How To Fix a Hydro-Locked Lawnmower

[MCCLURE300]

thanks great help and so clear

[newcoyote]

It is rare to find help for the exact problem I have(for me at least :/ ). This happend to a pressure washer that tipped over in my truck.Almost lost the job. This is not the first time you have helped me Dony. Thank you so much for doing these, being clear and easy to follow.

[donyboy73]

@newcoyote thanks for watching!

[donyboy73]

@newcoyote glad i could help

[fordescort1800]

if the oil from the sump that lubricates all the moving parts ans stops everthing fron seizing up you should check the oil level seen as you loose some oil

[kennybeam2008]

it happen to the one lawn mower that i found in the trash picked one night with my friend and it happen to the toro don't' get me wrong about the toro good lawn mower ever since it is running fine going about 2 years. i have to get few things for it but it is good thing to have around small house front with small engine.

[MegaMarclar]

dont tell the EPA... oh wait its on video lol

[D12caterpillar]

would it help to remove the muffler?

[donyboy73]

@D12caterpillar it might help the oil get out faster

[FrenchValleyAirport]

what if its water? lool

[donyboy73]

@FrenchValleyAirport use same procedure

[mcconnell51]

should leave the plug in the boot while pulling it over as it is possible to cook the coil from overcharging it.

[daand12]

Same happened to a scooter. It was a 2stroke. There was to much oil between the cylinderhead and piston. Ive just taken off the sparkplug and runned the electric starter for a few seconds. Didnt smoke much at all after this

[MrSammythebull25]

Hillbilly know how!

[wizard101emily]

EMERGENCY I BOUGHT A TORO FOR 30 DOLLARS WAS OUT OF OIL STUPID ME pUT TOO MUCH IN IT Will this work to drain some

[10yroldcarlover]

@wizard101emily yea, i wouldn't recommend it though, 

[D12caterpillar]

@wizard101emily i dont think so, you can try, there should be a small drain plug on the side, tilt the mower, and drain it, refill it correctly, and do this 1 time before starting, hope that helps

[wizard101emily]

@D12caterpillar nvm, its fixed i brought it to my neighbor and he said it  was fine he said the wrong dip stick was on it i bought it used

[hoz49]

WOW hope no one called MOE!

[ncrdisabled]

I seen a hydro locked engine one it got so hot with the oil in the muffler the muffler caught on fire. I have only seen this once but it ruined the muffler.

[TheDaredevil1968]

great info donyboy73 . i got a question, how do i bench test a 21 hp briggs and stratton engine to see if its running condition? i have a frame to bolt engine to` does the coil needs to have direct current in order for engine to start?

[donyboy73]

@TheDaredevil1968 the coil usually doesn't need current to function.

[10yroldcarlover]

@donyboy73 i have the exact same mower

[Nickster7ROR]

Wow! This was helpful! My brother wants to build a go kart with a lawnmower engine, so he put the engine in a box to store it. It was on it's side, so oil was leaking out of the muffler. I gues I know how to fix it if he ever wants it to run again! I guess you need a horizontal crankshaft motor to build a go kart, because you can't put a vertical shaft motor sideways can you?

[donyboy73]

@Nickster7ROR yes use a horizontal crankshaft for a go-kart

[4evaslipknot]

do u have a video or can u make a video on how too remove a gas tank on an 89 briggs and clean out the gas tank properly

[donyboy73]

@4evaslipknot sorry but i don't have a vid of that

[4evaslipknot]

@donyboy73 could u maybe make on for me cause i like this mower running straight

[gpzDave]

Haha not very good emissions from that engine! Great vid Dony ;)

[swabbster3]

oil from the crankcase so whats that mean? well less oil in the crank case so you might want to top up the oil ; )

[2035jim]

So that's how to make an effective smoke screen........

[KewlBuddi]

Great job donyboy73 your a awsome small engine doctor.

[donyboy73]

@KewlBuddi thanks!

[rob4hello]

I left a engine tilted overnight and it did the same thing... I honed the cylinder way too much and cut the ring gap.... Had the same problem till i lined up the ring gap together and it worked... but i almost kinda ruined the block and need new rings..... now its smoking out of the breather with lots of water coming out of it.. but it works.. :)

[siemenstraffic]

Al Gore disliked this video!

[uhrsker]

I should have thought of that. I was at the junkyard this past weekend and there was a quantum Briggs there that I couldnt get to turn over. I feel so dumb!

[jonesbrent85]

this can happen if your flowt gets stuck as well

[al45lot66]

this happened to my lawnmower, the smoke was extremely thick !

[mogges1]

Na that's a good thing for yard with mosquitoes.all that smoke will run them little critter off

[ArmyFtBall]

great video!

[spelunkerd]

When I was a kid my dad rolled his truck, and it was hauled to a mechanic. He asked the mechanic if they needed to drain the cylinders before turning it over, and he replied, "nope". He hopped into the truck and promptly blew a rod in the engine. Then the shop paid my dad for a new engine.

[dave7329]

This is where I'm glad I've got a 2 stroke mower. It doesn't matter which way you turn it over or store it and you can mow on steep slopes without any dramas. I had problems with a 4 stroke mower and they said it was from mowing on to steep a angle (they told me to use a whipper snipper instead). I gave the 4 stroke to my sister and bought a 2 stroke mower and I have never looked back. Unfortunately 2 stroke mowers are a dying off in favour of 4 strokes.

[donyboy73]

@dave7329 very hard to find a new 2 stroke mowers nowadays

[dave7329]

@donyboy73 Victa Australia still make them. The Victa two stroke mowers use engines made here by Victa Australia and their 4 stoke mowers use the imported Briggs, Honda engines, etc. They seem to aim their 2 stroke engines more to the commercial - heavy duty use market and for people with steep blocks, etc. (Victa two stroke engines are more expensive also).

[donyboy73]

@dave7329 here in canada we don't have victa

[twaymouth]

@dave7329 You can still get the victa 2 Stroke mowers brand new in New Zealand, Great machines all the contractors use them as they are light weight and very tough.

[CoRRisioN2142]

hand over the intake lol carb isnt puttin fuel in?

[PGXI]

I wonder if that lawnmower would of passed the state of California EPA engine Emissions Standards.........lol......?

you can`t even tilt them briggs to clean grass from underneath without getting oil up in the cylinder..........nice repair Dony

[donyboy73]

@PGXI lol

[Shandybrother]

you forgot to say the spark plug would have been covered in oil and would have needed cleaning!

[chrilla1980]

Thank you very much for another awesome video.

Cheers and take care

[donyboy73]

@chrilla1980 thanks

[JameKugelmann]

Hi Dony,

I have a 2 stroke 30cc line trimmer engine I use as a model on a stand. It worked beautifully then the next day I could not start it. Found the spark plug was producing a white spindly spark so I re earthed the coil and cleaned it all. It now produces a fat blue crackly spark. But it still doesn't start! I am starting it with a powerful drill. Took the whole engine apart, cleaned out the carbon and put it together with new gaskets, still no go. Any help? Thanks so much

[donyboy73]

@JameKugelmann if the plug is wet that means the plug or coil is too weak, if the plug is dry then there is no gas going to the engine

[JameKugelmann]

@donyboy73 Hi thanks for the help. The plug gets a little wet and one time it filled up the cylinder and I could not turn it over. The strange thing is, the spark is a fat blue crackly sounding spark which means excellent spark. I am thinking maybe the fuel isn't vaporizing because I don't see any happening.

[marcelh85]

You forgot to mention one important thing, to check the oil in the crackcase. if the oil is in the piston area its not in the crank case.

[officersnout]

i would have checked the oil level before trying to start it.!

[1972FordF150]

I've had a mower smoke like that on a cold start, engine was almost new. Never hydrolocked though.

[wizard101emily]

WISH you had uploaded this last year .......... i threw one away cause of that .......... wow it was a weed eater brand new. someone picked it out I had starting fluid at the time too

[Knightwight]

Lawnmower 1, Environment 0. :-D Sorry, had to laugh at all that smoke. Good to know about this situation though.

[captain18088]

Hey Dony

Question for you just watched your hydro locked mower vid the question is wouldn't the motor blowup if all the oil is out of motor or is there enough oil still in the motor not to hurt it.

[donyboy73]

@captain18088 the little bit of oil that came out was only a fraction of the oil left in the motor, i forgot to mention in the video that I had already checked the oil level

[jpstenino]

Great video thanks

[donyboy73]

@jpstenino thanks for watching

[RockinGuy1994]

I have had this trouble, And done the same. But without the quick start

[chevynut71570]

The mosquitos headed south after that, Thats a hell of a yard fogger! :D

[SuperchargedMustang5]

When is the best time to find mowers in the garbage? Winter? end of summer?

[donyboy73]

@SuperchargedMustang5 spring and summer

[krismounts]

GREAT VID DON,AS ALWAYS!!!!

[donyboy73]

@krismounts thank you

[MrCinimod93]

you forgot to say something very very very important add more oil to the base of the engine to replace what ended up in the piston and cylinder

[30GB]

2:04-2:06 DIESEL Engine LOL

[4micaman]

@30GB If you see a diesel pouring white/blue smoke, it's sick too. If it's pouring black smoke, it's the driver that's demented.

[nzirish1]

Hey Don did the neighbours phone the fire brigade, very funny....great vid

[donyboy73]

@nzirish1 LOL

[fullraph]

Hi Dony!

I have a lawnmower that someone put roundup in it by mistake and tried to start it (I know it's odd loll) but I've disassemble the carb and cleaned it all good and it started first pull, she ran good for about 20 minutes no problem then it stopped suddenly, I tried to restart it but she had no compression at all. Do you think the roundup can had damaged the cylinder rings or maybe the valves? (sorry for the bad english, i'm french)

Thanks

[TDHReviews]

@fullraph sounds like you might have a valve sticking open, or maybe the roundup killed the carb and other internal parts. I had a mower that someone put degreser in and it ate up the carb

[donyboy73]

@fullraph NOT SURE BECAUSE i Have never heard of thast happening

[fullraph]

@donyboy73 There's one thing I noticed when I tried to restart it, it was doing backfire...

[FyberOptic]

@fullraph That stuff is corrosive for metal and probably abrasive as well. It also contains water. Without knowing how much got into the cylinder though, and how long it was in there, it's hard to tell what happened. But the only way to know for sure is to pop the head off and take a look.

[fullraph]

@FyberOptic Yeah that's what I tough but i'm affraid to break the gasket, I don't know how to get part fort it, it's a yardwork tecumseh 6.5 HP engine, I must tchek for the serial number...

[backwoodsctryboy]

@fullraph u wont break the gasket as when the engine fires on the power stroke there is thousands of psi pushing the piston down.......

[Cytacon]

@fullraph I hope you were careful cleaning it out, roundup is very toxic stuff. Roundup is also very corrosive, it could have damaged the valves.