Seized lawnmower engine

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  • Knottscott
    Veteran Member
    • Dec 2004
    • 3815
    • Rochester, NY.
    • 2008 Shop Fox W1677

    #16
    I took a peek under the hood last night, lubed the cylinder up, and managed to get the motor turning. It loosened it up enough that I though it would pull. Put her back together, added oil, and gave it a few tugs. Before long I noticed a puddle of oil underneath... I'm afraid taps is playing for this one. I doubt it's worth an engine overhaul or replacement. Still the best $40 I ever spent on a mower.

    Thanks for the suggestions gents...I was optimistic for a while!
    Happiness is sort of like wetting your pants....everyone can see it, but only you can feel the warmth.

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    • LCHIEN
      Internet Fact Checker
      • Dec 2002
      • 20920
      • Katy, TX, USA.
      • BT3000 vintage 1999

      #17
      Originally posted by Dustmight
      I took a peek under the hood last night, lubed the cylinder up, and managed to get the motor turning. It loosened it up enough that I though it would pull. Put her back together, added oil, and gave it a few tugs. Before long I noticed a puddle of oil underneath... I'm afraid taps is playing for this one. I doubt it's worth an engine overhaul or replacement. Still the best $40 I ever spent on a mower.

      Thanks for the suggestions gents...I was optimistic for a while!
      Maybe it was leaking oil badly before, during it's last usage - that's why the sudden lockup. Otherwise I can't understand how all the oil just went away.
      Loring in Katy, TX USA
      If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
      BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

      Comment

      • Knottscott
        Veteran Member
        • Dec 2004
        • 3815
        • Rochester, NY.
        • 2008 Shop Fox W1677

        #18
        Originally posted by LCHIEN
        Maybe it was leaking oil badly before, during it's last usage - that's why the sudden lockup. Otherwise I can't understand how all the oil just went away.
        I was thinking the same thing. I seem to recall that the previous owner played with the throttle to get it rev higher. I always ran it about half way so never it gave it much though, but my oldest boy tends to run it full out, which may have contributed to some issues.
        Happiness is sort of like wetting your pants....everyone can see it, but only you can feel the warmth.

        Comment

        • eezlock
          Senior Member
          • Feb 2006
          • 997
          • Charlotte,N.C.
          • BT3100

          #19
          siezed lawnmower engine

          I would take out the sparkplug, and stand the mower on it's end, with cylinder pointing up, fill the cylinder with marvel mystery oil, put the plug in hand tight and leave it that way for a couple of days. After 2 days, put the mower back down on it's wheels, fill up the engine to proper oil level and try to slowly rotate the blade by hand and see if it is freed up. If it is freed up,
          by this time it may start, if it does it will smoke like a bonfire for a few minutes till all the mavel oil is burned off, but that won't hurt anything.

          Comment

          • Alex Franke
            Veteran Member
            • Feb 2007
            • 2641
            • Chapel Hill, NC
            • Ryobi BT3100

            #20
            Make it a project mower! Throw on a Chevy small block and some headers and you'll be the talk of the block!! (Maybe that's a good thing, maybe it's not...)

            In any case, what ever you end up doing with it, involve the kids in the process. It could be a fantastic learning experience! Oh, how I wished I could take something apart without getting into trouble when I was a kid!!!

            Good luck!
            online at http://www.theFrankes.com
            while ( !( succeed = try() ) ) ;
            "Life is short, Art long, Occasion sudden and dangerous, Experience deceitful, and Judgment difficult." -Hippocrates

            Comment

            • 68KANE
              Established Member
              • Jan 2005
              • 105
              • Atlanta, Georgia.

              #21
              Here's an article dealing with your problem. Good luck.

              What's her's is her's and what's mine is her's!

              Comment

              • shockj2000
                Handtools only
                • Apr 2012
                • 1

                #22
                s to you guys. I washed my mowers the other day at the car wash and emptied out the oil before hand so i could turn them upside down and really blow them out. I have a newer hrr216 honda and used it the other day and forgot to add oil before hand. it ran a good 20 minutes cutting a front lawn without oil then when moved to the back it bogged down and stopped. the motor locked on it. I put some mystery oil in it and wd40 and a min later tried turning the top of it with a breaker bar. It broke loose and had compression. I added oil tonight after draining it and it fired right up. I plan to do another oil change and either clean the spark plug or replace it. It may be ok but time will tell either way its working and thats all that matters...much thanks one thing that i did was put mystery oil in the spark plug hole. For anyone else that tries this on a honda, just put wd40 or some sort of lubricant saturate it good but not too much because it will come out of the muffler as u put it in. I was wondering where all the oil was going as i poured it in then saw a huge puddle under the mower from it coming out of the muffler.

                Comment

                • dbhost
                  Slow and steady
                  • Apr 2008
                  • 9209
                  • League City, Texas
                  • Ryobi BT3100

                  #23
                  Originally posted by shockj2000
                  s to you guys. I washed my mowers the other day at the car wash and emptied out the oil before hand so i could turn them upside down and really blow them out. I have a newer hrr216 honda and used it the other day and forgot to add oil before hand. it ran a good 20 minutes cutting a front lawn without oil then when moved to the back it bogged down and stopped. the motor locked on it. I put some mystery oil in it and wd40 and a min later tried turning the top of it with a breaker bar. It broke loose and had compression. I added oil tonight after draining it and it fired right up. I plan to do another oil change and either clean the spark plug or replace it. It may be ok but time will tell either way its working and thats all that matters...much thanks one thing that i did was put mystery oil in the spark plug hole. For anyone else that tries this on a honda, just put wd40 or some sort of lubricant saturate it good but not too much because it will come out of the muffler as u put it in. I was wondering where all the oil was going as i poured it in then saw a huge puddle under the mower from it coming out of the muffler.
                  I did the same thing with a 6HP Briggs & Stratton motor on a Craftsman mower years ago. That Marvel Mystery Oil sure did the trick for me! Same reason too. Flipped it to clean it, had the oil out of it forgot to refill it...
                  Please like and subscribe to my YouTube channel. Please check out and subscribe to my Workshop Blog.

                  Comment

                  • JimD
                    Veteran Member
                    • Feb 2003
                    • 4187
                    • Lexington, SC.

                    #24
                    My son used WD-40 to free up an old mower he got for free because the motor was seezed when he was still in college. Lawnmower engines are much simpler than car motors. When a car motor seizes, there is little hope of it running close to right without a lot of work. Seems like you have a chance on a lawn mower. B&S are just splash lubricated - they never have great lubrication.

                    I use a vacumn pump to pull oil out of my new toro (with B&S motor) to change it. It's bad enough that my BMW has no dip stick now my Toro has no drain plug! It seems like if they wanted you to change the oil they'd put a drain plug on the motor. I couldn't pull everything out the dipstick hole but I tilted it back and got enough the oil looks clean. I do not like turning it over because gas leaks out.

                    Jim

                    Comment

                    • jseklund
                      Established Member
                      • Aug 2006
                      • 428

                      #25
                      I think that if you got the piston moving, you're a good way there. You definately had an oil leak if it was gone, so you need to find the oil leak and fix it. Since it appears to be a relatively big leak, I would think it won't be too hard to find

                      All you need is gas, air, spark and compression and this bad larry will run again.

                      The only question here, is if the parts turn enough to compress the mixture, and if they walls of the cylinder seal tightly enough to allow for comression. I'm not sure if I've ever seen anyone do a compression test on a mower, or a leak-down test on a mower, but I guess it would work...

                      In other words, if you have compression and a free-turning piston, I would think you will more than likely be OK and should just find and fix the oil leak.
                      F#$@ no good piece of S#$% piece of #$@#% #@$#% #$@#$ wood! Dang. - Me woodworking

                      Comment

                      • Dal300
                        Banned
                        • Aug 2011
                        • 261
                        • East Central Texas
                        • Ryobi BT3100

                        #26
                        Well, Crup.. I fergot to see how old this thread was to begin with.

                        HR-215 isn't a complete model number.

                        The HR series has been around since the late 70's at least.

                        If you'll give me a complete model, serial and part number I can probably find you an affordable new engine cheaper than rebuilding it yourself, if you count parts and your labor.

                        Anything that is on any of the tags post here or send me.
                        Last edited by Dal300; 04-25-2012, 12:01 PM.

                        Comment

                        • Tom Slick
                          Veteran Member
                          • May 2005
                          • 2913
                          • Paso Robles, Calif, USA.
                          • sears BT3 clone

                          #27
                          Wow, this thread had been dead for 5 years!!
                          Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. - Thomas Edison

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