Hi,
I'm a small engine repair novice, so bear with me. All of my knowledge I have gained recently from Google and the Briggs & Stratton website. I have a 22" cut Poulan push mower with a 158cc B&S single cylinder engine (10T500 series). Last season, after 4 years of working great post one trip to the shop, the engine started running rough. I took the carb off and gave it a good cleaning. In the process I messed up the throttle linkage and subsequently lost the springs. Not knowing any better, I taped the throttle wide open and finished out the season. I have a very small yard that takes 5 min to mow and probably mowed six or a little more times with the throttle like that. The engine produced some white smoke(not tons) but still ran well the last few times but I didn't think much of it. To prep for winter I put fresh gas with Stabil in the tank and ran it for 10 min. Then I changed the oil and put it away. The oil is slightly over filled, according to the dipstick, but not by much.
This weekend, I fixed the linkage with new governor blade, linkage coil, and two springs per the B&S parts manual and pics from Google. The mower started with the gas I put in last fall but was constantly revving and producing white smoke with occasional slight black smoke when it choked down. It never died but would run rough when I decreased the throttle. I replaced the air filter (which wasn't that dirty to begin with) and different gas (though not fresh; It was what fresh last fall and stored in a new gas can all winter with Stabil). The spark plug was heavily fouled with a dry black appearance. I don't have a gap tester, but it doesn't look damaged. I wire brushed the spark plug and re-installed. The mower started on first pull. The revving is decreased/gone but now lots of white smoke and runs rough.
The B&S website lists a number of things that could cause white/blue smoke, the three most likely(at least to me) include: overfilled crank case(not sure if my a slight over fill is enough to do this), blown head gasket, or worn cylinder/piston rings. Other websites/forums seem to provide conflicting various other opinions.
Engine Burns Oil | White Smoke From Engine | Briggs & Stratton
My plan is to get fresh gas and try it first. If that fails, I will buy a compression tester to check that the engine holds compression. I will check locally for the tester but will probably end up buying an inexpensive one online sometime this week. Is my plan reasonable or should I be looking for a different problem? If the engine doesn't hold compression, is either the gasket or the piston rings more likely than the other? If the engine does hold compression, where should I look next? I kind of want to figure this out on my own rather than take it to a shop but would be willing to admit defeat if I can't figure things out within the next few weeks. Thanks.
I'm a small engine repair novice, so bear with me. All of my knowledge I have gained recently from Google and the Briggs & Stratton website. I have a 22" cut Poulan push mower with a 158cc B&S single cylinder engine (10T500 series). Last season, after 4 years of working great post one trip to the shop, the engine started running rough. I took the carb off and gave it a good cleaning. In the process I messed up the throttle linkage and subsequently lost the springs. Not knowing any better, I taped the throttle wide open and finished out the season. I have a very small yard that takes 5 min to mow and probably mowed six or a little more times with the throttle like that. The engine produced some white smoke(not tons) but still ran well the last few times but I didn't think much of it. To prep for winter I put fresh gas with Stabil in the tank and ran it for 10 min. Then I changed the oil and put it away. The oil is slightly over filled, according to the dipstick, but not by much.
This weekend, I fixed the linkage with new governor blade, linkage coil, and two springs per the B&S parts manual and pics from Google. The mower started with the gas I put in last fall but was constantly revving and producing white smoke with occasional slight black smoke when it choked down. It never died but would run rough when I decreased the throttle. I replaced the air filter (which wasn't that dirty to begin with) and different gas (though not fresh; It was what fresh last fall and stored in a new gas can all winter with Stabil). The spark plug was heavily fouled with a dry black appearance. I don't have a gap tester, but it doesn't look damaged. I wire brushed the spark plug and re-installed. The mower started on first pull. The revving is decreased/gone but now lots of white smoke and runs rough.
The B&S website lists a number of things that could cause white/blue smoke, the three most likely(at least to me) include: overfilled crank case(not sure if my a slight over fill is enough to do this), blown head gasket, or worn cylinder/piston rings. Other websites/forums seem to provide conflicting various other opinions.
Engine Burns Oil | White Smoke From Engine | Briggs & Stratton
My plan is to get fresh gas and try it first. If that fails, I will buy a compression tester to check that the engine holds compression. I will check locally for the tester but will probably end up buying an inexpensive one online sometime this week. Is my plan reasonable or should I be looking for a different problem? If the engine doesn't hold compression, is either the gasket or the piston rings more likely than the other? If the engine does hold compression, where should I look next? I kind of want to figure this out on my own rather than take it to a shop but would be willing to admit defeat if I can't figure things out within the next few weeks. Thanks.