Country4687
Forum Newbie
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2011
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Let me preface this by saying that I've honestly never been car/mechanical repair type of guy, so feel free to pretend I'm dumb when trying to explain things.
I own a Cub Cadet LT1046 (purchased in 2005/2006 I believe) that I leave at my mother's house to mow her lawn. The past few years, my mother elected to send the mower to a local repair shop for a "tune-up special" every spring that costs around $180. After reading the last bill and seeing that they were basically just replacing the battery/oil and filters, I thought I'd be smart and just do it myself and save her a decent amount of money. So, last year I did nothing to winterize it, slapped on a new battery/spark plugs (oil seemed OK for whatever reason), and it managed to start 2-3 times this season.
Two weeks ago, the engine would no longer start. It will "turn over" and crank and crank like it was almost there, but just can't quite make it there. Did some reading, tried replacing the air filter and fuel filter, both to no avail. Upon a neighbor's advice and a guy from Home Depot, I'm being told at the moment that because I failed to winterize last year, the fuel in the mower has likely gummed up within the carburetor, and that it needs to either be cleaned or replaced. Not exactly the news I wanted to hear, but I've decided to be stubborn and say that I got myself into this mess, so I going to do whatever it takes to get myself out of it on my own (AKA trying to avoid the repair shop).
Trying to avoid deconstructing the mower, I've elected to try a product I found at Home Depot called "Mechanic in a Bottle". I have my doubts as to whether it will work or not, but paying $12 or so to avoid taking my lawn mower apart seemed like a fair trade. With all of that said, here are my questions:
1. "Mechanic in a Bottle" is asking me (for non-running engines) to pour it into an empty gas tank and prime it into the carburetor. I honestly don't know how to do that with the engine not working. Can you explain how to prime fuel/this substance into the lawn mower's carburetor? Also, how do I drain it out once the product has sat for the allotted time?
2. Based on the information given, do you agree that this is the most likely cause of my problem? If not, what do you suggest could also be wrong?
3. Should the carburetor needs to be cleaned/replaced, can you either provide some type of description or even a link to somewhere on how I could possibly do this myself?
Thank you for any help that you can provide.
I own a Cub Cadet LT1046 (purchased in 2005/2006 I believe) that I leave at my mother's house to mow her lawn. The past few years, my mother elected to send the mower to a local repair shop for a "tune-up special" every spring that costs around $180. After reading the last bill and seeing that they were basically just replacing the battery/oil and filters, I thought I'd be smart and just do it myself and save her a decent amount of money. So, last year I did nothing to winterize it, slapped on a new battery/spark plugs (oil seemed OK for whatever reason), and it managed to start 2-3 times this season.
Two weeks ago, the engine would no longer start. It will "turn over" and crank and crank like it was almost there, but just can't quite make it there. Did some reading, tried replacing the air filter and fuel filter, both to no avail. Upon a neighbor's advice and a guy from Home Depot, I'm being told at the moment that because I failed to winterize last year, the fuel in the mower has likely gummed up within the carburetor, and that it needs to either be cleaned or replaced. Not exactly the news I wanted to hear, but I've decided to be stubborn and say that I got myself into this mess, so I going to do whatever it takes to get myself out of it on my own (AKA trying to avoid the repair shop).
Trying to avoid deconstructing the mower, I've elected to try a product I found at Home Depot called "Mechanic in a Bottle". I have my doubts as to whether it will work or not, but paying $12 or so to avoid taking my lawn mower apart seemed like a fair trade. With all of that said, here are my questions:
1. "Mechanic in a Bottle" is asking me (for non-running engines) to pour it into an empty gas tank and prime it into the carburetor. I honestly don't know how to do that with the engine not working. Can you explain how to prime fuel/this substance into the lawn mower's carburetor? Also, how do I drain it out once the product has sat for the allotted time?
2. Based on the information given, do you agree that this is the most likely cause of my problem? If not, what do you suggest could also be wrong?
3. Should the carburetor needs to be cleaned/replaced, can you either provide some type of description or even a link to somewhere on how I could possibly do this myself?
Thank you for any help that you can provide.
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