Good afternoon everyone!
I have a 5 or 6 year old Craftsman self-propelled mower with a 190cc Briggs & Stratton Platinum series engine. The mower has been very reliable until this incident.
I put it up last year by putting Sta-Bil in the tank and letting it run for 5 minutes or so. I removed the spark plug and sprayed the Sta-Bil fogger in it. That was in October.
On May 15th or so I changed to oil in the mower and cleaned the air filter real well. The mower started on the 2nd or 3rd pull. I cut 95% of my yard with no problem. I was mowing along the back fence when one of the front wheels bumped a fence slat that was sticking out a little bit. The mower stalled and died and has not re-started since. It has stalled before, but never died.
This is what I have already done to try and fix it:
- It has fuel in it! LOL Just to be sure, I bought some mid-grade fuel and topped off the tank.
- I checked the safety switch that is activated when you pull the handle back. Looks good, plus I ran a jumper over the connections to eliminate it.
- I removed the spark plug and there is a spark when pulling the cord. I bought a new spark plug, gapped it to .30 and installed it anyway.
- There is a light coating of gasoline on the plug when I remove it.
- I did not hit anything with the blade. It turns and so does the bolt holding it on as well as the thing at the top of the motor.
- The engine will pop kinda like a backfire occasionally when trying to start it.
- I sprayed carb cleaner in the air intake and let it sit for awhile. No difference other than a few more pops.
- I tried choking the air-intake while trying to start it as well.
I don't know what else to try. It has air, fuel and a spark. The safety switch seems OK, plus I jumped past it.
The motor does not have a choke or priming bulb like some mowers do. It does have an electric start button, but that hasn't worked in 2 or 3 years! It always started on the 1st or 2nd pull anyway.
Like I said, it was running fine until it stalled out and died. Now, it's still dead!
Thanks for any ideas or suggestions. The neighbor kid is getting expensive!
Chuck
I have a 5 or 6 year old Craftsman self-propelled mower with a 190cc Briggs & Stratton Platinum series engine. The mower has been very reliable until this incident.
I put it up last year by putting Sta-Bil in the tank and letting it run for 5 minutes or so. I removed the spark plug and sprayed the Sta-Bil fogger in it. That was in October.
On May 15th or so I changed to oil in the mower and cleaned the air filter real well. The mower started on the 2nd or 3rd pull. I cut 95% of my yard with no problem. I was mowing along the back fence when one of the front wheels bumped a fence slat that was sticking out a little bit. The mower stalled and died and has not re-started since. It has stalled before, but never died.
This is what I have already done to try and fix it:
- It has fuel in it! LOL Just to be sure, I bought some mid-grade fuel and topped off the tank.
- I checked the safety switch that is activated when you pull the handle back. Looks good, plus I ran a jumper over the connections to eliminate it.
- I removed the spark plug and there is a spark when pulling the cord. I bought a new spark plug, gapped it to .30 and installed it anyway.
- There is a light coating of gasoline on the plug when I remove it.
- I did not hit anything with the blade. It turns and so does the bolt holding it on as well as the thing at the top of the motor.
- The engine will pop kinda like a backfire occasionally when trying to start it.
- I sprayed carb cleaner in the air intake and let it sit for awhile. No difference other than a few more pops.
- I tried choking the air-intake while trying to start it as well.
I don't know what else to try. It has air, fuel and a spark. The safety switch seems OK, plus I jumped past it.
The motor does not have a choke or priming bulb like some mowers do. It does have an electric start button, but that hasn't worked in 2 or 3 years! It always started on the 1st or 2nd pull anyway.
Like I said, it was running fine until it stalled out and died. Now, it's still dead!
Thanks for any ideas or suggestions. The neighbor kid is getting expensive!
Chuck