Well, TWO of them actually. I'm not very familiar with working on small engines so I need all the help I can get.
One is a Craftsman self propelled push mower (Model 917.378490, Engine 125K02-0273-E1), and the other is a John Deere self propelled push mower (Model JS36, Engine 122T02-1207-B1). Both have had recent tune-ups, and both appear to have nearly identical Briggs & Stratton 6.75hp engines. Both are having the exact same symptoms: they won't freakin start.
The John Deere always ran well for me since I got it back in March (craigslist), but I noticed it's been getting harder to start the last few times I've used it. It took several hard pulls last time to get it to eventually fire up, but it ran perfect (like always) once it came to life, and didn't skip a beat. Well I tried to mow the grass on Monday and it wouldn't start at all. It seems to come close, then falls on it's face.
The Craftsman is new to me; it started right up today and ran great at first, but quit on me 5 minutes into the mow. It just sputtered and died and wouldn't start back up. I let it sit for a while and tried again with no luck, and now it's in the same boat as the other one, it tries to start but won't fire up.
I've checked them both thoroughly. Clean air filters, clean carbs, primers seem to work fine, the brackets on the start cables seem to be engaging properly, the pull cables feel normal. Both have good looking spark plugs. Bowls had fuel in them, filters/floats looked good. I drained the tanks and tried fresh fuel from a new container, and it made no difference. There doesn't appear to be any gaskets or O-rings missing anywhere.
When I was taking apart the JD earlier this week, I noticed the air filter housing had TWO gaskets on it for some reason (which I'm assuming is incorrect), and one of them was really crusty. So I ordered two new gaskets thinking that might be the fix for it. While I was waiting on those to come in (and somewhat doubtful that it was truly the problem), I figured I would buy another cheap mower (the Craftsman...just got it today from craigslist) and use it for a while, then sell one of them once I fixed the John Deere. HA, so much for that.
I cleaned the carb thoroughly on the Craftsman and replaced the spark plug, just for the hell of it. Didn't help. I didn't have starting fluid but I dumped fuel into the carb, still wouldn't start. I'm at a loss for words here.
In summary, I probably should have just bought a new mower instead of dicking around with old craigslist junk. But what's done is done, and at this point I just need to get one of these piles running. They seem like such simple machines, I'm kind of surprised that I'm having this much trouble. I suppose should pull the plug and check spark while I try and fire it up, but other than that, I'm dumbfounded and not sure what to try next. Any ideas?
One is a Craftsman self propelled push mower (Model 917.378490, Engine 125K02-0273-E1), and the other is a John Deere self propelled push mower (Model JS36, Engine 122T02-1207-B1). Both have had recent tune-ups, and both appear to have nearly identical Briggs & Stratton 6.75hp engines. Both are having the exact same symptoms: they won't freakin start.
The John Deere always ran well for me since I got it back in March (craigslist), but I noticed it's been getting harder to start the last few times I've used it. It took several hard pulls last time to get it to eventually fire up, but it ran perfect (like always) once it came to life, and didn't skip a beat. Well I tried to mow the grass on Monday and it wouldn't start at all. It seems to come close, then falls on it's face.
The Craftsman is new to me; it started right up today and ran great at first, but quit on me 5 minutes into the mow. It just sputtered and died and wouldn't start back up. I let it sit for a while and tried again with no luck, and now it's in the same boat as the other one, it tries to start but won't fire up.
I've checked them both thoroughly. Clean air filters, clean carbs, primers seem to work fine, the brackets on the start cables seem to be engaging properly, the pull cables feel normal. Both have good looking spark plugs. Bowls had fuel in them, filters/floats looked good. I drained the tanks and tried fresh fuel from a new container, and it made no difference. There doesn't appear to be any gaskets or O-rings missing anywhere.
When I was taking apart the JD earlier this week, I noticed the air filter housing had TWO gaskets on it for some reason (which I'm assuming is incorrect), and one of them was really crusty. So I ordered two new gaskets thinking that might be the fix for it. While I was waiting on those to come in (and somewhat doubtful that it was truly the problem), I figured I would buy another cheap mower (the Craftsman...just got it today from craigslist) and use it for a while, then sell one of them once I fixed the John Deere. HA, so much for that.
I cleaned the carb thoroughly on the Craftsman and replaced the spark plug, just for the hell of it. Didn't help. I didn't have starting fluid but I dumped fuel into the carb, still wouldn't start. I'm at a loss for words here.
In summary, I probably should have just bought a new mower instead of dicking around with old craigslist junk. But what's done is done, and at this point I just need to get one of these piles running. They seem like such simple machines, I'm kind of surprised that I'm having this much trouble. I suppose should pull the plug and check spark while I try and fire it up, but other than that, I'm dumbfounded and not sure what to try next. Any ideas?
