[30yearTech]

First thing I would try is a new spark plug. If that makes no difference, I would still suspect a carburetor issue. You can find some service info at the Honda Europe site http://www.honda-engines-eu.com/en/welcome.html

 

[30yearTech]

First thing to know is that I know almost nothing about small engines. I hit a baseball while cutting the grass. The engine stalled. I started it up again, but pulling the cord was hard. After starting, a puff of white smoke came out of the exhaust. I lifted the mower up and saw that the two blades were locked together. That wasn't how they were when I looked before. The two blades run separately, right? Do they turn in the same direction or counter each other? Have I destroyed the gears? Should I try in dislodge the two blades from each other?

Unless you can tell that one of the blades is bent, then they are mounted together and turn together in the same direction. They do not turn independently from each other, nor in opposite directions. This is a mulching setup that Honda uses. Hitting the baseball may have sheared the flywheel key that times the ignition spark, but it's unusual on a Honda as their key's are steel.

If your mower starts up and runs alright, then the oil may have come from when you tipped the mower over to look at the blades. If you tipped the mower over with the air filter facing down, you may have contaminated the air filter with oil. If there is oil in the air filter element, you will need to replace the air filter element as they cannot be cleaned.