Yard Machine won't start

pdxoutdoorsy91

Forum Newbie
Joined
May 29, 2012
Threads
1
Messages
4
I have a MTD Yard Machine with Briggs and Straton motor.

YBSXS.1581VA
274460

Last week right when I was getting done cutting the grass the mower stalled. I attempted to restart it but no go. I checked the fuel and it was low but not out, so I refilled it anyways. Checked the oil and it was also low so I topped it off. It started up but would stall after about 45 secs. Which was just long enough for me to finish the yard.

I had to get inside to shower and leave so I just put it back in the shed to deal with later... which is now :laughing:

I tried to start it today and no go.


-I check the plug for spark, its good.
-Air filter seems to have oil in it. Enough that I could squeeze some out like a sponge. I thought that was odd. I cleaned it and put it back on.
-It has good gas. When I primed it with the air filter off though I don't see any gas.

To me it seems like it's not getting fuel. Any suggestions?
 
Joined
May 29, 2012
Threads
0
Messages
21
A foam air filter is designed to have a little bit of oil in it to catch the dust but if you were actually able to squeeze out a large amout of oil and it looks like black engine oil the problem may be a faulty breather thus allowing oil to flow through the breather tube and clog the filter. Have you flipped the mower over recently? If so that would cause oil to flow into the filter.
As far as your carburetor goes if you have a plastic tank mounted carb and you have the fair filter removed you should definitally be able to see gas being shot into the carb when you push the primer. If you can't see the fuel try tightening the screws the hold the carb on the gas tank. If this doesn't work take off the carb and clean it. Make sure when you put the carb on you have the gaskets in the same order that you took them off.
Check out this site for more practical troubleshooting info:
Push Lawn Mowers | The Practical Consumer
 

pdxoutdoorsy91

Forum Newbie
Joined
May 29, 2012
Threads
1
Messages
4
A foam air filter is designed to have a little bit of oil in it to catch the dust but if you were actually able to squeeze out a large amout of oil and it looks like black engine oil the problem may be a faulty breather thus allowing oil to flow through the breather tube and clog the filter. Have you flipped the mower over recently? If so that would cause oil to flow into the filter.
As far as your carburetor goes if you have a plastic tank mounted carb and you have the fair filter removed you should definitally be able to see gas being shot into the carb when you push the primer. If you can't see the fuel try tightening the screws the hold the carb on the gas tank. If this doesn't work take off the carb and clean it. Make sure when you put the carb on you have the gaskets in the same order that you took them off.
Check out this site for more practical troubleshooting info:
Push Lawn Mowers | The Practical Consumer

Yes I did have it on it's side before I cut the grass the last time to clean out under the deck.

I'll try that later this week and report back, thanks.
 

pdxoutdoorsy91

Forum Newbie
Joined
May 29, 2012
Threads
1
Messages
4
A foam air filter is designed to have a little bit of oil in it to catch the dust but if you were actually able to squeeze out a large amout of oil and it looks like black engine oil the problem may be a faulty breather thus allowing oil to flow through the breather tube and clog the filter. Have you flipped the mower over recently? If so that would cause oil to flow into the filter.
As far as your carburetor goes if you have a plastic tank mounted carb and you have the fair filter removed you should definitally be able to see gas being shot into the carb when you push the primer. If you can't see the fuel try tightening the screws the hold the carb on the gas tank. If this doesn't work take off the carb and clean it. Make sure when you put the carb on you have the gaskets in the same order that you took them off.
Check out this site for more practical troubleshooting info:
Push Lawn Mowers | The Practical Consumer


So I took the gas tank and carb off. When I took the carb off I pushed the primer button to see if it was actually sucking for fuel to make sure the primer rubber wasn't ruptured or something. I could hear it sucking air so I assumed it was fine. I did notice two separate nozzles that fuel came through, one real long and one short. The long one entered the fuel tank and the short one a small little reservoir. I noticed the small reservoir had a very minimal amount of gas. So just for trial and error I poured a little more gas in that reservoir and pushed the primer, sure enough it shot gas into the carb! I reassembled the carb and gas tank and it started right up and never stalled.

thanks for the help
 
Top