QuestionI have a somewhat older Briggs and Stratton "craftsman" riding lawn mower. I had a problem with a small piece of grass that got stuck in my float causing fuel to get into the crank case. It took me some time to figure out the problem but I finally did and I drained about 2qts of fuel that had been sitting in my crank case all summer.
Question. Can I just put oil in and drive on? or have I ruined the whole engine by letting the fuel sit in there for so long?
Thank you for your time
Jeremi
AnswerDrain all the oil as you have, and refill with SAE-30. Remove the spark plug and then crank the engine to remove gas/oil that may be in the engine cylinder. If possible, you may want to remove the muffler and soak the muffler in carburetor cleaner or a parts cleaner tank to remove any oil that may have gotten in the muffler.
With fresh oil and the cylinder drained, start the engine. It will most likely smoke for while. This is typically just oil burning out of the cylinder and muffler. Run the engine for 15 to 20 minutes. Turn it off and change the oil again. Re-fill engine with oil and should be fine.
The smoking can last for a while, 30 minutes or more, several times you run the engine. Just make sure the engine isn't really burning oil. If you constantly have to add more than 4 ounces of oil then the engine is actually consuming oil.
We the same problem as you described with mowers all the time. Draining and refilling the oil a few times will clean all the gas out of the engine.
Eric
