Craftsman 6.5 starts then stalls

nomowerproblems said:

@primer thanks for the how to on the gas tank. I was actually watching YouTube videos on that last night. I was concerned with using soapy water as I wouldn't know if this would leave any residue once dried. Using fresh gas makes more sense.

@ilengine there are definitely easier routes and cheaper to go about this. One being just rebuilding the carb. I'm going with the new assembly to just avoid the headache if by chance it doesn't work(rebuilding carb) I would rather face it not working with a brand new carb, therefore I won't have to wonder wth went wrong.

The gasket between the air box and carb was toast so this I'm sure is either the problem or part of the problem. Either way it'll be eliminated.

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nomowerproblems said:

Carb arrived. Installed it this morning. Mower runs great!

It wasn't immediate at first. It wouldn't even start. After watching a ton of YouTube, this forum and primerbulb, I did the following:

Rechecked for spark
Followed all the lines to make sure none came loose
(Fuel tank was cleaned with fresh fuel and fuel line replaced at carb install)
Loosened the gas tank cap just a smidge

This got the mower to start but still stalled.

I then started it back up and continued to prime it before it would stall and repeated about 5 times until it didn't stall.

That's when the mower ran like a champ.

For those who might find this helpful, I did the following. I went the whole 9 yards because I wanted to, but most mowers wouldn't need all this done to run properly.

New filter
New spark plug
New air line
New fuel line
New carb with gaskets
New fuel
New oil
Gas tank cleaned
Cleaned and cleared all the crap collected throughout the motor

Total invested: 50 bucks +80 for mower

Thanks primer for your help. Much appreciated.

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primerbulb120 said:

Glad you got it fixed! You shouldn't have had so much trouble starting it though. That worries me a bit, hopefully it will still start okay once it's cooled down.

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nomowerproblems said:

I was thinking the same. I'm not sure I want to hold onto this craftsman. I did hose it down after I mowed my lawn and let it sit for few hours. Started it up and had no issues. No hesitation.

I actually found a Honda self propelled on Craigslist for 20 bucks which I'll work on for a back up. I enjoyed working on the first one. Therapeutic.

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