Briggs and Stratton engine starts but dies right away

cransonb

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  • / Briggs and Stratton engine starts but dies right away
I bought a cheap Weed Eater push mower about 2 years ago. Its worked fine until now. I ran out of gas the last time I used it. I went to the gas station and refilled my tank, put gas in it and it ran for about a minute and then died. When I tried to restart, it would start back up (after priming it) and it would die right away. So I went through the following troubleshooting to find the same result.

1. Cleaned air filter (no change)
2. Emptied gas. Added fuel stabilizer to my gas tank and then poured new gas in to the lawn mower. (no change)
3. Replaced spark plug (no change)
4. Removed carburetor and fuel tank (emptied gas again). Found some fluid and dirt in carburetor. Cleaned carburetor, reassembled. (no change)
5. Removed carburetor and fuel tank again, replace diaphragm and gasket, reassembled (no change).

This seems like I am missing something simple but it still starts right up and dies right away. Any ideas? I would rather not take it in for service but I guess I will if i have to.
 

jeff

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  • / Briggs and Stratton engine starts but dies right away
If you remove the mesh screen, you willhave access to the main jet. You can pry it out with a small screwdriver. once it is out, clean out all the holes with soft wire. reassemble. also insure that the diaphram and gasket are not backwards, i.e. gasket first then diaphram.
 

cransonb

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  • / Briggs and Stratton engine starts but dies right away
I am not sure what mesh screen you are referring to. I replaced one of the mesh screens that came with the new diaphragm/gasket. Also I put the diaphragm on first and the gasket on top it and then put the carburetor on top of it (gas tank)... or maybe that is backwards? Now that i think of it, I lined up the diaphragm and gasket on the gas tank where the screw holes are but maybe that's backwards?
 

cransonb

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  • / Briggs and Stratton engine starts but dies right away
also insure that the diaphram and gasket are not backwards, i.e. gasket first then diaphram.

I double checked and I did install the diaphragm and gasket correctly.

I took off the mesh filter and after trying to pry on the main jet it didn't seem to want to budge. Made me a little nervous prying on the plastic too.
 
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