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Someone gave me a Craftsman mower, told me to adjust the (governer) screw on the carb inlet pictured below, and I might get it to run. Brought it home and looked like it was bone dry for oil. Filled it with oil and gas, would run for a half second and stop. Thought I was going to have to clean or replace the carb.

Today I dumped the oil and gas, refilled it. Used some extra M1 5W-30 left over from my oil change. Put gas in it, and what do you know started fine, cut grass, no issues. Starts every time. Haven't had a mower in years but feels like it's brand new starting like that.

Just thought I'd say hello on here.

Anyhow the blade looks pretty warn down, like it hit some rocks. Don't have a grinding wheel, but thought maybe I should buy a new blade. From the manual the part is 406706. How do you folks sharpen your blades? Never really got the file business down. Don't own a vice.

Welllll ...a freebie mower... a little TLC ... n you have a working mower... at that ...I wouldn't hesitate to buy a BRAND NEW BLADE !!!
Shame all over you ... you did say you cut the lawn ...be thankful it was'nt a "boat-anchor" ...Enjoy it !!!

I recall a mower I purchased long ago. The guy sold it to me for the bargain price of $25. Told me it would run and cut my grass. I'd start it and it would run for a minute and then take me 10 minutes to get it started again. I managed to cut 3/4 of the lawn with it after a few hours. What a nightmare!

By the way is that screw in the image above under the air filter a carb adjustment, and is it referred to as the governor?

:welcome:

Welcome to the forum!

I'm going to move this thread over to our Craftsman section for you :smile:

There are no carb adjustments on that mower. If it runs rough, the carb probably needs cleaning.

One other thing: You need to replace your air filter box ASAP. It has a corner broken off, which will prevent the air filter from sealing correctly, which will allow dust and debris to get past the filter, which will eventually ruin your engine.

I sharpen my blades with an angle grinder + grinding wheel. I would never think of trying to sharpen them with a file. :wink:

Thanks for pointing out the issue regarding the air box. I will do something to close it off until I can get the replacement.

primerbulb120 said:

There are no carb adjustments on that mower. If it runs rough, the carb probably needs cleaning.

One other thing: You need to replace your air filter box ASAP. It has a corner broken off, which will prevent the air filter from sealing correctly, which will allow dust and debris to get past the filter, which will eventually ruin your engine.

I sharpen my blades with an angle grinder + grinding wheel. I would never think of trying to sharpen them with a file. :wink:

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I brought this mower out to my folks place, and it died unexpectedly. I haven't been able to restart it, and I think it doesn't sound the same when I pull the starting line. Any ideas on what would cause this?

In the shot above you can see I tied up the gas line when removing the carburetor. But does anybody know what the other line is for? I thought maybe it was to drain the carb, but it's not attached. Otherwise is it an overflow relief for oil? Should it be attached to something

If you are talking about the elbow tube toward the bottom, it is the breather tube, and connects to a nipple on the back of the air filter rear box.

Thanks. I saw this when putting the box back on. I'm not sure what's wrong with the mower. Again it was running fine, then just stopped. Attempts at starting it, and it sounds a little funny to me when I pull the starting line. I hear a loud 'pop', but it doesn't sound the same as when it was working fine. I'm attaching a video I took, but I'm not sure the audio captures the 'pop' all that well.[video]https://goo.gl/photos/mM3hVJqH2UteCyPE9[/video]

ILENGINE said:

If you are talking about the elbow tube toward the bottom, it is the breather tube, and connects to a nipple on the back of the air filter rear box.

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Is it possible that you picked up some water/ethanol mix in the carb, and it can't quite run on it. it sounds like it is attempting to start, but just can't ignite the fuel. Also I can't tell what spark plug is in it. It just looks longer than the stander j19lm or b2lm I am used to seeing.

Sounds like you dropped a push rod. Time to pull the valve cover off and take a look.

Regarding the fuel, it was fresh gas, but contains ethanol. I was able to get it started, and it ran fine. Stopped it after running for a couple minutes. Started back up again 1-2 pulls. Started heading down hill and it died, can't start it again. The plug in it was J8C. I had a shorter plug, think it was CJ8 just put it in. Still can't start again. I've been trying to manually close the "throttle body" or whatever the brass flap is on the carb thinking that's the choke.

ILENGINE said:

Is it possible that you picked up some water/ethanol mix in the carb, and it can't quite run on it. it sounds like it is attempting to start, but just can't ignite the fuel. Also I can't tell what spark plug is in it. It just looks longer than the stander j19lm or b2lm I am used to seeing.

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I got it to start a couple times, but died with the same issue. Would I be able to start it with a dropped push rod? I will need to read up on the push rod procedure before I begin. It's a learning experience for me.

BlazNT said:

Sounds like you dropped a push rod. Time to pull the valve cover off and take a look.

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It doesn't look like that much work to pull the valve cover off and on again, with a sealant. Just a little hesitant to do so. Would it have started and run fine for a few minutes with a bent pushrod?


The video is the reference I'm using for a different mower. I assume that the two "threaded rods with nuts" you see with the cover off are the push rods.

BlazNT said:

Sounds like you dropped a push rod. Time to pull the valve cover off and take a look.

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That's an overhead cam engine. It has no pushrods.

Ok, thanks for the clarification. Anybody have a suggested set of tasks I should preform to troubleshoot the mower given that it can start and run infrequently? I looked at the owners manual but I think I've looked at the basics like changing the plug.

cpurvis said:

That's an overhead cam engine. It has no pushrods.

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