A four-stroke combustion engine is lubricated by a mixture of lubricant, fuel and air received from a rotary valve type carburetor. A cylinder of the engine houses a reciprocating piston and together they generally define a combustion chamber segregated from a generally sealed cavity which contains a mechanism for operating intake and exhaust valves communicating with the combustion chamber. Generally non-burning lubricant along with fuel-and-air enters the combustion chamber from the rotary-type carburetor and blows-by the piston into the sealed cavity through a clearance defined generally between the cylinder and piston for cooling the engine and lubricating the mechanical linkage assembly. Preferably, the sealed cavity is vented directly into a rotary throttle valve of the carburetor for controlled flow back into the engine without use of a check valve, enhanced idling characteristics of the engine and substantially reduced spit-back through the carburetor air inlet.