I'm an idiot, seized up my lawn mower due to low old oil

5,216 Views | 23 Replies | Last: 3 yr ago by ABATTBQ11
Rustys-Beef-o-Reeno
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just seized up on me and and the blade is frozen. Am I sol or is there any way to salvage the mower? new oil, wd40 sledgehammer etc.

Suggestions and name calling are acceptable.
Builder93
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Honey, I need to get one of those new cordless mowers! Mine died!
Rustys-Beef-o-Reeno
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I deserve that
91AggieLawyer
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By "blade is frozen," do you mean you can't turn the blade at all?

I haven't tried this but if you have a heat gun, remove the gas, remove the muffler and spark plug and try heating up the block. Maybe that will loosen the piston a little and you can try the blade again. I wouldn't use additional fluids if you're going to try this out of an abundance of caution.
ABATTBQ11
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Marvel mystery oil or another penetrating oil into the cylinder may loosen it, but you could have easily damaged the cylinder and/or block. In that case, you're SOL and a new mower might be the best option.

To try to work the piston had free, first drain the oil and fuel. Then remove the spark plug and spray the penetrating oil in the spark plug hole. Wait an hour, then do it again. Wait another hour, then try to work the mower blade back and forth to move the piston in the cylinder. Do that with the spark plug out. If you can get the piston head moving freely with the mower blade, put new oil in, gas it up, replace the plug, and try to start it. If you can't get the piston moving, you're basically SOL.
aggiedent
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Rustys-Seize-o-Reeno

You sir are fracked!!
Rustys-Beef-o-Reeno
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BrazosDog02
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A couple of thoughts.

Motors don't seize from Low oil u less it's nearly no oil.

If it's that low, you had a seal leak and unless you like working on small engines, specifically pulling crank seals, it's probably for the best.
Gilligan
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Merry Christmas to yourself. It's a brand new battery powered lawn mower.

Ego Lawn Mower
Ribeye-Rare
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ABATTBQ11 said:

Marvel mystery oil or another penetrating oil into the cylinder may loosen it, but you could have easily damaged the cylinder and/or block. In that case, you're SOL and a new mower might be the best option.

To try to work the piston had free, first drain the oil and fuel. Then remove the spark plug and spray the penetrating oil in the spark plug hole. Wait an hour, then do it again. Wait another hour, then try to work the mower blade back and forth to move the piston in the cylinder. Do that with the spark plug out. If you can get the piston head moving freely with the mower blade, put new oil in, gas it up, replace the plug, and try to start it. If you can't get the piston moving, you're basically SOL.
I agree. This actually works, although my penetrating oil of choice is Kroil (don't spoil it, Kroil it).

Also depending upon the position of the piston and the head configuration, you might be able to insert a wooden dowel into the spark plug hole and strike it with a hammer to jar it loose.

Be extra careful if you try turning the blades. I knew a guy who damn near cut his thumb off when he lost his grip and slipped. It never did heal back right, despite a ER visit when it happened.

Some of those old motors are pretty damn resilient. We once bent a crank by running the mower over a piece of channel iron, and knowing the motor was probably toast, just beat it back into place the best we could and got some more life out of it. No, it didn't last forever, and vibrated fairly badly, but it lived a while longer.
CEPhD
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https://www.harborfreight.com/engines-generators/gasoline-engines/55-hp-173cc-ohv-vertical-shaft-gas-engine-epacarb-69731.html

Slap a Harbor Freight Honda copy on that.
Picard
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Life is short and push mowers are relatively cheap. Just buy a new one and move on with your life.

AG1904
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I had this happen once. All I did was drain the old oil, add new oil, and rotate the blade by hand a few times until it felt like it was moving smoothly. Pulled the string and it fired right up. That was probably 2 yrs ago, and it is still running strong.
ABATTBQ11
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Ribeye-Rare said:

ABATTBQ11 said:

Marvel mystery oil or another penetrating oil into the cylinder may loosen it, but you could have easily damaged the cylinder and/or block. In that case, you're SOL and a new mower might be the best option.

To try to work the piston had free, first drain the oil and fuel. Then remove the spark plug and spray the penetrating oil in the spark plug hole. Wait an hour, then do it again. Wait another hour, then try to work the mower blade back and forth to move the piston in the cylinder. Do that with the spark plug out. If you can get the piston head moving freely with the mower blade, put new oil in, gas it up, replace the plug, and try to start it. If you can't get the piston moving, you're basically SOL.
I agree. This actually works, although my penetrating oil of choice is Kroil (don't spoil it, Kroil it).

Also depending upon the position of the piston and the head configuration, you might be able to insert a wooden dowel into the spark plug hole and strike it with a hammer to jar it loose.

Be extra careful if you try turning the blades. I knew a guy who damn near cut his thumb off when he lost his grip and slipped. It never did heal back right, despite a ER visit when it happened.

Some of those old motors are pretty damn resilient. We once bent a crank by running the mower over a piece of channel iron, and knowing the motor was probably toast, just beat it back into place the best we could and got some more life out of it. No, it didn't last forever, and vibrated fairly badly, but it lived a while longer.


I'll have to try kroil. Personally I'm a fan of PB Blaster, but I'm always open to new things.

+1 on being careful with the blades. Might be worth putting some kind of sheath over them and securing with zip ties. Could rip a dado in some scrap wood and use that.
BrazosDog02
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If the motor is seized up to the point we're cutting kerfs in wood to help leverage it, you can rest assured that wherever that piston stopped in the cylinder, there is a trail of teardrops and gouges behind it. It won't be any good. Even if freed it won't have proper compression and the excessive heat from poor mating surfaces will lead you down the path to this exercise during your next lawn cutting experience.
ABATTBQ11
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Really more of a safety thing. Don't grab the blade end anything without a sheath. I'd probably do the same thing even for a blade change because I don't wnt to slip and **** up my fingers or anything.
BCOBQ98
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My dad did almost the same thing only differences he drain the oil to change it and forgot to put new oil in it. He had it on a Rototiller and rototilled his whole garden and at the very end it seized up. He brought it over to me to help me look at the engine and I took it apart. The connecting rod had shattered and the whole cylinder was scored. It was a total loss. My guess is yours is the same situation.
SCHTICK00
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If it seized it's done. Cylinder is scarred along with piston and collapsed rings. Rod and crank will be scarred too. It's toast
Bonfire97
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Go to YouTube and search for "project farm". This guy actually tortures Briggs and Stratton engines. He has a video where he seizes one up and gets it running again. You can probably pull the head and pour something like WD40 on top of the piston and soak it and get it to free and even start. But, as others have said, the cylinder wall is likely scored and you will be burning some oil and have a loss of compression.
Kenneth_2003
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Rusty... a new Push mower without self propel and oversize rear tires probably runs ~$300 these days. I'm still running the one I bought at WalMart in 2007 and it just won't die... Buy a new one and a 6-pack and call it a day.
texsn95
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Need video of the first startup.
Houstonag
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Cut your loss and just buy a new mower. Saves what parts you can.
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Quad Dog
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Do you have any tips? I'm using my Dad's old mower that I learned to mow a yard with 20+ years ago. I keep waiting for it to die so I can justify getting a new one. It still starts first pull everytime.
ABATTBQ11
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How did this turn out? Is OP still alive after trying to start this thing or what?
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