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My lawnmower got thrown into a rolloff container by mistake. When I went to dig it out, it was upside down and when I tipped it right-side up, all sorts of black liquid (I assume oil?) came spilling out:

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Is it toasted? Any way to salvage or tell if something got broken or ruptured?

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Should be OK Whenever you change the oil, you have to tip it anyway to get the old oil out.

Your going to have to let it sit for a little bit, might be hard to start up at first and smoke a good bit whenever it does start, but it'll be fine.

Flip it up so you can see under the deck, make sure the blade isn't loose. Just grab it and move up and down.

Right there on the front make sure the spark plug wire is pushed on the spark plug nice and tight, you may want to remove the spark plug and wipe off the oil, dip it in a small cup of gas to clean it off. If it is really bad grab a new one (2-3 dollars maybe?)

The air filter might be bad, it's probably on the left under a black cover. Should be one screw to remove the cover, pull the filter out. If it is soaked with oil throw it away. You can buy a new one for a few bucks - just go to a store that sales lawn boy and give them the model # of your mower.

Read the book and see how much oil it takes - finish draining the rest of that oil (tip it so it drains out, preferable in a bowl or container and dispose of properly) and fill it back up with new oil.

You should be fine after that, if there is gas left in it of course.

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    This is pending the mower wasn't also subject to being submerged in liquid(garbage water). Also want to enforce the REQUIREMENT of replacing the oil before running it again. The only additional suggestion in this case, possibly overkill for your scenario, if the cylinder (inside the engine where the spark plug leads) has noticeable liquid (water, oil, or gas) turn it upside-down with the spark plug out to drain then flipped back on the wheel remove the exhaust and do a lot of dry pulls (slow long pulls); finally reassemble.
    – Jason
    May 10, 2013 at 2:15
  • Thanks for the additions - I actually edited my answer as I never thought of it being submerged. Granted even if it is wet it should dry out after awhile.
    – Jeff
    May 10, 2013 at 2:18
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    Don't forget to remove the spark plug wire from the spark plug, before reaching your hand under the deck and fiddling with the blade.
    – Tester101
    May 10, 2013 at 11:51

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