I have a 1997 Honda Harmony riding lawnmower Model # 2013. I purchased the service manual for it but the troubleshooting guide in it is for crap. Here is my story:

I bought this mower second hand... the guy I bought it from has three small kids... one of them (unknown to the previous owner (or so he says) filled the oil filler tube with gasoline. I discovered this when after charging the battery and starting the mower I decided to check the oil. When I did it smelled like gas. I drained the "oil" to discover that it was gasoline. I refilled to the proper level with oil. A few days later I started it and it ran fine but was smoking like crazy (blue smoke (burning oil right?) I also discovered that it was not only burning oil but there was a fine mist and particles of oil coming out of the muffler when it was running. I am thinking blown oil seals and possibly bad valves... My question is am I right or wrong? I don't want to tear the engine down completely unless I have to... if it is a seal somewhere that can be replaced easily enough I would want to do that rather than a 100% rebuild. Also what other causes could there be for this problem and what might I be looking for. Mower has plenty of power and doesn't hesitate or anything... just the annoying smoke... I should point out that after awhile the smoke dissipates but doesn't seem to go away 100%. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Mike:confused:

Give this a try, drain the contaminated oil and do not refill. Fill the gas tank and let it sit over night or longer. Check you crank case for raw fuel in a day or two. If you find gas in your crank I'd suspect your needle valve is not seating. It is allowing a steady drip, drip drip all night. If this is the case clean out the bowl, needle and seat. Some have jets that are inside the bolt holding the bowl on the carb. Lift the float and all fuel should stop dripping. Lower the float and you should see a small stream of fuel.

I tested the carb when I rebuilt it. It does seal properly when the float is raised and allows fuel to flow when lowered. I thank you for the response though I would have done exactly what you suggested if I hadn't already rebuilt the carb out of habit (whenever I get a new(old) mower I always rebuild the carb, change the fuel line and clamps, and drain and clean the fuel tank.

Mike

Previous owner may have started the mower when it was oiled with gas. Could have scored the cylinder. Who knows what happened without oil. This may be the reason he decided to sell, I'd ask him and want my $$ back if he knew it was blowing oil.

Sadly he claims he nothing about it and now won't return my calls so I am stuck with it. I guess I am going to have to take it apart and rebuild it 100%... I was hoping to avoid that if possible. Thank you for your response.

Mike

It was as ballenger said more than likely and there was a piece of debris under the inlet needle that has long since passed. I would think that no damage was done and being an overhead valve will puff some blue when it is cold. Also remember the muffler is large and will hold a lot of oil when it fills, I will take a long time to burn out.

Don

Don,

Thanks, I am going to take the muffler off and see if I can drain any out. There has to be an aweful lot of oil in there though as it doesn't just "puff" blue smoke it belches it and it "sprays" oil. If there was a way to post a picture here of what that looks like I would. It is like a cone shaped black spot on my lawn where the oil sprayed as it was running. But sometime this upcoming week I am going to take the muffler off and give it a shot. Thanks again.

Mike

I hasve seen it many a time, looks like a locamotive. No need to remove muffler just let it burn out. Unlike oil in the cylinder the oil in the muffler has to burn out by heat alone with no help from fire. I would just mow my lawn and at the end you should be good.

Don

Think of the side benefits, you'll kill most of the bugs in your neighborhood too.