For 23 years it's been running well, but this year it thought it was old enough to smoke! I have a Troy-Bilt tiller, 6 Hp Tecumseh Horse model, and on start up this year (fresh gas, changed oil, air filter cleaned) it cranked up on the third try and was sputtering a little but I thought it would smooth out after warming up. It didn't really smooth out but as I got to the garden spot it suddenly became a mosquito fogger pumping out thick blue-white smoke for about 5 to 10 seconds then cleared up and was running smooth as normal-from idle to full power. As I started tilling it would run maybe 15 to 30 seconds and repeat the smoking routine. Never died though. Don't know much about these engines but it looks like there is a crank case breather hose running to the carb inlet and when I pulled it off the carb end it obviously had lots of oil in it. I removed the air filter housing and definitely have oil upstream of the carb. So is this a simple check valve replacement of some kind or does this sound like heart surgery?

Thanks for any and all help.

Check that the oil is not overfull also smell it to see if it smells like gas, the carb float or seat could be failing and letting fuel run into the crankcase when it isn't running creating an overfull condition which would cause the smoking. Have a good one. Geo

Thanks for the suggestion. That will be the next thing I check after we get the kids moved in and the other items on the to do list. I'll let you know what I find out. Jim T.

Well, I got back to checking things after the flood here in Tennessee. The oil level is high and it does smell like gas. Pretty thin oil also. Looks like a carb tear down coming. Of course, I won't be needing this tiller for at least a month after the 5 1/2 inches of rain last night. Thanks, I'll keep you posted.

Jim T.