Engine Lawn pony won't turn over

twinkleeyes48

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We have a 3100 series pony. We bought it new in 06 and have probably used it 70 times give or take. We have replaced the carb twice the solenoid, the battery several times, the ignition switch, 3 of the four tires, the belts, the deck belt 3 times. We've checked the oil, just replaced the air filter, use only the high octane gas and who knows what else. It just won't start. The belt turns the egine. We can spin the flywheel, It's getting fuel. PLEASE HELP. We can't afford a new or even another used one. We've put about $500 into this over the last 4 or so years.
 

BlazNT

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Lets start with the model number on the sticker of your mower.
 

cqbenmeng

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We have a 3100 series pony. We bought it new in 06 and have probably used it 70 times give or take. We have replaced the carb twice the solenoid, the battery several times, the ignition switch, 3 of the four tires, the belts, the deck belt 3 times. We've checked the oil, just replaced the air filter, use only the high octane gas and who knows what else. It just won't start. The belt turns the egine. We can spin the flywheel, It's getting fuel. PLEASE HELP. We can't afford a new or even another used one. We've put about $500 into this over the last 4 or so years.

Howdy.

I'm highly experienced with Stihl, and have no experience with your Poulan, however, let's try a few things.

Gum and varnish in a 2 stroke carb, especially a chainsaw carb are often the culprits of loss of horsepower (revs) when throttle is engaged. Some will idle OK, but die under load. Before you tear the carb apart, take off the air filter and get a bright light source and look into any ports you can to see if you can see any issues. Get a Carb Cleaner and spray it into any ports and openings. Start the saw and see if this has helped. If not, then you can pull the carb and check out the ports, needle valve, etc. It sounds like a clog or gum issue to me.

I assume you have made sure your air filter is clean, yes? Also, I don't know if you have a spark arrestor screen on the muffler output like a Stilh, but those are notorious for clogging and reducing horsepower. I am also assuming your spark plug is fresh and working well, and that your Magneto is generating good spark. Finally, I am assuming you have good compression and no clogging of a fuel filter. These are all basic things that I assume you have thought of or checked.

Fresh fuel is KEY. Dump out your old fuel and put in fresh mixed fuel. In my opinion, You should invest in a can of Stihl or Husqvarna PREMIXED High quality canned fuel. It's worth a try. The stuff has a shelf life or "machine life" of up to 24 months AFTER opening the container, it's very high Octane, AND, guaranteed to have NO ethanol or similar additives. This no gumming or clogging of the carb when it sits.

When I run Stihl MotoMix in my saw, it runs better. There is NO denying that. It literally runs like a top with perceived higher revs with MotoMix fuel. And the fuel will not gum, clog, or go stale like other user mixed fuels. The oil mix ratio is also spot on with very high quality 2 stroke oil mixed for you, and I can leave it in the saw for up to 2 years without worry.

PS, I am NOT a Stihl employee nor a stockholder. I just happen to own their saw and like their MotoMix premixed fuel. It's amazing stuff. Now, if you are a professional Arborist that blows through 5 gallons of 2 stroke fuel a week, it's far too expensive, but for a home saw user? It's worth every penny. It's all I run any more. Amazing stuff.
 
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