Advice? Engine Turns 1 Time, Then Halts

dfbroxy said:

Sorry to step on your toes burt, but along with all of that he might want to check his choke for starting purposes if you could walk him through it. It seems as if that is getting to be a problem with a lot of box store new mowers.

Click to expand...

Go back and read the very first post.
The owner has 2 problems
From the first post, the engine cranks fine plugs out but won't crank plugs in.
Only a couple of reasons for this
1) no ACR because valves too loose
2) excessive compression because exhaust valves are not opening
A bad choke will not cause the engine to stall during cranking.
A mal functioning choke will allow the engine to crank but not fire up & start.



Now in post 5 he reveals the mower has always been hard to start which could be a bad choke or a clogged carb or valve lash
Note valve lash is common to both problems
So lets get the engine spinning first.

Once that is happening w can address the hard starting.

bertsmobile1 said:

Go back and read the very first post.
The owner has 2 problems
From the first post, the engine cranks fine plugs out but won't crank plugs in.
Only a couple of reasons for this
1) no ACR because valves too loose
2) excessive compression because exhaust valves are not opening
A bad choke will not cause the engine to stall during cranking.
A mal functioning choke will allow the engine to crank but not fire up & start.



Now in post 5 he reveals the mower has always been hard to start which could be a bad choke or a clogged carb or valve lash
Note valve lash is common to both problems
So lets get the engine spinning first.

Once that is happening w can address the hard starting.

Click to expand...

Not disagreeing at all but he's got a low battery too...

Hey, I didn't get to mess with it yesterday, but did today.

I tried to use my car battery to jump it. It would turn and try to start like normal, but didn't get going. As soon as I unhooked it from my car, back to the 1 turn and then radio silence.

So, I decided to jump over to Wal-Mart and get their $20 battery. Hooked it up, and it was turning no problem, but still not starting.

I had checked the fuel line coming directly out of the filter previously, so I decided to check the lines further down. I removed them, and again had the flow I was expecting, but I draining about a cup of gas out of it, then put the lines back in place and gave the key a couple good 15-second cranks and it fired up, then died instantly. A couple more good cranks, and she was purring and idling.

The only thing I can think of is that some old gas remained in the lines all winter, even though I ran it until it died last season? Maybe it was gummed up in there, and I had drained the battery trying to start it previously, and draining that line got it out? In any case, fires up no problem, now.