[Closed] Have I lunched my new lawn mower? Ran without oil 🙁

Yep its FUBAR lubrication is pretty important for IC metal to metal running

that has seized....its dead

Maybe not. I seized a Honda Xl500 for lack of oil. Let it cool down, added oil with a little through the spark plug hole and it was fine.

If you're near Leeds I have a working petrol LM bought off a fellow STWer a couple of years back that I have never used, which you can have.

It's not fancy and will need oil 🙂

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How long was a few seconds? These engines have no oil pump they are lubricated by splash - if it got warm then cooling down may allow it to free off.
If it really was a few seconds then it may free off or need a bit of leverage - more than the pull start to get it moving again - I would oil via the plug hole and give it 50 pulls if it does move and then start again with oil in it - you might get away with it .

Oh dear 🙁

I can see how it may have looked like it had oil.... I guess you didn't wipe the dip stick and check again.

It's probably dead I'm afraid, or at least very poorly.
Try adding some thin oil into the cylinder and give it some time, but damage will have been done.

Get the piston moving before starting it little bit of brake fluid down the spark plug hole can help if it moving top oil up and see how it runs... Prob smoke a bit to start with may settle.down....

Bought online? A Local Mower Shop would have added oil at the point of sale.

Fill it up with oil.
Contact the shop and tell them it wont start.
Must have arrived like that..

Fill it up with oil.
Contact the shop and tell them it wont start.
Must have arrived like that..

This x 1000 .

Fill it up with oil.
Contact the shop and tell them it wont start.
Must have arrived like that..

No, just no.

Thanks for the offer bearnecessities it’s a wheeled trimmer I’ve bought though (a big strimmer on wheels) as I’ve some rough ground I need to periodically cut. Don’t worry I’m not going to try the send it back with oil approach! I bought it online, it’s a bit niche, I’ve not really seen them in any local suppliers.

Sharkbait, yeah that’s what I think I’ve done, just not wiped it. That’s the problem these days with two wee ones and trying to squeeze jobs into opportunistic time slots!

I’ve got some wd40 spray penetrant, I’m wondering if I should give that a go in the spark plug hole?

auto gearbox fluid has unbunged a few of my old 2 stroke bikes. In through the spark plug hole. Wait a couple of days., the piston can be shocked free by putting a rod through the spark plug hole & hitting it. But that can fugger the piston.

That does sound rather seized.

If you've been lucky it'll only be the top end. If you're unlucky the it'll be the mains and the crank as well as the top end.

Put some oil down the plug hole and the correct amount into the main oil filler. Leave it to soak and then try to spin it over with the plug out, as you don't want any compression to impede movement.

I've assumed it's a 4-stroke, as a two stroke would have an oil tank and that would obviously be empty.

If it still won't turn over then you could try getting a ratchet on the flywheel nut and turning it over with that, and if that doesn't work then yeah it's buggered.

Edit, or an air impact wrench on the flywheel nut, but this will either free it, or break it even more, and should be a last resort. If it is knackered and you're local to Nottingham I'll happily pull it apart and tell you just how broken it is.

Ouch! I would probably have done the same .You'd have think it would have come big hazard warning stickers all over it saying don't operate until oil added or some such like rather than burying that info away in the instructions.

I’ve got some wd40 spray penetrant, I’m wondering if I should give that a go in the spark plug hole?

Something a bit more 'oily' would be better really - hydraulic/power steering fluid would be ideal.
Problem is that the engine oil is a coolant as well as a lubricant, and without it the piston /cylinder wall will get hot and effectively weld themselves together somewhat. If you do free it up expect it to smoke a bit and be down on power/compression in the future.

First - absolutely NO on the WD-40 - it breaks down oil.

Second - per a couple of other folks above... Let it cool down, fill it with oil properly, see if it works. I ran our old B&Q mower down to no oil (yes, I too am an idiot) - until it seized. I let it cool for a few hours, filled it up, used it for another 2-3 years before the plastic main body finally disintegrated.

I would put diesel down the spark plug hole - and leave for 24 hours.

Diesel is good for pistons that have seized through 'corrosion' (i.e. being left a long time and water penetration) but this needs a bit more lube.

Worth trying to unseize it - if it was really only a few seconds there’s a good chance you might be able to recover it...

If you're lucky it will run, although maybe with a bit of piston slap. I rode my Honda 70 from Newcastle to Wolverhampton and it siezed in Stafford with the prolonged fast running, then freed up and ran fine but needed a rebore and an oversize piston, which was an easy job.

Don't do anything. Find a local lawn mower repair shop and take it to them and tell them what you did. They may be able to fix it.

Or email the company and be honest with them. They may have really good customer service or come across this before and have some really good advice.

It's a lawn mower, they are pretty simple and robust and might be easily fixed.

If it had test oil it's probably had enough lubrication to prevent too much damage.

Let's be positive about this rather than saying his new toy is dead.

This new toy is dead.

Haha the morning crowd is a little kinder!

It really was a few seconds, I pulled the cord (and was impressed how easily it fired up first run...) went round to the handle squeezed it and it died. Most have been around 10s. I think I will try and get it to a repair shop, if only to give them something to laugh at...

Trying to fight off the unconstructive thoughts ("I could've bought xxxx with that")!

Should’ve just got a Stihl brushcutter

(If it makes you feel better I have broken various mowers about 8 times in the last 3 months)

i ran a suzuki 120mx without any two stroke for a while .

Lucky i noted what i did as it started to struggle.

quickly stopped it , kept turning it over slow with the pull start

it lived to fight another day but i am the only one who can start it

Even if the piston/bore are screwed you just need a new piston and bore.... not difficult. What engine is in it?

Thanks Houns

You can Nelson Muntz me as you cycle past Terry!

Its a Briggs & Stratton 675 SERIES Exi sharkbait

Loads of similar videos on Youtube

It should have run for quite a bit longer than a few seconds with no oil, especially as your engine would have some residual oil left in it from the factory. Lawn mower engines are very tolerant of abuse!

It should have run for quite a bit longer than a few seconds with no oil

Quite agree... seems very odd.

I've wasted many many hours watching this guy

Or email the company and be honest with them. They may have really good customer service or come across this before and have some really good advice.

This.

Or plead ignorance and send it back. You're assuming you've killed it but you don't know for certain, it could actually have been faulty. I'm far from an expert but 10s does sound awfully quick, it's a lawnmower not an F1 engine. If your scenario were a likely outcome I'd have expected big "DO NOT RUN WITHOUT OIL" stickers all over it, you can't be the first to do what you've done.

I'd probably go for the middle ground. Tell them you started it up, it ran for ten seconds and died. Stick to the facts, you don't need to mention oil at all. Ball's in their court then to ask about oil or arrange a replacement or whatever.

Time spent watching mustie1 videos is not wasted!

Anyway engines that have been run in or are worn will run without oil for a while ,
but new engines are much more on the limit - its probably scuffed the bore a little
and likely would survive with a bit of a tidy up.

Hmm I'm flipping back to trying to free the piston with some oil before taking it to a shop. I mentioned WD-40 penetrant earlier, I meant this stuff. Is that still going to just disolve the oil? I guess it will, looks to be lots of light end HC's, I suppose I need some kind of mineral oil? ie go and buy some autobox oil as previously suggested.

i tried to HaHa as i went past but i suspect the long grass prevented you hearing 😉

id offer my assistance but im heading to the scott imminently.

Can't you just remove the spark plug, turn it on its side and turn the blade to see if the engine really is siezed? If it is, a bit of effort might get the piston moving but like the others on here I doubt that ten seconds without oil will have done it any harm. There was petrol in it and the tap turned on? It wasn't just running on the petrol in the carburettor float bowl?

Don’t turn it on it’s side, the oil will run where you don’t want it to...... oh

I’m flipping back to trying to free the piston with some oil before taking it to a shop.

Seriously, I'd talk to the supplier / manufacturer before cocking about with it any further. If you don't get anywhere then consider DIY solutions, but if you mess about with it now you might ruin any chance of getting a freebie / goodwill replacement. As I said earlier, you don't know you've damaged it, you're assuming.

I used to get this all the time back in my tech support days. "I wasn't getting any sound from the CD player, so I reinstalled Windows and now [everything else is hosed too]." With the best of intentions they've turned a simple job into a big one.

This all reminds me of a mate who bought a petrol chainsaw and asked me why it wouldn’t start, “I’ve put the 2 stroke fuel in it, but it won’t go”. Woah, there! 2 stroke fuel? You mean you’ve filled the tank with oil???

IT’S ALIVE!!! 😀 will post more later

I've been praying for this moment.

#PrayForMatsMower
#ThePowerOfPrayer

😎

Best of luck hope it continues working!
Mind you if you'd had plastic grass you would never have had this problem....but the wrath of kayla!!!!!!

IT’S ALIVE!!! 😀 will post more later

You turned the fuel tap on?

cloudnine

Subscriber
Fill it up with oil.
Contact the shop and tell them it wont start.
Must have arrived like that..

This ^^^

I did this to a 4 stroke lawn mower. My bad entirely, there were stickers on it saying don't run before filling etc.

I'm a mechanical engineer who designs/develops engines for a living and really should know better.

Anyway it seized after about 5 minutes running, but after cooling down and filling with oil it started up fine - I thought I'd get a few hours used out of it and resigned myself to needing to rebuild the engine - fresh bearings and maybe new crank, but not at all - it's still going strong 6 years later.

These small engines are pretty lightly stressed and if you're lucky it will be just fine - might have a shorter life but something else will quite likely break first !

Hahaha markwsf, pretty much the perfect consolation post! Fingers crossed I still get a good life from the engine...

I popped the spark plug out, squirted a bit of penetrant in, left it for 5mins then put a socket on the drive pulley (only 75mm so no leverage by hand). With a bit of gentle force the piston moved. I topped up the oil, cycled the piston a few times then put the spark plug back in. It fired up after a couple of pulls. Did 5 mins of trimming before deciding the neighbours wouldn’t really appreciate the noise at 21:30! Will report back if it dies again soon!

Thanks for all the support/kind words/abuse! #themowerofprayer

Woot!

Keep and eye on it for blue smoke/burning oil, if it doesn't smoke or smell of burning oil you should be fine with it.

If it's any consolation I ran an MX-5 with no oil.... that didn't end well.... fire just off the M60 which I had to put out with my drinks bottle.

Felt really really stupid as I'd thought the week before that I'd better check the oil levels, but it got cold so decided to put it off the weekend before I killed it.  Wife wasn't happy...

I now check oil levels in everything, regularly.

Glad you've sorted it!

Steve

Result!

Well done OP 👍

sharkbait

Even if the piston/bore are screwed you just need a new piston and bore…. not difficult. What engine is in it?

It was only run for a few seconds without sufficient oil, so that's what I'd look at doing.

But first I'd pull the head, and free the bore - a block of wood and a substantial tap should do the job after a good soak with oil.

Then pull off the cylinder and rub down any raised spots with fine emery paper - basically a polishing job.

Do the same with the piston. The idea being to remove any bits that have galled.

Flush the piston and cylinder a clean with petrol, oil it up and check there's a smooth sliding fit.

Check the spark plug for aluminium deposits and clean them off, and then check the spark.

Reassemble, and it almost certainly will run ok.

If it makes clanking noises then the big end is buggered, but that's unlikely in the time frame you quoted.

Shouldn't take more than an hour.

I can't add anything to this except to say 'good thread'. I enjoyed reading it and glad it all seems okay.

I think a few photos of STW's favourite miracle lawn mower are in order.

I made a shrine.

On another note, never store a lawnmower like this, all the oil will be draining past the piston rings and into the cylinder!

I love a story with a happy ending. 🙂

I can’t add anything to this except to say ‘good thread’. I enjoyed reading it and glad it all seems okay.

+1

And now I want to take an old petrol mower apart to see how they work (having never done such a thing).

It’s a lawn mower, they are pretty simple and robust and might be easily fixed.

If it had test oil it’s probably had enough lubrication to prevent too much damage.

Let’s be positive about this rather than saying his new toy is dead.

There wasn't many of us that had any faith. Hi five me! 🤣

Glad it worked out. Just keep an eye out for leaks

And now I want to take an old petrol mower apart to see how they work (having never done such a thing).