I'm hoping someone here can help me diagnose the issue I'm having with my Briggs and Stratton powered push mower.
The mower is 3 years old. I've been able to mow my entire 1/3 acre plot about 5 times so far this year, however over the last 2 mows, the mower would randomly die even though it had gas. Up until this last time, I was able to eventually restart it (but it took maybe 10 minutes or trying, letting it sit and retrying). Now, the mower doesn't start at all... it will sputter and attempt to start and sometimes it will actually fire up, but will immediately die.
I took it apart over this weekend, and noticed the air filter was very clogged so I replaced that. I wire-brushed the spark plug. I took apart the carburetor to investigate the inside of it, and it was fine... no gumming up of gas or anything like that. I looked at the gasoline hose that goes from tank to carb, and was able to see straight through it so don't think there's anything blocking the line. I'm kind of at a loss as to what to look at next and would like to avoid taking it to a place to have it serviced.
Try this. With a machine about this one's age, the cable for the blade clutch might have stretched. It also works an ignition switch, and when the machine gets hot, the already stretched cable expands just enough to not engage the switch. So, try to reset the cable at the handle bar end a little tighter. Good luck.
Stan
#5
twall
Good suggestion. Otherwise, your float needle in the fuel bowl is probably not opening far enough.
Thanks for the suggestions... will look into the cable stretching as that would make sense and something I haven't seen to try yet.
How would I check the float needle in fuel bowl? And further to that end, how would I know if there's a problem with it not opening far enough?
Sorry for all the questions, but I'll freely admit to being newbish on all this stuff. I've had several mowers in my lifetime, and haven't had a mower give me this much grief before.
Ran across this too, which seems to resemble my issue too... while I did take apart carb, I don't remember thoroughly inspecting that vertical hole so perhaps something is stuck in there.
First, pull the plug, attach the plug wire, ground the plug threads to the head, and have someone close the safety handle and pull the starter. If no spark, then recheck the cable to make sure it is indeed moving enough to 'unground' the circuit. If you do get a spark, then get some carburetor spray cleaner and spray into the gas line. This will in turn go into the bowl and likely clean it up.
