Engine Motor will turn over and run but will not restart after mowing the yard.

Craftsman46

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  • / Motor will turn over and run but will not restart after mowing the yard.
First time posting and I hope someone here can help me with my mystery problem.

Craftsman 917.258671
Briggs & Straton 19.5
Model 42E707
Type 1631-01
Code 9706065B


Problem: I am able to start the mower when cold. Once it warms up, if you decide to stop the mower for any reason, it will turn over but it will not restart until it has sat for several hours. My local Land and Coats advised it might be the Coil which I purchased and replaced. Unfortunately, the problem still exists. I have used this mower for years and this is the first problem I have had with it.

Has anyone else experienced an issue like this in the past? I have seen many people reference that the values could need adjustment on OHV motors but from my research I do not see where I have a rocker arm to adjust on the 42E707.

If anyone else has experienced an issue like this, please let me know what you did to fix your issue.

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

Craftsman46
 

BlazNT

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  • / Motor will turn over and run but will not restart after mowing the yard.
Have you tried adding choke when trying to start? Or reducing throttle? Or both?
 

BlazNT

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  • / Motor will turn over and run but will not restart after mowing the yard.
Also take off engine cover and clean out all grass and dirt from cooling fins.
 

Craftsman46

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  • / Motor will turn over and run but will not restart after mowing the yard.
Have you tried adding choke when trying to start? Or reducing throttle? Or both?

Yes. Sorry, I have attempted to adjust the choke and throttle when attempting to restart. No lucky.

The only way to get it to restart is to let it sit until it is ice cold. This past weekend it wouldn't start even cold. I changed the coil thinking that was it and it started first try. After I mowed my yard and my other two neighbors yards, I turned it off thinking my problem was gone and sure enough it was still there. I had to push it to the shed.
 

Craftsman46

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  • / Motor will turn over and run but will not restart after mowing the yard.
Also take off engine cover and clean out all grass and dirt from cooling fins.

When I changed the coil, I checked and I was clean on all cooling fins.
 

motoman

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  • / Motor will turn over and run but will not restart after mowing the yard.
IF and a big IF somehow you do have an over heating engine and IF (especially ) the "coil" is sitting relatively close to the head it is possibly the over heat is killing the "coils" (by this I mean an "electronic module" with fairly fragile semiconductors inside ). Since I do not not know your model and do not know what style ignition you have I should probably just shut up which I will do shortly. IF you have coil only comprised of wound wire it would not die like an electronic module in over heat. What you describe might somehow be a fuel feed problem. If you know what a "proper" plug color is tell us what you have. The living after cold soak makes one think of a semiconductor (like a transistor) which will appear to live at cold , but really be dead at hot, like a zombie.
 

Craftsman46

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  • / Motor will turn over and run but will not restart after mowing the yard.
What should I be looking for when I check the plug color? I pulled both this weekend and neither appeared to be burnt or have excessive carbon build up.
 

bertsmobile1

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  • / Motor will turn over and run but will not restart after mowing the yard.
Before everyone chimes in and loads you up with their favourite failure mode lets see if we can cut down the possabilities by 50%

Get an in line spark tester, one of the nenon tube types that plugs into the end of the spark plug lead.
Hook it up and if necessary use some cable ties to keep it off exhaust pipes.
When the mower will not start flip the hood and see if you are getting spark.

And to pick your memory, does the mower exhibit any other problems when running?
If you do not turn it off, does it stop all by itself ?

Welcome to the forum and thank you for posting all the relevant numbers first up.
 

motoman

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  • / Motor will turn over and run but will not restart after mowing the yard.
Thanks, color sounds normal
 

Craftsman46

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  • / Motor will turn over and run but will not restart after mowing the yard.
Before everyone chimes in and loads you up with their favourite failure mode lets see if we can cut down the possabilities by 50%

Get an in line spark tester, one of the nenon tube types that plugs into the end of the spark plug lead.
Hook it up and if necessary use some cable ties to keep it off exhaust pipes.
When the mower will not start flip the hood and see if you are getting spark.

And to pick your memory, does the mower exhibit any other problems when running?
If you do not turn it off, does it stop all by itself ?

Welcome to the forum and thank you for posting all the relevant numbers first up.

@bertsmobile1 - I will look into sourcing a spark tester.

The only issue I can think of came after I parked the mower outside for two days when I was building my shed. The mower got wet one night from a rain storm but I didn't think it would hurt it to get we one time in 19 years.

When I went to start the mower I had trouble getting it to fire up immediately. I did notice that I had to have the choke pulled out about 1/4 of the way to keep it running long enough to drive back to the front yard and back in the garage. The very next week I mowed without any issues however I never turned the mower off until I was done mowing. My issue became painfully clear when I started using the bagger attachment in the fall to pick up leaves. I started noticing a slight sputter / loss of power if I didnt pull the choke out 1/4 of the way as I was under full power. When I would stop the mower to dump the leaves, I was done for the day as I couldn't get the mower to restart when it was hot.

I will add more if I think of it. I hope this helps!

Thanks!
 
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