# power washer oil in combustion chamber?



## biggs1234 (Jun 17, 2012)

My son turned my power washer on its nose and it stayed that way for days. The first time after finding it that way that I tried to start it ... it was locked up. I managed to empty out the oil and get the motor to manually turn. Removed and cleaned the spark plug but the motor still will not fire. When I try to start it a fine spray of oil is discharged out of the muffler. Does anyone have suggestions on how I can complety remove the oil and get started? Also, what is the likelyhood of serious damage having already occured from oil where it does not belong? Thank you.


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

One way is to remove the head on the motor and just use a rag to clean it out. You will need a new head gasket.


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## Fix'n it (Mar 12, 2012)

take the spark plug out, and crank the engine over a bunch of times. clean the plug and install.


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## biggs1234 (Jun 17, 2012)

*Still working to start pressure washer - new info*

Thanks for the ideas. Still struggling with this.... oil has been cleaned out of combustion chamber; spark plug replaced (thought the other one was oil fouled maybe); removed the spark plug and plugged plug wire back onto it. When I crank the motor over I see no spark on the plug. Any ideas? Thinking maybe oil seeped into the coil. Not much else left to the ignition system I don't think. That and ignition switch is about all. If oil is in coil can that be cleaned or will coil be shot and need to be repolaced? Thanks for any ideas.


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## Fix'n it (Mar 12, 2012)

biggs1234 said:


> removed the spark plug and plugged plug wire back onto it. When I crank the motor over I see no spark on the plug. Any ideas?


did you "ground " the plug when doing this ?


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## biggs1234 (Jun 17, 2012)

No I did not. Probably only the time it shocked me..... Did not know I needed to do that. Just rest the threaded part on the motor block somewhere? Will try and see what results I get. Thank you.


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## DexterII (Jul 14, 2010)

Also check the oil level in the crankcase; it is possible that you have an oil level switch in the ignition circuit.


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## biggs1234 (Jun 17, 2012)

If my thinking is correct I don't think there is one. I only see two wires from the coil....one to the plug and one to the ignition switch which is activated when you lift the throttle lever. If there was a low oil cutoff I think there would have to be another wire. Sound correct?


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## Thurman (Feb 9, 2009)

A "low oil level" switch should/would have an additional wire going to the electrical circuit to the coil. This would actually ground-out the coil in a low oil level situation. Tilting a small motor and having the crankcase oil get past the piston rings is a common problem. As stated, it would be better to remove the cylinder head if this is within you DIY skills, and a new head gasket would be the correct thing to do. Sometimes when oil migrates past the piston rings, the oil will get past one of the valves which may be open just a bit. I would also recommend removing the muffler as it may have oil in it from the exhaust valve being partially open when the oil got into the cylinder. I have had to pull on these motors a lot to remove all the oil. A "spark plug" tester can be found rather inexpensive at most any auto parts store. These look like a spark plug with a clip built on.


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## biggs1234 (Jun 17, 2012)

Thanks for all the advise. Someone has commented to me that if oil made it to the combustion chamber that it probably went through the carb as well. Guess this is easy enough to check by removing air filter and taking a look inside carb . I will be working on this more this weekend. I do not understand enough about the internal layout of the motor to know where the oil was likely to have traveled.


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