My lawnmower
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@approxinfinity Ethanol in fuel deteriorates so rapidly & that would be my first elimination. It also ruins carbs within a few weeks. Buildup over a couple seasons can spell eventual failure. If E free gas is not avail where you live,True Fuel is avail at most hardware or box stores at ab 4.99 a can. That’s is all I EVER used in 2 cycle trimmers, chain saws, Mantis, etc., EVER. Ethanol burns so hot it will score/burn the dome outta pistons if the mix is too lean. Had to put a new carb on my Briggs generator last year because of Ethanol. The stuff is just crap & is bad for any engine - cars, motorcycles, boats, mowers any internal comb engine, especially ones with a carb & not injection type fuel delivery.
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I was complaining about my mower situation to my dad and he went out to the shed and gave me a reel mower. I have a small enough yard that it is adequate and it cuts well, starts every time, gets great gas mileage, and there’s no rope to pull!
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@globaljaybird
I learned that mistake with my rider. I put ethanol in there and OMG. I had to get some of that RV stuff just to rectify the situation.
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@approxinfinity Fuel filter is in the tank probably. Check also for deteriorated or pinched fuel lines. My engineer fiend says one I have that won’t run right might be a clogged internal feed in the carburetor from previous old gas. If so, would need a 48 hr boil in an ultrasonic bath. I decided to spring for a new $30 carburetor.
If there is no spark, though, it is likely not a carburetor issue. Especially if there is no catching or running for a couple seconds after squeezing the primer bulb. Then, it could well be a problem with the ignition wire. Make sure it is not detached inside the spark plug hood.
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Hate to be rude, me being a certified mechanic and all but wow some of ya’ll crack me up.
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I fixed mine last week, put in a lil more oil. I even checked it and wiped it off, showed full. That’s all it needed. I hate asking my neighbor guys for help.
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I burnt out on my lawnmower, moved on to dismantling an elevated side garden in preparation for paving the driveway today. Thanks for all the well wishes and guesses, 50 bucketpoints* to the winner when I figure out what’s wrong! (or 1 bucketpoint* to each of you if I just buy a new one).
(*) bucketpoints are a new form of electronic currency similar to bitcoins only worth no money.
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@approxinfinity fly out @kjayhawks and I bet he will fix it free
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@approxinfinity how do bucketpoints compare to the bolivar?
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@Bwag funny. I had almost equated it’s value to the Bolivar when describing it but decided that might be too political.
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@approxinfinity might have a few Venezuelan’s on the site who’d take offence!
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@approxinfinity pull the plug and try to start the mower. Watch to see if you have spark. One step of many…
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You don’t need and ultasonic bath, carburator cleaner will take care of it; small engine mechanics have been doing just this forever. I just finished rebuilding the carburetor on a Craftsman mower that was running rough and on my power washer that sat for 8 years in my garage. They both had Briggs and Stratton engines, it took about 15-20 minutes each and they are both running perfectly now…it helped that I have done this before.
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I will offer no advice for this. I know nothing of gas engines, so my guess is that your mower “lost the will to live.”
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@JayHawkFanToo My friend’s advice was talking about if carburetor cleaner hadn’t worked to dissolve built up crap. Based on his own experience. His friend had a business rebuilding small engines and the ultrasonic bath made his life much easier.
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The small engine carburators I have rebuilt are so simple that a carb cleaner spray can, an old toothbrush and some thin electric wire will clean them every time; an air compressor will speed up the job. The carb on my power washer had sat in the garage unused for 8-10 years and the gaskets and o-rings dryed up and cracked and leaked and the old gas dried leaving a thick residue; it took 5 minutes to fully clean it to essentially new condition. Like I said, the entire rebuild process takes 15-20 minutes.YMMV.
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After I gave up, the shop I took it to told me there is no compression and the engine is trashed. Double 0. No bucketpoints for anyone!
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@approxinfinity I think I got it right!
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@approxinfinity now you need some
S
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Wow, and even the certified mechanic who mocked us for trying didn’t get it right! I wonder if that is why people share info when these things happen, despite knowing we could be wrong, on the off chance it might help someone before paying $60 diagnostic fees?
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If you have a high end mower it might be worth it to do an engine rebuild. You can pick up kit for not a lot of money and if you can do the work yourself it might be worth it. Lots of YouTube videos to help; a decent weekend afternoon project.
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@mayjay One of my farmers just got his tractor back from the shop. $5000 repair bill, but they couldn’t find the problem. Electrical issues are tough. Stinks to pay so much for nothing getting fixed!
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@mayjay
I thought it was fun hearing everyone’s answers. I’m just kidding about the zero bucketpoints. 1/n piece of the bucket to everyone and much love.
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@approxinfinity I ended up buying a new carb and fuel filter for my grass trimmer. Works fine now. Moved on to my blower that would not run longer than 35 seconds by replacing the clogged fuel filter with the cleaner one from the trimmer. Works fine now. Moved on to my hedge trimmer, which I haven’t needed since it was balky 4 years ago (we moved, no hedges). All the lines had totally disintegrated. Replaced those but no start. Will try new plug next. But why bother, come to think of it?
Doing my bit for cleaner air by not fixing all of them.
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@mayjay yes my guess over a post with next to no info was wrong but show several of these answer to any mechanic and they’ll get a good laugh. “Better to be thought a fool, than to open ones mouth and remove all doubt” Abe Lincoln. Sorry but some people have clearly never worked on a internal combustion engine giving out advice. Go ask any small engine repair man if my advice was incorrect.
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@kjayhawks Sure, and while you are having them laugh about that, go ahead and entertain them with the story of how my Toyota certified mechanic sheared off the tops of 3 locking lug nuts during my last tire rotation, and how Monroe Equipment’s mechanic somehow actually installed blades for a 42" mower on a 46" cutting deck, or how my Honda arrived from the factory without some mechanic connecting the A/C drain or any other mechanic noticing it?
Maybe some other stories about three separate HVAC companies’ mechanics offering to fix my gas pack furnace by replacing a variety of things costing between $600 and $1400 such as 2 control boards, a heat exchanger, and a gas manifold, while a 4th actually burned the entire wiring harness after deciding a $130 pressure valve was the problem before deciding it wasn’t? It turned out to be rust on the manifold that my 5th mechanic brushed off in 2 minutes at no charge.
Look, my point isn’t that I think all mechanics are incompetent or useless. I just think that it is very rude to be so dismissive of amateurs’ attempts to think of things it might have been. I don’t make snide comments about you or other nonlawyers commenting on legal issues like contracts, but I try to clarify what the issues are as I see them. Maybe you think nonmechanics (who he called on, in the first post) are not deserving of respect. You could have explained how any of our thinking was misdirected, but instead you threw out some dirt.
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@mayjay I’m sure there is times when you see legal advice and laugh. Sounds like I’d be of the best technicians in you area lol, no one works mistake free. I’m just saying I’m not a lawyer so i wouldn’t nor should I try to be bye giving advice and having no idea what I was talking about.
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@mayjay I bought a new Honda last month and it was delivered with all four tires inflated to 62 pounds. A vehicle, not a lawn mower. 32 lbs recommended.
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@DanR Inflation is bad. I learned that in Economics.
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@kjayhawks I think if you liked our posts trying to suggest remedies for his lawnmower, you would really get a kick out of perusing some of the recommended home remedies for something like jock itch on WEBMD.com and sites like that. Man, the things people are willing to do to themselves! And elsewhere, on other ailments, it actually gets dangerous when people tell each other to stop medications or add homeopathic remedies to their Rx regimen.
Danger also happens on YouTube for home repair, where I once saw a video on changing out a ceiling light fixture. It started with, “Make sure the power is off by turning off the wall switch. You will need to do this while the light bulb is still in the socket so you can make sure the switch is off.” No mention of the circuit breaker…
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@mayjay ya, I’m not trying to a dick. I just gotta good laugh.
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Replace the blivet behind the piston return spring.
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@mayjay Fortunately I found a YouTube video showing me how to fix the over-inflation!
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@DanR Ice pick?
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@wissox You might oughta splain wat a reel mower is as I’m sure dere are sum youngsters on here dat would gasp at the mere idea of ever usin’ such a thing.
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@DanR Honda’s way of meeting fed mileage standards. Over inflated tires reduces rolling friction which increases gas mileage.
BTW, I keep 5 gal gas cans with reg gas just for mowers, generators and other small engines. Down here in Louisiana I run the generator every month cause trying to get it running to save fridge and freezer stocks after storm knocks out power is the last thing I want to be doing. Had no commercial power for 3 weeks after Katrina but kept cold stuff cold.
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@brooksmd I do! I gotta reel good power mower!
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@mayjay How old is the power for your reel mower?
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@brooksmd It is reeeeely old. 61.5 Earth Standard Years (I have been reading lots of SciFi). Puts out only one (1) Mayjay power.
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@mayjay Yeah, wonder how long it would take you to do my 4.5 acres. Takes me less than 2 hrs on my ztr with a 5 ft deck. Think I’d out run you. You should of had more boys and staggered them so you always had a fresh one to power that thing.
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@brooksmd Actually, I lied. Just having fun with the pun! Didn’t think you would believe me. I am way too effin lazy to use a reel! My “I do” was about knowing what they are. Sorry!
I have a nice 20 HP Kohler-engined TroyBilt 46" tractor (nice now that the repair place put 46b blades on instead of the 42" they used earlier) and a self-propelled Honda 22" walk-behind. I tried to use a really old heavy reel once and felt like I was pushing a block of concrete through mud. Maybe a new one is lighter and better lubricated, but I don’t think my cardiologist wants me to find out.
So, the tractor’s key, steering, throttle use, and blade manipulation are all powered by one Mayjay Power (MP), while the Honda’s starter cord and reverse are powered by one MP also.
The sons were not very good at the mowing thing, so their Grandpa (my F-I-L) did it for exercise. By the time he died, they had moved. Now I am the Grandpa doing it because the next gen is in Hawaii.
I have mower envy, though. You could ripsnort through my yard in 15 mins.
