Small Engines (Lawn Mowers, etc.): oil in carburetor, hiya tom, cylinder lubricant

Question
Hi Allen,

I have an old Kohler K321AQS 14HP single cylinder 4 stroke engine on my old Massey Ferguson (MF 1450) garden tractor which had been sitting in a wet environment for many years without being started.  The engine was locked up & I was told that, in order to minimize cylinder wall scoring & ring damage, to remove the spark plug & squirt Marvel Mystery Oil Top Cylinder Lubricant into the cylinder & let it sit for a day & then try to rotate the engine by hand before trying to start it.  Upon doing this, I was able to manually rotate the engine (though it still seems quite stiff).  The top of the piston as viewed through the spark plug hole still appears to have a lot of gunk on it, but I'm assuming that it will eventually burn off (if I ever get it running again).  Before I proceed to checking out the electrical & fuel systems, I need to know the simplest way to rid the carburetor of the oil that has apparently backed up from the cylinder into the fuel inlet line of the carb (& presumably all into the carburetor as well).  I'm not sure if this is 'normal' due to filling the cylinder with oil - or if maybe I was turning the engine in the wrong direction.  In any case, not wanting to dump a lot more money/effort into this project before being able to assess the condition of the rest of the engine, is there a way to clean the oil out of the carburetor well enough to try to fire it up, WITHOUT removing the carburetor & having to expend money for a kit/gaskets, etc.?  I have some Gumout Carb Choke Cleaner spray & am wondering if I can just profusely spray it directly into the carb air inlet and the fuel inlet hose to reasonably flush out the oil - or what would you recommend.  Thanks for any recommendations you could provide me.

Tom  

Answer
Hiya Tom
First- drain the oil completly out of the crankcase- just in case the level got raised because of water ingress.  If the oil looks ok, refill with fresh oil to the correct level.
Second-Pull off the carb bowl, spray gumout into every oriface.
Third, spray it down into the carb with the bowl off, and just about everywhere you can reach.
Finally, close it up, remove the plug and turn it over a number of times so the oil circulates without load.
If you've cleaned the gas tank, your ready to put some in and fire it off.  I suspect you'll find that the original problem will lie with the main crank bearings being bad. If this is still the case, you'll discover it soon enough after cranking.  If this is one of the old Kohlers with an iron block, its worth rebuilding, and converting to solid state ignition.  A crank kit and piston rings isn't expensive, and if the cylinder walls aren't scored, its a quick job.  Assess the engines running condition and consider getting an estimate from a reputable shop on a re-ring and crank bearing replacement.
I'll be out of town all week- but I'd like to know how you make out-
lemme know!