Lawnmower white smoke?

Question

OK, so I tilted my lawnmower onto the side to wipe grass off the blades and the underside. The phone rang and I ran inside and left the lawn mower in this position for a few minutes. I realize now this was a big mistake and I am stuck with the following problem.

The air filter has oil all over it.

A small puddle of leaked oil on the lawn mower itself, so obviously I have lost oil.

I ran the engine for a few seconds to get rid of the excessive white exhaust.

There is no more excessive white exhaust, however while the engine is now running there is a weird smell, I guess its the smell of the oil burning.

I decided to leave the machine and now I'm asking the question:

What should I do? Change the oil, drain something, change the airfilter (I assume obviously yes)

Well, any help or information would be greatly aprreciated.

By the way, the motor is a Honda engine on a mastercraft mower.

Answer 1

Well since it is not smoking any more you have burned off all the oil.You might want to clean your plug and air filter but you should be ok.

Answer 2

you may have gas and oil mixed. pull the spark plug and attempt to start any left over in motor will come out. smell oil to see if it smells like gas.

Answer 3

Not familiar with this mower but if it has a dry filter (pleated paper such as an automobile) and it's fairly well soaked with oil I would advise a new filter.  If it's a foam filter and needs a bit of oil to enhance the filtering capabilities, you just need to wring any excess oil out and put the filter back in.  

To be sure you didn't get any gas in the oil it will not hurt to change the oil.  You could start the engine for a couple of minutes to suspend any dirt/fines into the oil prior to draining it out.  

What more than likely happened when you tipped the mower (it's ok to tip them, but next time tip it on the other side) is that there is a breather that allows the crankcase (where the oil is) to draw in fresh air that has been thru the filter, and oil ran up the tube, into the carb, out the filter backwards, onto your driveway/sidewalk.  It's not likely, but possible, that some gas ran out as well and may have gone into the crankcase.  Why not change the oil just in case??

When you started the mower, with all that oil in the carburetor/filter area, plain oil was drawn into the engine and got into the combustion chamber.  When the gas was burning as the engine was running it was burning some of that oil as well, hence the white smoke.

Rest assured you did no permanent damage to anything, other than the air filter, if it's paper, and the driveway where you now have a nice oil stain.  (That can be removed with carburetor cleaner from an autoparts store, the cheaper kind is just fine.  Spray it on and wipe it up with an old rag.  Don't get it on you.  You'll live thru it, but you may feel a bit of a burning/dryness 'til you wash.)

Answer 4

Yes it could be oil mixed with the gas burning, or you stirred up the solid deposits in the bottom of you gas tank.