Hello all. I am a newbie to small engines and have an odd situation. A neighbor of mine was throwing away a Toro Super Recycler 6hp B&S which looked to be in great condition. He said the only thing wrong with it was it has started to burn oil but it ran great. I did not ask for more specifics so I am not sure if that meant it was smoking from burning oil or it just used more oil than it should.

Anyway. I took it home and tinkered on it a bit. The spark plug was as black as night and the air filter was a bit dirty but not terrible. There were a few small dots of oil on the filter. I cleaned those up as much as possible.

I put in new oil and gas and started it up. It did not appear to be smoking out of the exhaust or anywhere else. BUT, when I shut it down, there was a light amount of smoke coming from the top of the engine where the recoil is. It wasn't blue/white but more so black but it was very light. Kind of like when you extinguish a candle.

I know that it is not the actal recoil that is smoking but something under it. I know it is hard to diagnose these things over the internet but has anyone heard of this before?