At times, you may experience white smoke from your lawn mower. You really don’t need to get scared about it; instead, look out for more straightforward ways to troubleshoot them. So what causes white smoke from a lawn mower? There could be endless reasons for this, but the most common ones are;
- Broken head gasket
- Overfilling of oil
- Leaking oil from the exhaust
- Tilting engine at a greater angle
- Flipping mower’s position for maintenance
You can get all the essential information related to white smoke from a lawn mower through our article. So without further ado, let’s dive into it.
Table of Contents
Reasons that Cause White Smoke from a Lawn Mower
Some of the reasons which could result in white smoke coming from a lawn mower include:
- Inappropriate oil grades & overloading the crankcase using oil.
- Broken rings, cylinders, and a blown head gasket.
- The engine operates at above 15 degrees angle.
- Air leakage or oil leakage from a crankcase.
- Unserviceable or broken crankcase breather.
- Turning or tilting of an engine.
How to Fix the White Smoke from a Lawn Mower
- First of all, carefully analyze the air filter and replace it if you find grime or pollen, if possible.
- Secondly, examine the oil level, type, and grade. And if necessary, change the mower’s oil or Fill up the oil grade.
- Thirdly, turn on the engine and let it run for about a good 5-10 minutes in order to burn out excessive oil that could make its way onto the engine.
- Lastly, look out at which angle you’re mowing. An angle greater than 15 degrees could result in oil leakage.
Top Reasons of White Smoke from Lawn Mower
Tipping of a Mower/ Use it at a Greater Angle
One of the crucial reasons for white smoke is the incorrect way of tipping a mower or using it at a very steep angle. Most of the time, people tip the mower at its back or side for maintenance purposes. Or even they keep it on a surface where the angle is greater than 15 degrees. As a result, the engine oil can make its way to the cylinder and may burn out. And ultimately, you may observe white smoke coming out.
How to fix it?
If you find the oil enters the combustion chamber, you can fix this by burning out oil for some time. Not only that, you can tip the mower in its correct position by taking help from your lawn mower’s guide. Also, keeping the mower at a low steep angle (below 15 degrees) would work best to avoid clouds of white smoke. Lastly, you can fix this issue by cleaning the carburetor and putting the air filter facing upwards.
Overloading Oil in Mower’s Engine
Engine oil is another reason for producing white smoke. However, changing engine oil after regular intervals or maintenance purposes is pretty normal. But, at times, people fill up their mower’s engine with excessive oil that would start coming out from an exhaust muffler. Similarly, sometimes, they put low oil that could result in smoking. As a result, you may find difficulty in starting the engine.
How to avoid it?
You can avoid overfilling oil by carefully reading the user manual with a lawn mower. Place the exact amount of oil your lawn mower needs. Typically, a lawn mower requires 20 ounces or less. Afterwards, with the help of a dipstick, examine whether the oil reaches the indicated mark or not. In case if you’ve overfilled the oil, the only way to get rid of this is by removing the excess oil.
Cranked or Broken Head Blown Gaskets
Another critical reason for big white smoke clouds is due to damage or broken head gaskets. They are placed in the area that connects the cylinder with an engine. If the cylinder head is not sealed tightly with a head gasket, there are chances of oil dripping/leakage into the combustion chamber. Not only that, the oil can reach a crankcase, too, resulting in white smoke.
How to evade it?
Head blown gaskets are found in OHV engines. Once the head gasket becomes damaged, they are not repairable. So that if you find the oil starts leaking or producing any unwanted noise, there is no other way to fix the head gaskets except by adding a new one.
Worn Cylinders/Broken Rings
Among all the causes, the most disturbing & challenging reason for white smoke from a lawn mower are broken rings or worn cylinders. Both of these control the amount of oil in an engine. Also, they stop the excessive amount of oil from reaching the combustion chamber. If they fail, there is no way to avoid too much oil getting into the combustion chamber.
How to get rid of this?
Damage piston rings occur due to not changing oil for a long time. Also, failed pistons result due to unwanted particles in the air filter. In order to get rid of this problem, unfortunately, there is no quick way to fix it, except by buying a new engine or seeking professional help to rebuild it.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)
Why is my 4 stroke lawn mower smoking?
Probably, your lawn mower suddenly starts producing white smoking. However, white smoke generally indicates that the mower’s engine is burning oil. Not only that, smoke occurs due to blown head gaskets, titling of an engine, broken cylinder, out-of-order oil grades usage, and much more.
How can I stop white smoke from the lawn mower?
First of all, you need to figure out the exact reason for a smoke. It could be due to a cranked head gasket, overfilling of oil, or a mower tipped over. In order to stop smoke, you can replace the head gasket or burn out the excessive oil that may reach your engine.
Does too much oil causes white smoke?
Adding too much oil may harm your engine and ultimately result in producing white smoke. Hence, avoid adding too much oil as it would damage the mower’s engine, head-blown gaskets, and much more.
Wrapping Up:
A big white cloud coming out from a lawn mower might be scary; if not managed properly could result in problematic conditions. Hence, you should pay immediate attention if you find smoke coming from a lawn mower.
In a nutshell, there could be numerous possible reasons to get white smoke coming out from a lawn mower. And we’ve made every effort to come up with all the possible reasons how to fix them.
We hope with the help of our article. You got a clear idea about the reasons for white smoke coming out from lawn mowers.