It will do that at first. One time it will make a puff at startup and the next time it won't. It will gradually progress to giving a puff at every startup. It is the natural progression of wear on a B&S aluminum bore engine. Perfectly normal.Round 3. I added 1 more ounce of oil. Then I learned that one side of the dipstick reads different than the other side. So one side is now at half, and the other side is just filling the bottom hole. From being not straight at the bottom - I don't know? Which one or is either accurate - sounds not like an exact science anymore.
Wheeled it out, gave it one real pull and it fired right up - not one puff of smoke - of any color.
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I guess I need to mow some grass and see what happens next.