Push lawn mower sputtering then engine shutting off?

Question

I just bought a lawn mower at a garage sale. It was working fine till I tipped it over to look underneath it at the blades. At first it was spitting white smoke out the exhaust. Now it is sputtering, smoke still coming out not necessarily white, then the engine will stop. What is wrong with it and how do I fix it?

Answer 1

in the future when tipping your mower, keep the carb side of it up, then gas or oil won't flood the carb. as for right now, you should buy new spark plug and replace it, the old one is probably fouled. like one of the other people said, clean out the carb with carb clean,and wash out and then re oil the air filter first. then it should work again.

Answer 2

Remove the spark plug...quickly pull the engine over several times. I would replace with a new spark plug and you should be fine. What has happened is when you tipped the mower over you super flooded the engine.

Answer 3

Start with the carb. Take it apart, clean it (carb/choke cleaner). Put it back together. Try again. Then move to the plugs, etc.

Answer 4

Sounds like you've flooded the engine with gas.

Let it rest upright for a day and see if that fixes it.