.
2) Tipped the mower over and oil leaked out through the filter and onto the hot engine where it was burning off.
I doubt there is anything catastrophic pending. In fact, some of the newer machines have a fail-safe feature that shuts down the engine if there is too little oil.
Thank you. I appreciate the genuine and accurate answer. Everything I've seen confirms what you said.
Go with electric. Then you don't have to worry about smelly and messy liquids and there is no maintenance. This baby with an ion lithium battery performs very similarly to gas powered mower "without the noise, fuss and fumes":
If you have very thick grass, such as Bermudagrass, or just tall grass in general, I do not recommend electric mowers. You're just not going to get the same power as you would from a gas mower. Another issue with electric mowers is that you constantly have to keep moving the electric cord from side to side,being especially careful not to run it over with the mower. And of course you always have to be near a power outlet, which likely is not practical if you have a large yard. I used to be a landscaper for a golf course so I have a lot of experience in this area. I have never tried the lithium-ion cordless mowers but I can't imagine they would be nearly as powerful as a gas mower, and I wouldn't want the battery to die in the middle of mowing.
Mine is. 36V and the first of the season it went right through some bits that were 6" tall. Like any push mower (like the OP) you feel it starting to bog down in high grass and walk slightly slower. They have their limits but Mine could do my yard three times over without trouble. I imagine your weed trimmer isn't electric either and you spend a lot of time yanking on cords and thinking about getting gas. I'm done with that stuff.
I like how you "have a lot of experience in this area" but haven't actually tried one. This is like saying you can't imagine how a melted bunch of ice cream in a cup would be any good because you've never tried a milkshake.
I just went electric as well (Ego 56 volt). It actually does a better job through the tall grass than my old gasoline mower (admittedly a cheap one).
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