No start, and electrical strangeness

Rivets

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Yes, you need that tube to be snug and tight, no air leaks. Sorry I didn't think of this before. Old age is setting in I guess.
 

mudpie

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Apr 20, 2012
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I'm ready to just shoot it.

Can somebody tell me how the fuel pump is supposed to work? If I pour gas in the carb, it runs for a few seconds, so obviously I've got spark. If I disconnect the line from the fuel tank to the pump, I get fuel flowing, so it's obviously got fuel to the pump. And the pump is new.

If I pull the hose off the oil filler tube, I've got suction there when it cranks, but there is no fuel at the carb when I pull that supply hose off.

So I'm confused as to how this fuel pump is supposed to work. I've got fuel to it, and suction to it, but no fuel coming out of it.

What am I missing?
 

Rivets

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Do you have both suction and pressure in the pulse line? Can you hook up some sort of gravity feed system to the pump, so that it doesnot have to work to hard to get fuel to the carb? I use a small funnel and a piece of fuel line held right above the pump. You may have gotten a bad pump????
 

wildbill

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Apr 16, 2011
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The starter for the 11hp likely does not have the same amount of windings as the mower had. Not enough 'azz'. Just put the new starter on and be done with it.
 

Rivets

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If the starter bolts on it has the same number of windings. B&S only changes the winding when they change external design. Don't change starter again. I've just reread your posting and something came to mind. Are you sure that you have the fuel lines connected right? There is an inlet and outlet. I know it's a dumb question. Would you try this test. Take a piece of fuel line, attach it to a small funnel and to the fuel inlet on the carb. (Plug the line from the pump). Put some fuel in the funnel and try to start the engine. What we are doing is building a gravity feed system to test the carb. If the engine starts and runs we know that the pump is the problem. If it does not run we have to get the carb right before looking at the pump. You may need a third and fourth hand to do this test.
 

mudpie

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OK, it's been a while. Other things got in the way of progress.

Just to update, for those who may be searching in the future, the mower is running. I had been hoping to get this running for my mother (her mower), but just couldn't figure it out. So, it went to the shop. It had a new starter, new fuel pump, and I had removed every ground connection and cleaned them.

As it turns out, the shop tells me the carb was all gummed up. It also needed both blades, a new belt, and they're saying it still needs new drive pulleys due to rust. I was discussing this with my brother and he tells me about how she left the mower sitting outside, uncovered, for about 7 months this past winter. Here in Washington, it's known to rain a little, and the past couple years we've had ridiculous (for us) amounts of snow.

So, moral of the story....

If you let your mower sit outside in the weather for half a year, you might have problems. In this case, it cost my mother $257 at the shop to get her mower going, plus $25 for a fuel pump, and $120 for the starter we put on it (which it needed anyway, but probably wouldn't have if it was stored properly).

Thanks for everybodys help. I appreciate it.
:thumbsup:
 

WCBcoor

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Jul 18, 2012
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I haven't got my new starter yet, but I had a thought....

I've got an 11hp industrial B & S on a water pump, and it's got what appears to be the same starter. I'm guessing there's not much variation. That motor cranks fine, so I pulled the starter and put it on the mower.

Now that it's on the mower, the mower cranks, but very slowly, and not more than a couple revolutions. It seems that compression is overpowering the starters ability to crank. If I let it sit a minute, it cranks again, presumably after compression has bled off. However, it still only cranks a couple revolutions again.

I'm lost. Again. Any thoughts appreciated.

For what it's worth, this mower ran fine last year, but it has now been sitting for 7 months. Also, the battery is new.

I have been battling the same problem with one of mine -a Yardman. It seemed that the crank couldn't overcome the compression. I put new brushes in the starter ($20 as opposed to $140 for new starter). The ground for the starter was missing so added that ($3). This helped but still hard crank. I then changed the cable from the solenoid to the starter to a larger cable than the original. This seemed to resolve the issue and the mower starts every time now. Just a thought if anyone else runs into this oddball behavior with their mower.
 
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