White smoke could well be over filled oil , however clanking is serious !

Well.. update.. I did a oil change, The oil well was overfilled by quite a bit. Now that i have that done, I can get it running BUT.. when I run it, after about 30 secs.. it starts putting out white smoke, and when i cut it, i cant get it running again a till 15 mins later.... We have a call out to a repair shop, but its a two week wait.. wanted to fix it so i can cut my lawn.

Nicole did you notice any gasoline smell when you changed the oil ? Sometimes carb leak by will fill crankcase with fuel and cause the overfill situation . As far as the smoking that is normal , change your air filter and let the Engine run for a few minutes and it should clear up . Check your oil level overnight . Check for any gas odour when you check the oil , especially if level has increased . This will indicate carb float issues , let us know !

White smoke means you’re burning oil (because it was overfilled), but could also mean a blown head gasket. I’d start by making sure the oil level is correct on the dip stick. Then replace the filter again as its likely saturated with oil again, and change the spark plug again or burn it with a lighter to make sure its not coated with oils. Let it run for a couple minutes. If its still billowing smoke, its likely a bad head gasket.

Use non-oxygenated gas whenever possible, and always drain the gas out of the tank at the end of each season.

Once you've confirmed the oil level and changed the air filter, you have to run it until the oil burns out of the muffler. Most likely what happened was somebody tilted up the mower with the carburetor side down - don't do that. When that much oil is involved, especially mixed with gas, it will lock the cylinder because liquids are incompressible. The fast fix is to take out the spark plug and pull the starter, which blows the excess liquid out of the cylinder - but you still have to find out how the oil got into the cylinder if it wasn't from tilting the mower. If the carb is flooding and gas gets in the oil, that's the other way it happens. It does sound to me like gas got in the oil. Perhaps somebody put gas in the oil fill? It has happened before.

I don't like the 'clank' either. but if it runs without any odd noises I guess it was just the sound of the hydraulic lock happening.

• Sax , So in more detail your probably 100% correct ! Good point on the improper tipping offender , many novices often do this when checking grass build up or washing the mower deck out . P.S Have repaired and owned over 20 Toro,s (kohler , Honda) without any head gasket failures , much more prevalent with Briggs which Toro recently added to their line up . However head gasket failures is a prudent causation of continuous white smoke and more important oil consumption within numerous Briggs Engine Models .