Engine Ran Without Oil Seized! But Can it be SAVED?

Recently, this fellow, who runs the Project Farm YouTube channel, ran into some major issues with one of his lawnmowers. During a test, he ran the engine without oil and it locked up, as most engines would without lubrication. While many would see this as an opportunity to pick up a brand new mower, this guy decided to see what could be done to salvage the engine and return it to good working order.

First off, he grabs a torque wrench to see how tight the engine is compared to his other mower, which wasn’t destroyed by running it dry. The damaged mower takes around 35 ft/lbs of torque to turn, while the other engine spins almost freely. After the torque test, the busted engine is disassembled and inspected, where we see that there is some serious scoring on the cylinder wall, which will lead to a loss of compression. Additionally, there is a deep gash in one side of the cylinder, indicating that something is seriously amiss inside the crankcase.

Upon seeing the damage, however, our host continues to try to get the engine back up and running by cleaning out the cylinder itself with some PB Blaster, which he then distributes through the engine by turning it over by hand. As the engine spins and the PB Blaster spreads, the tension begins to lower and the engine becomes easier to turn. After a few spins, he reassembles the motor and tests the compression, finding it quite a bit lower than normal, but high enough to go ahead and try to crank. After a couple of yanks with the pull cord, the little engine roars to life, though there is a distinct knocking sound that further indicates serious damage to the internal workings of the motor.

There’s also some visible smoke in the exhaust, which could be another indicator of engine problems or it could just be the PB Blaster burning off. However that knock definitely means the engine needs to be reworked before it runs like it should. To close out the video, out host asks for the audience to help him decide on a product to reduce the knocking and help raise the compression, both issues that different products on the market claim to fix.