I have a Troybilt “push” mower that’s only about a year and a half old. It has an electric starter that cranks the engine with no trouble at all. It acts as though it’s getting absolutely no gas. When I spray the intake with starter fluid, it “starts” inasmuch as it burns the starter fluid and then dies. This tells me (I assume) that it’s getting a spark. I disconnected the fuel line from the carb and has poured out so the problem doesn’t seem to be at the tank. I took the carb off and sprayed everything with carb cleaner. The only jets that I could find didn’t seem clogged at all but I sprayed them anyway. I put it all back together but got the same result.
Any suggestions? I’m way out in the sticks and don’t have a close small engine repair shop.
I drained the gas and put in fresh when I disconnected the fuel line. Unfortunately, I didn’t drain it before putting it up for the winter last year. This is only the second season that I’ve run it.
I had this issue with a Briggs & Stratton mower engine recently. It started fine after a long winter layoff, and also started fine a couple of weeks after that, but then on the next attempt - nothing. I have a can of Bradex Easy Start (essentially ether in an aerosol can) to hand for such emergencies - this will normally start an engine if there’s the tiniest glimmer of life left in it, but on this occasion all that happened was the air filter box caught fire. Fortunately I was able to suck the flames out with one mighty pull on the starter cord before admitting defeat and trundling the mower to my workshop for surgery.
First thing to check was the spark plug, and indeed it was all fouled up. One cleaned spark plug later and it now starts first time and runs like a bastard; indeed, other issues I was having with the engine revs hunting have now completely gone away.
I used a toothbrush and brake cleaner to clean the plug, but any volatile solvent that doesn’t leave a residue will work fine. Don’t use a wire brush as this can leave behind traces on the plug’s ceramic electrode insulator that will cause arc trails. Even better, fit a new spark plug.
Did you take the carburetor completely apart to spray cleaner THROUGH the jets? It may have rubber diaphragms and gaskets that can distort with age and they must be replaced to fix it.
“Bad Old Gas” is rarely a problem since the 1960’s.
My tiller wouldn’t start recently. After I finally knew that gas was coming through the carb and I had seen spark I re-re-removed the spark plug and found a flake of carbon bridging the electrodes. With cleaning that off it started - no actual mechanical repairs were done.
I know you are supposed to drain gas or add a stabilizer, but I never have and haven’t seen a problem. I have several push mowers, two riding mowers, two weed-whackers, a brush cutter, two chainsaws, a leaf blower/vacuum, rototiller, etc.
Every spring I clean all the spark plugs and replace any that look too bad. Often I need a spray of starter fluid for the first use in the spring, then they go great the rest of the season.
Either I’m awfully damn lucky or the importance of “fresh gas” is over stated.
I agree. If in 30+ years six gas-powered devices have always started quickly after months idle, you’re tempted to believe that the need for end-of-season maintenance is oversold.
Pull the air filter off and try starting it. If it starts and runs with no filter, the problem is your filter is clogged and you need a new one. My mower would not start a couple weeks back for exactly this reason.
I have a Toro “Guaranteed to Start” mower. That mother fucker never starts. I’ve gotten pretty good at taking the fucking carb off to clean it. That usually fixes it for a few weeks but then the godamned mother fucker will fail to start again. I hate the cock sucking thing. Recently I’ve switched to synthetic fuel and that seems to help.
I dunno. My old lawnmower was a bitch to start every beginning of the season. Even the new one, which has some “guaranteed to start on the first pull” bit of marketing horseshit on it took a while to get going for the first mow of the season. I’ve never had a lawnmower start easily on me the first mow of the season. It usually involves a lot of cursing and shouting.
The carburetor could have gotten out of adjustment and be running too lean. Does it try to start, then fail? you can adjust it so it runs richer, and see if that helps before you pull it and take it apart.
One cause of the “Bad Gas Syndrome” is that over the winter the gas in the carb evaporates leaving a film of “varnish” or whatever on the rubber parts, particularly the diaphragm. You should be able to buy a kit with all the parts you need to overhaul the carb, or buy a new one.
Gas stabilizer helps but it’s not a cure-all … if your equipment is going to sit for months say, drain the fuel tank and then run the equipment until it dies from lack of fuel. Shouldn’t take long, and on occasion with save you this kind of grief.
I recently got an old lawnmower working that I havent used in 3 years. Instead of cleaning the carburetor, just a buy a new one. Mine was only $25 and maybe $5-$10 for some gaskets. Also get a new air filter and spark plugs. They arent rocket science to replace just look on youtube for videos.
Mine requires maybe 5-7 pulls, then starts like a champ. I push and hold the priming bulb 3x like the instructions say, and then pull 3-5x. Once in a great while, it will start on the 3d or 5th pull, but I don’t expect it to. Then I push the primer another 2-3x, and pull a couple more times, and around pull 7 it starts like a champ. Once in a great while I’ll need to push the primer another couple of times.
I don’t just lay on the primer right off the bat for fear of flooding. Plug and filter are clean. Once it starts, it will restart instantly on the first pull as I move from front to back, etc.
Not so fast. The ether used in starting fluid will burn with even the slightest motivation (that is, a really weak spark). You really need to remove the sparkplug and clean it. An old toothbrush and hot soapy water is better than just ignoring it. I’ve always used a wire brush and never had a problem. A solvent like mineral spirits would be great. Just make sure it is dry and clean before your put it back.
My guess, however, is the carburetor. Carburetors on small engines like this are usually one of two types. A diaphragm type and a bowl type. With the diaphragm type, the air cleaner/carburetor assembly typically sits on top of the gas tank. I have not had much success in repairing these. With the bowl type, there is a hose from the gas tank to the carburetor. There is a hex head fitting (it looks like a nut) under the bowl, in the center. If you remove this fitting, gas will pour out, so make sure the gas tank is empty and remove and plug the gas line before you take it off. Be careful as there are two little gaskets that like to get lost when you remove it. One between the fitting and the bowl and one between the bowl and the carburetor body. Anyway, gunk will often collect in that bowl, so removing it, cleaning it out with a paper towel and putting it back on (remembering to get the gaskets back in the right places) will often correct the problem. If you decide to use carburetor cleaner, do not get any on the gaskets.
Oh, to replace lost or damaged gaskets, I have cut new ones out of cardboard with a pair of scissors and a sharp knife that work fine. For the bowl gasket, the thickest cardboard that is not corrugated has worked best for me.