Push mower tipped on its side, oil leaked out of the air filter

Question

I have a 20+ year old Honda HRB217HXA walk-behind mower.

I was doing some work to replace part of the handle assembly and had it tipped up vertically onto its left side (with the air filter facing down, which I have since learned is the wrong way to do it.) I left it that way for about half an hour while I went to the store to get a tool.

When I got back, I saw that oil was leaking out of the air filter housing. I popped the lid off and there was a substantial amount of oil. Perhaps 4-5 ounces of oil leaked out in total. I cleaned it up as best I could with paper towels.

What should be done before I can run it again? I'm worried that the oil got somewhere it shouldn't.

I'm not very mechanically inclined, so please use short words. :-)

Answer 1

Not too worry. No real damage done. The reason it came out of the air cleaner is because there is a tube which runs to the crankcase which is basically a positive crankcase ventilation system for the mower (emissions). When you tipped it on its side, some of the oil went down this tube directly to the air cleaner.

All you need to do before your run it (because you already cleaned the air cleaner assembly) is to ensure you have enough oil in your mower. There should be a small plastic plug at the base of the mower, above the deck, with two small knobs (well, that's how most of them are) on it. Turn this counter clockwise and check the oil. The oil should go up to the bottom of the whole where the plug goes in. If it doesn't say what weight of oil to use, most mowers use 30w oil in it (at least here in the States).

If you don't know and you want to make sure you're not mixing it, you can always drain the old oil out and put fresh in. There should be a small square plug on the bottom of the mower which will allow you to gravity drain the oil out the bottom. Once drained (and this isn't a large amount), replace it with 10w-30 or straight 30w oil.

If any amount of oil got into the carburetor, you may see a bit of smoke at first startup. This is nothing to worry about, as it will burn off rather quickly and be good to go.