10525 Lawnboy no start issues

intruder1500

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So this has happened a couple of times on my Duraforce 6.5 HP 2 stroke. Go to start mower....prime carb...no start....prime some more...no go. Pull plug and its dry. Remove filter and spray starting fluid in carb throat....starts first pull and keeps on running. Appears that there is no fuel in engine...maybe primer bulb issue or? Any advice is appreciated.
 

Born2Mow

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1. First and Foremost is fuel. Fuel should be less than 2 weeks old (unless it's been properly treated, and how to do that is not the focus of this reply). Fuel that was left in the unit over winter cannot be trusted. As a best practice: Never, ever store any small engine with fuel in the tank or carb.

2. If you can get the unit running, as per your description, then often it is the needle jets that gum up. With the unit running, turn the adjuster screws back and forth and often times the moving fuel will wash the jet clean. Be sure to re-set the screw exactly where it was. There are most probably 2 screws marked Hi and Lo, which refers to the engine RPM they control. The Lo screw usually has the biggest effect on cranking.

3. I would suggest you start using a dual action stabilizer and cleaner additive in all your small engine fuel. You can treat the big can you fill all the small engines from and they will all benefit. Such an additive would be StarTron. The action described in #2 will be faster and more effective if you do.

Hope this helps.
 

FuzzyDriver

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Could be primer, but also give some thought into the time difference between trying to start it right away and getting starting fluid and taking the filter off.

When you are done mowing, do you shut the gas off and run it until it dies? If you do (I do) then when you go to start the mower, when you turn the gas on you need to wait a couple minutes for the bowl to get gas. This could be the time that passes between trying to start it, and taking the filter off and retrieving the starting fluid.

In case you are wondering why I run it out of gas every time I mow, it's to completely empty out the carburetor. With no fuel in it, there's no fuel that can evaporate and leave oil behind. I have not had to touch my 'daily-driver' carburetor for years since i started doing that.
 

Rivets

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Please provide us with a serial number for your unit, I’m not finding one which uses a primer system.
 

intruder1500

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1. First and Foremost is fuel. Fuel should be less than 2 weeks old (unless it's been properly treated, and how to do that is not the focus of this reply). Fuel that was left in the unit over winter cannot be trusted. As a best practice: Never, ever store any small engine with fuel in the tank or carb.

2. If you can get the unit running, as per your description, then often it is the needle jets that gum up. With the unit running, turn the adjuster screws back and forth and often times the moving fuel will wash the jet clean. Be sure to re-set the screw exactly where it was. There are most probably 2 screws marked Hi and Lo, which refers to the engine RPM they control. The Lo screw usually has the biggest effect on cranking.

3. I would suggest you start using a dual action stabilizer and cleaner additive in all your small engine fuel. You can treat the big can you fill all the small engines from and they will all benefit. Such an additive would be StarTron. The action described in #2 will be faster and more effective if you do.

Hope this helps.
All fuel removed from mower end of season. I do use stabilizer in the gas can containing leftover fuel.
 

intruder1500

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Could be primer, but also give some thought into the time difference between trying to start it right away and getting starting fluid and taking the filter off.

When you are done mowing, do you shut the gas off and run it until it dies? If you do (I do) then when you go to start the mower, when you turn the gas on you need to wait a couple minutes for the bowl to get gas. This could be the time that passes between trying to start it, and taking the filter off and retrieving the starting fluid.

In case you are wondering why I run it out of gas every time I mow, it's to completely empty out the carburetor. With no fuel in it, there's no fuel that can evaporate and leave oil behind. I have not had to touch my 'daily-driver' carburetor for years since i started doing that.
I do shut the fuel off but do not run it until the mower dies.

AHHHHH....."With no fuel in it, there's no fuel that can evaporate and leave oil behind."
 

intruder1500

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So todays learning. Changed primer bulb and blew out line in case it was plugged. Tried to start no go. Pulled filter and sprayed starting fluid in carb throat. No go. Pulled plug and now its wet....hmmmm. Put in old plug started first pull and lots of smoke.....flooded now? So we will see what happens tomorrow....I will push primer button once and try to start. My thinking is that I flooded the engine blowing the line out after replacing the primer bulb.

Thankful I have a second 10525 plus lots of spare parts.
 

Rivets

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I’m betting that your problem is that the crankcase is full of only oil and no fuel, because the fuel has evaporated during winter storage. This is a common problem with two cycle engines which sit for long periods of time. As you know oil is much harder to ignite, but when you got it started you are now able to ignite that oil, black smoke. If you have fresh fuel and were able to burn off all the excess oil in the crankcase, it should start much easier next time. I suggest that you remove as much fuel as possible before any long term storage. I do this by advising customers to drain the tank at the end of the season and then start and run the engine until it dies. That way they have removed as much fuel as possible from the crankcase and will be starting with fresh fuel the next season, plus no reason to purchase the dreaded fuel additive.
 

viperv10

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Dura force engines seem prone to having a lot of gas seeping into the crankcase and dripping oil out the muffler and out of the plate on the bottom that holds the exhaust u pipe in.
They don't have any adjustment screws on the carb, but they do have a primer bulb.
A friend brought me a dura force to work on this winter. He wanted a new carburetor and new coil. It ran fine but I put in my shed for a month or so during the snowy season of winter
and when I took it out the other day when the weather warmed up, it wouldn't start to save me. These lawn boys can be very finicky.
Regards,
Jerry
 
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