Is my lawn mower seized up?
I recently replaced the starter rope and pully assembly on my Snapper lawn mower. When I did this I changed the oil. I started it up for the first use after the repair and it seemed to work fine and I continued to mow the lawn with no problems at all. The next time I when to mow the lawn I pulled on the starter rope the engine tried to start but the starter rope stayed extended. I proceded to take the mower back apart to check the pully assembly. The spring was kinda funky and I think I fixed it, however, when I got it all back together and tried to start the mower again I could not pull the rope unless I pulled really hard and it didn't start. I checked the oil and it was empty. But I know I put oil in it. Any one know what happened? What to do? How Much its gonna cost me?
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It's easy enough to test to see if the engine is seized up from lack of oil – just remove the spark plug and then pull the starter rope. If it's seized up it'll still be tight, but if it isn't seized there'll be no resistance to move the piston up and down. While you've got the spark plug out, put about one ounce of oil in the spark plug opening and give the starter rope a few pulls to lubticate the piston before you reinstall the spark plug.
If the starter rope doesn't auto-rewind, you've got a different problem. Apparently you've got a broken or disconnected spring, but you can probably pick up a starter assembly at a salvage yard for much less than what you'd pay at a small engine parts store.
If you lost all the oil, you probably "just thought" you refilled it, or you forgot to tighten the oil plug and it drained the oil.
The bolt on the top of the motor assembly may be too tight.
Somehow the oil leaked out. Did you be sure to tighten the drain plug?
How much is it gonna cost you? About the price of a new mower. The piston and cylinder wall are scored as are the bearings on the connecting rod and crank.
It'll cost you almost as much to get it repaired as to get a new mower.
If you checked the oil and it was empty, put more in, check the level, check that the drain plug is tight, and try it again.
Try reaching underneath and turning the engine over by turning the pulley. If it turns real hard or not at all then the engine is probably seized.
Did you put the drain plug back on tight? If it was indeed empty…. it sounds like it seized… (even a engine with no oil in it should turn over with ease, as long as it was never run like it)
Though it sounds like you also didn't get the recoil system back right….. it should recoil anyway….. take the shroud off and try to turn the engine over by hand…… it should turn over with little effort (till it hits the compression stroke)