QuestionQUESTION: My daughter's 5.5 hp Craftsman pushmower has excessive oil in the combustion chamber. The spark plug is rusty looking. I suspect that she left it out in the rain. How do I remove the oil from the compression chamber?
ANSWER: hi john
remove plug
place old rag or shop towel over plug hole and pull over the starter or place engine at tdc compression stroke ( hold in this position with blade and use compressed air to blow combustion chamber clear of oil - replace plug, check oil level if too high drain to correct level or change oil completely with sae 30 and give the carburettor / tank assy a clean out might have oil in it too - replace air filter if wet as well , check breather is functioning
all going well with good compression and spark & @ right time engine should run provided water has not got to the valve stems and may have caused them to stick
when engine runs it may quite poosibly blow quite a bit of blue / white smoke then settle back after a few minutes - but if it doesnt could mean a breather fault
cheers hope this helps
paul
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Explain tdc compression stroke
Answerhi john
tdc is when cylinder is at its highest point of travel in the cylinder
if you remove plug and rotate engine quickly until you feel compression or resistance
stop then use a torch to look in through the plug hole to see the piston come to the very top of cylinder at this point hold the blade in that position and blow oil / water from combustion chamber with compressed air if there is oil / water it will come out
cheers paul
