Question regarding the strikelite – storage

i re roofed my garage and had to move some stuff around. a guy helping me moved the strike-lite and i didn’t pay enough attention but he set it wrong side down and i found oil all over the place a few days later.

what is the procedure here. i pretty much change the oil every season so that isn’t anything new just wanted to see what should be the proper procedure.

I would imagine that the plug is fouled for sure. I would start with taking that out to see what it looks like.

What you are going to try and do is get the oil out of the rings, you don’t want to run it with it in the compressions ring as it could really gum it up. What I would try is to take out the plug and spray some carb cleaner in there and pull on the cord really slowly to work the cleaner in. Let it set for a bit and repeat. Do this a couple times then change the oil. Install a new plug and it should run fine.

You may not need to go through all that but better safe than sorry IMHO.

I would send an email to Strikemaster asking them what’s the proper procedure to follow.
Then if there are any problems, you have documentation for any possible warranty claims.

Ingy

just in case anyone ever runs into what i do. here is the reply from strikemaster. i followed the instructions and it popped off the 2nd pull,…all is good

from strikmaster:

I have seen this before on other StrikeLite’s,

Though messy it will not cause any damage.

However I am glad you contacted us.

You have seen a puddle of oil Simply because engine was rotated

And the crank case oil was able to flow along rocker pushrod

passage, into valve cover.

Then depending on which side was down, oil either ran out muffler or the carb/intake plate.

Either way ,the best correction for this is to empty all oil that remains in crankcase reservoir.

Replace spark plug, remove air intake cover and dry out filter

Position engine in correct operation position (up right like to drill a hole)

Start and run engine for only 1 minute.

It may smoke, but rev rpm’s up and down 3 -4 times let idle then turn off.

At this point remove dip stick and dump any more oil out of crankcase that may have collected, then wipe off all excess oil. Refill crankcase reservoir with only 1.7 ounces, as long as it appears on dipstick there is sufficient oil, be careful not to over fill. We normal start with 1.7 ounces (because of the residual oil this is usually enough. Any 4 stroke oil works but we suggest 0-40W synthetic or 10W 30 mineral(conventional).

Test run once more, it still may smoke, pretty much run unit until smoke no longer appears from muffler.

Then unit is ready to store or to use, and of course gas tank down is best position if auger is placed on the ground.