Tension on a brake kill switch and wire

Cea

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I have two things wrong. I believe I have an older model YardBoy lawnmower. It has the log with what looks like 3 blades of grass.

I am not sure if I have the terminology correct, so bear with me. There is a cable that runs from my handle on my left side that actually is seated inside the mechanism (with the rabbit and the turtle) for the choke/throttle and goes down to the engine. (Letter A in my attached picture which I found an image off the internet, not from my lawnmower.) That wire runs down to the engine through that rabbit/turtle mechanism, through a hole, but it will not stay in place. I think over time the plastic got brittle and broke and so it just cannot hold it. I am looking for a solution to that. I did put some penetrating oil inside the cable and it does move freely. I am not sure I need to replace the cable.

Problem number two involves the brake/kill switch, or maybe the engine control switch, not sure. The same wire from above hooks into that part where I have labeled it as A in the picture. In order to move the lever marked B, I have to pull really hard with a pair of pliers. IT IS SO STIFF. I cannot move it with my fingers. The mower will start if lever B is pulled but then I have someone pull the cord. It will start with no problem. Obviously I can't do that. I need a way for lever B to stay in place until I release the handle lever when I am ready to stop mowing. My question is, just how much tension should be on that brake/kill mechanism? With it being so stiff, even if I get problem number one solved, I am not sure it can pull lever A. I have sprayed carb cleaner on it, and it might be slightly better, but I am wondering if it can be better. Would I need to tear the engine apart more to get the carb cleaner into more of the part? Is there a part of that mechanism that tends to gum up? Or is the part bad? Do I need to add some kind of lithium spray to lubricate it?

I realize this is an old mower, but it had been running great and it mulches so well, just a good mower. Thanks for any help.

brake-kill.jpg
 

Cea

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UPDATE - Ended up putting a hose clamp on to hold the wire in place whre it threads through the throttle/choke mechanism on the handle. Once that was tightly secured, the wire was able to move the brake/kill lever without a problem and the lawn mower started right up. So the tension, although unable to move the lever with my fingers, was okay. Just for good measure, since I had squirted carb cleaner on those levers and spring, it got a bit of a silicon spray for lubrication.
 

Rivets

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I’m guessing that the brake cable, which runs from the bail lever on the handle to the brake mechanism pictured, is stretched not allowing you to fully release the engine brake. Yes, that spring needs to be very tight and strong to stop the engine. When you pull the bail lever the brake pad should be off the flywheel and the stop switch not in contact with the brake mechanism.
 
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