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Can someone please tell me what I'm doing wrong. I inherited what appeared to be a practically new mower from a friend who said it had trouble starting and he wanted a new one. I decided to take it off his hands and for the last 4 weeks have tried nearly everything to get it to start. My first attempt, I had some success in getting some combustion (5 sec) and nothing more. I assumed it was a fuel delivery problem and bought a new tecumseh Carb for it. I also changed the plug, checked for spark, checked the timing key and checked the compression. The only thing else I can think of is that the mower was missing the air filter and is basically at full throttle open to the outside air. The carb doesn't appear to have a choke setting so is it possible that my air/fuel mixture is too lean?


Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Lou (Boston)

Hello Lou... & WELCOME to LMF...

First check to see if it will run While you spray something flamable into the open carb ... use Ether , carb cleaner or WD40 anything that will burn in the engine even a little gasoline from a squirt can will work for this check... :smile::smile:KennyV

KennyV said:

Hello Lou... & WELCOME to LMF...

First check to see if it will run While you spray something flamable into the open carb ... use Ether , carb cleaner or WD40 anything that will burn in the engine even a little gasoline from a squirt can will work for this check... :smile::smile:KennyV

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Thanks Kenny,

I've tried to put spray in a shot of some starting fluid but it seems to flood itself and give me a massive kick back when I pull the starter cord. I can usually see the fluid come out the exhaust when its not kicking back. To be honest I hadn't really inspected the new carb that I bought...I just kinda put it in assuming all the passages were clear and functioning. Was that the right thing to do?


Best Regards.

Did you remove the flywheel when you checked the key. If you didn't the key may have damage which you cannot see. That is a common cause of kickback.