Picked up a 1983 Honda HRS21 mower with the GXV110 engine the other day. Previous owner said it had no compression and wouldn't start. Brought it home - spark plug was not seated properly, so I ran a tap in the threads to clean them, re-seated the spark plug and had lots of compression. The carb was filthy - gave it a good cleaning and the mower started right up. I changed the engine oil with Valvoline conventional 10W30. I think it is burning a little oil - and it gets a little smokey when cutting up hill when the engine is under more strain.
The manual recommends 10W40 for all-round use, with 10W30, straight 30 and 20W50 also shown for various ambient temps. I was thinking of using the 10W30 as a flushing oil and then switching to a heavier oil to see if the smoking lessens. Do you think a heavy weight oil like 20W50 and an additive that helps with engine smoking issues would be too thick? Any ideas would be appreciated.
The manual recommends 10W40 for all-round use, with 10W30, straight 30 and 20W50 also shown for various ambient temps. I was thinking of using the 10W30 as a flushing oil and then switching to a heavier oil to see if the smoking lessens. Do you think a heavy weight oil like 20W50 and an additive that helps with engine smoking issues would be too thick? Any ideas would be appreciated.