Hi,
Please can someone help - Upon reaching an area of long wet grass, the engine instantly stopped and I noticed oil on the mower "body". Mower would not pull-start. I cleaned the (sooty) plug and restarted it but lots of blue smoke and oil coming from muffler. Apart from that, seems to run ok. Muffler smells of oil - is this cleanable, or should i replace it? oil levels are ok btw. thanks, Dave.

Possible clogged of malfunctioning breather.

Hi,
Please can someone help - Upon reaching an area of long wet grass, the engine instantly stopped and I noticed oil on the mower "body". Mower would not pull-start. I cleaned the (sooty) plug and restarted it but lots of blue smoke and oil coming from muffler. Apart from that, seems to run ok. Muffler smells of oil - is this cleanable, or should i replace it? oil levels are ok btw. thanks, Dave.

Were you possibly mowing on a slope or hill? Was the mower tipped up to clean underneat, oil can saturate the air filter and cause the engine to smoke for some time, if the air filter has too much oil, and is not cleaned or replaced.