Hi - my son put gasoline in the oil tank of a new lawn mower. It was used twice. I took it to a small engine shop and they got it working again. The guy at the shop said he almost ruined the engine and charged my son $200 to fix it... What does the manual about gas in the oil tank?

Check the timing on it

By tipping a 4 cycle motor on a lawn mower or any equipment, you have all the oil and gas running into the combustion chamber and sometimes the oil and WATER will get into the tank. It will need too have the spark plug removed, the engine turned over with the starter to blow the oill, gas, and water out of the cylinder(s), the plug should be either dried and gap reset, and the gas tank drained and FRESH gas put in it. Replace the spark plug prime with just a few drops of gasoline in the carburetor throat and restart and let run to dry evrything. NOTE: An oil change is recommended, too!!

It is not good for that motor--drain and clean and expect plug may get fouled---do it the sooner the better.

Try looking under the machine there should be four bolts that mount the engine to the frame. Good Luck...

It sounds like you have a bad Ignition Coil (Module). This is how they act when they start going bad. When they get warm, they quit. Some will last up to 20 minutes before they shut down. You can sometimes find a used one pretty cheap at a small engine shop.

Jim

Hi scottcoles5...
The easy way to find out if the motor is 2 or 4 cycle is to check to see if the engine has oil in the crankcase...if it does it is a 4 cycle and you will NOT have to mix oil with your gas. 2 cycle engines do NOT have an oil in the crancase and depend on the oil you mix with your gasoline.
You can also check the color of the gasoline in the tank, most 2 cycle oils contain a colorant to color the gas to let you know there is oil in the gas...
Free Answer...Please take time to rate me

generally all 4-cycle lawn mower engines are tuned to use regular unleaded gas ,(I personally use mid or high grade unleaded)....and for engine oil use strait 30 WT engine oil...... I often put a dash of fuel system cleaner in each gallon of lawn mower gas,it is not absolutely neccessary but seems to help moisture stay out of gas..(DO NOT USE HEET or other methenol based fuel additives for this can cause overheating or scoring of piston and cylinder...but rather use a petroleum based additive,this allows the small amounts of moisture in fuel to pass through the carbeurator without clogging filters or fuel system for smoother running)..also...if you put lawn mower up for winter it is always helpful to use a fuel stabilizer such as "STABIL" or other such products (follow directions for use) and be sure to change the crank case oil in the spring before using....this will give you much longer life from your lawn mower...
Keep air filter clean!!!..... Happy mowing!!!....so, the answer?...regular unleaded and 30wt engine oil...if you would like..they have special engine oil for 4-stroke engines at most hardware and walmarts n such...but is just expensive 30wt oil... Enjoy your day,Todd

Most likely problem is dirt?moisture in the carburetor float bowl. You would have to remove the bowl, clean it out and also clean the main jet up in the center of the carburetor. Another problem could be that the governor is out of adjustment but this is not something a novice could or should do

Empty the tank of the tainted gasoline (Maybe add the right amount of oil and use it for a trimmer, etc), fill tank with fresh gas and clean the spark plug, since it is probably fouled out. You may have to clean the carb with some carb cleaner, and clean your plug a few extra times, but it should be fine. Hope this helps. Good luck.