I recently acquired a used Honda HRM215 self propelled mower; it starts and runs fine except a faint trail of white smoke. I thought the smoke would eventually burn off but that hasn’t happened yet. The oil level is ok.
Any suggestions on what else it could be? Thanks for all responses.
Most likely culprit will be a worn inlet valve seal
Next will be worn rings
last will be leaking head gasket.
The quick & dirty way to test for the head gasket is to stop the engine then remove the dip stick tube.
If you get smoke signals coming out they are saying "replace the head gasket"
Worn rings are best determined with a wet & dry compression test
Valve seals are bit tricky but if you block off the oil return form the head and it starts smoking a lot then suspect the seal
You can also run the engine without the rocker cover on , should smoke less but make a big oily mess the liberally spray the inlet valve seal with WD 40
If you get a lot of white smoke then the seal is gone.
