Riding Lawnmower

I found an old MTD riding lawn mower for $40. I replaced the battery and it started right up. I checked the oil and it looked low. I started adding oil and after 1 and a half pints, the dipstick finally looked like the oil was at the right level. Much to my dismay, upon starting up the beast, oil started spurting out of the muffler. I didn't know this was possible. It looked like a punctured vein. It spurted for 30 seconds or so, then the engine died. I tried cranking the engine until the battery died. It wouldn't even turn over. So I got on the phone to my younger brother Darren. I told him all I had done was top off the oil. He asked me how much I had added. I told him and he burst into laughter and said that the whole engine can't hold more than a half pint. I pulled the dipstick out and this time it was like two inches above the full line. I'm not sure what was going on. It was getting dark so I left the poor mower out in the pasture over night. The next morning, I followed Darren's instructions and drained out the oil and pulled out the spark plug and scrubbed it with a tooth brush dipped in the gas from the gas tank on the mower. I then sanded it with sand paper. I put the plug back in, got the jump starter battery pack out of the Suburban and turned over the mower. It belowed smoke for about 10 minutes, then I put it into gear and off I went.

I got to a part of our yard that has some decorative brick work and drove over the bricks, thinking I had plenty of clearance. It high centered the mower and when I turned the wheels to try and shake free, the mower broke free, but so did the steering mechanism. I was driving straight for the fence with no way to turn. Luckily, using my quick reflexes I was able to stop the mower before bowling over the fence (I pushed the brake). Now, on the phone again to Darren. This time, it was a little harder to pinpoint the problem over the phone, but he did a pretty good job. Apparantly a socket joint thing had popped out of its socket. Alas, it was dark again, so the mower sat out for three days, until the rain stopped, before I could work on it again. I ended up pulling the steering line out, and took the parts into the Grange Supply. Luckily, a guy named Darwin had a joint thing that he said would work, and I took it back out to the house and after some jimmy rigging, I got it all back together. The battery was still dead, so I jumped it and got it started. I got the whole lawn mowed.