Toro Self-Propelled Won't Crank

My mother just moved here from several states away -- the mower was in transit "nose down" when it arrived, and the pull cord had been removed from the holder while the handle was disassembled. A metal clip prevents the cord from retracting into the housing while in the disassembled state.

Put it all together, but had some difficulty pulling the cord the remaining 6" required to nest the handle in the cord holder on the handle. From there, even while depressing the safety/start bar, the crank cord will not pull more than about 1/2 inch which is no where near enough to start.

Ideas?

The cylinder is likely hydro locked with oil ... Remove the spark plug and pull it through several times. Clean up the spark plug replace it & check the engine oil level, if low add some... should fire up, may smoke a little at first but will clear up... :smile:KennyV

Concur - also look at your air filter depending on if the engine valve was open or closed when it fell over .

Thank you. Removing the spark plug and catching all the oil which proceeded to drain from the opening -- on a flat surface no less -- absolutely solved the problem of not being able to pull the cord / crank the motor. I then changed the oil (what oil was left from the "nose down" moving process), started the motor, and let all the oil burn out of the muffler.

Runs great now.

Thanks!