Small Engines (Lawn Mowers, etc.): B & S magnetron 3.5 mower 92902, mtd mower, dark smoke

Question
Hi there!
I was mowing the lawn yesterday and my MTD mower sounded a little low in rpm's. There was a little dark smoke coming from the exaust as well. I turned the throttle screw a 1/4 turn or so, which didn't seem to affect. So I kept mowing the grass and it seemed t o run better at certain "angles". Anyway, probably a bad thing to do, I tipped it a little side-to-side while running. That didn't do much until I stopped to check on my kids. When I tried to re-start it, no go. I took off the foam air filter and it was drenched in black oil. I cleaned the filter and re-soaked it in clean oil. There was a little oil in the carb, and the spark plug appeared to be wet w/ oil as well. After cleaning those, I still get no start. Any advice appreciated!!

Answer
Hi C. Smith,

Sorry for my delay which was due to the holiday.

First, make sure that the oil level is not overfull.  Next, check the crankcase vent/breather to make sure it is not plugged.  Finally, to eliminate a bad intake valve as a possibility, I would do a compression test.

Let me know what you find.
Michael