Engine Engine smoking after adding motor oil

Ok, I have not been good to my mower. I have a Craftsman 670 series which doesn't get used much.

I noticed some smoke and black sludge coming from the oil tank so I bought some 10-30 motor oil for lawn mowers and other small engines. I hadn't put any oil in since buying it and it was bone dry.

After putting in about a quart and firing up the lawn mower, there was a huge amount of smoke coming out of the mower. I turned it off and tried again and the same result.

I am not sure what to do. Did I really screw things up?

Did I really screw things up?


I would say so if you ran the engine out of oil. New mower or engine time if I would make a guess.

If you really did run it out of oil then it surely is toasted. However a quart of oil was more than likely to much and that would be the cause of the smoking.

possum said:

If you really did run it out of oil then it surely is toasted. However a quart of oil was more than likely to much and that would be the cause of the smoking.

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I agree. Try draining the extra oil out and setting the oil level to the correct amount and run the engine for five minutes. It is possible you tipped the mower in the wrong direction and excess oil got in the muffler and it just needs to be burned out. Your mower will look like the mosquito abatement crew going by as the oil burns out but you have nothing to lose at this point. If the smoke does not go away, the mower needs to.

Are you sure the engine requires 10W30? Kohler uses 10W30 and Briggs uses 30W. Which engine do you have?