Free Lawn Boy 10201... gift or curse? You decide...

Ok, so a buddy who mows stopped by the other day and said a customer was throwing out a LB and asked him if he wanted it. He knows I like them, so he took it and brought it over.. It is a 10201, looks like a 1993 model.



But it doesn't have any primer bulb... first one I have seen without one.. So I add a little gas, look for a primer bulb... none.. and then clean the air filter and plug... Give it a couple pulls and it starts...kind of.

It starts but runs really low like it is idling.. I move the throttle cable and take off the filter so I can see it open and close the air vent.. But it won't run any higher than an idle.

I take off the carb, clean it, and reinstall... still just an idle.. Then I do a little reading and add a few clockwise clicks to the air vane... it runs a little higher rpms for a while, then bogs down and dies.. I choke it and it starts up and barely runs.... open the air vent just a tiny bit... dies. Open it all the way... it starts, runs for 10 seconds... then dies...

I get it running a little higher than an idle for a good minute or two then it bogs down and dies... puff of white smoke out the muffler...

I move it off my driveway and it almost looks like a darker circle...maybe gas/oil mix coming out the bottom?

This goes on for a few hours until I am irritated and give up for the day...

Anybody have any magic "Oh, that happened to me once... this is what I did" stories? I am stumped and the no primer bulb has me perplexed...

thanks for any responses...
Matt

It is a model V. Mechanically identical to the previous model F.
Do not run it until seal (top & bottom) condition can be verified.

Hi Matt,

I've never owned a V engine LawnBoy, but here are my suggestions.

Make sure the muffler isn't plugged, via a mud robber wasp or possibly a mouse nest.

Take the carburetor apart and clean it.

It's possible the crankcase seals are leaking, that's another item to check.

If it has reasonable compression a 2 stroke should run fairly well.

Regards

Jeff

Some of those early "V" engine mowers had a different carb that didn't require a primer bulb, but had a choke function on the carb when you pushed the speed control all the way forward, just like the DuraForce models. Sounds to me like you have a float in the carb that is not doing its job and you probably have leaky oil seals top and bottom.