Lawn Mower No Worky

[Superman]

Like an idiot I failed to drain gas from my mower last year. I also failed to use gas stabilizer. Likely as a consequence, the mower is not starting. I drained the gas from the tank. I will go get fresh gas. Meanwhile, is there anything I can do to increase the odds of not having to take it to a small engine guy. The engine is Briggs & Stratton. The mower is Snapper. About 2 years old.

[Superman]

To be clearer, I wonder if squirting carb cleaner into the hose between the tank and carb. And/or using starter spray to get it started. Gas tank is currently empty.

[Rapewta]

I've had that happen a couple of times in the past.
You siphoned the old gas out. Good. Pull the plug and clean it.
Just crank and crank and crank with the new gas. It will start.
If you don't have the stamina.... get your son or a neighbor's son to keep pulling.
When the lawn mowing season is over, I turn off the pet-cock and starve the mower until it shuts down.
Of course the problem could be something else but the odds are slim.

[rwest]

I would fill with fresh gas and spray starter fluid into the air intake while pulling the start cord.

Might be enough to get it going and suck in gas. Otherwise good chance the carb is gummed up. New carbs for small engines have become very cheap, so might be cheaper than bringing to a shop.

[Baz]

All good informative posts so far.

As another option - you can always remove and clean out your carb. - especially if it doesn't start with a few pulls. Remember your starter assembly contains wear items - like the pull rope - so you don't want to go from the pot into the fire by busting something if it continues to not start.

If you need technical assistance in how to clean out your carb, you may check You Tube for any videos that could help.

[expatriot98]

Jim - don't waste time on anything else. Check for spark first. If good, pull the carb, take completely apart and spray all the passages with carb cleaner. Empty the tank and clean out any debris. Reassemble, prime and I bet it starts by the third pull. I've just done this with 2 old mowers. Ethanol is a ***** on mowers.

[dad911]

$10 to $20 for a new carburetor on Amazon. New plug, filter, and fuel line for a couple bucks more.

Not worth the time screwing around.

[stevej37]

Is there a primer button?
Reason asking...some take more than stated to start.

[ckelly78z]

This is what I posted on a different website the other day....it applies here.

This is the reason I can buy old tillers, and mowers for next to no money, some patience, and understanding of what the problems actually are usually get it running in short order. There is definitely a trick to rewinding a small engine recoil, and the knot has to be at least a double. On a machine that has sat for a long period with gas in the tank, dump it out, and use fresh gas (gasoline loses at least 1 point of octane per month) which makes it much harder to take a spark.

The spark plug should be cleaned on a grinder brush wheel, and re-gapped (or buy a new one). While the plug is out, I hook it up to the plug wire and as long as the plug is resting on the steel shrouding around the motor, it should visibly spark when you pull on the recoil/ If it sparks, your plug and electrical is good.

I then spray a shot of gasoline in the plug hole, tighten up the plug, and try to start it. If it starts then wonderful, but if it starts for a few seconds and dies, then it isn't getting fuel. I then remove the carb, and completely disassemble it (only about 15 parts) on a clean work bench. With a can of carb cleaner, and a motorcycle jet cleaner tool, I clean all of the tiny metering holes, jets, and needles to no more gunk is present, and re-assemble. 90% of the time, doing these few things will get a non-running small engine started and running (carb might need adjusted which is usually 2 full turns out on both adjustments).

Doing all of this to a Cub Cadet 129 I just picked up took me about an hour with no trips to town, or any new parts.

[fastfredracing]

I would just pull the bowl from the carb ( on the mower if you can ) clean it out, spray carb cleaner/brake cleaner up through the jets .

[Crowbob]

Originally Posted by Rapewta

I've had that happen a couple of times in the past.
You siphoned the old gas out. Good. Pull the plug and clean it.
Just crank and crank and crank with the new gas. It will start.
If you don't have the stamina.... get your son or a neighbor's son to keep pulling.
When the lawn mowing season is over, I turn off the pet-cock and starve the mower until it shuts down.
Of course the problem could be something else but the odds are slim.

You don't have to yank the cord enough to debilitate your throwing arm or the neighbor kid's throwing arm, either.

Put the choke on full, remove or unplug the spark plug and pull the cord a few times just hard enough to prime the carb, etc. Don't even try to start it. After a few pulls (maybe 10), replace the plug.

Then yank away.

Then and only then, go get the neighbor kid.

One season of a two-year old B&S engine sitting with old gas in it is not likely enough to gum everything up so bad it needs professional intervention.

Usually, B&S engines don't work after only one year, irregardless of the gas used.

[Steve Carlton]

[Mike80911]

Try a product called mechanic in a bottle they sell it at home depot. It is specifically for this situation. I have used this a few times and it has always worked.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Mechanic-in-a-Bottle-4-oz-Synthetic-Fuel-Additive-2-004-1/202580655

[Dantilla]

Needed to knock down some grass that grew knee-high by an old warehouse I own.
Pawn shop nearby had a Husqvarna mower with a Honda engine- Ought to do it.

Pawn shop dude fired it up. Sort of. Ran like crap. Barely. Made a low-ball offer to take it as is.

Brought it to the property, filled it with 100 octane Avgas. Sputtered and spit for a minute, then purred like a kitten. Has run like new ever since.

All my small equipment runs on Avgas. Zero alcohol, stays stable pretty much indefinitely.
I don't bother to drain the tanks before winter. After sitting months, they fire right up.

Some airports will sell gas to anyone, some won't.

[chapo]

Bought a new carb for my Honda off of Amazon for 25$ after rebuilding the old one, they are too small to even screw with. Run Race gas in it or the 5 bucks a quart non ethanol fuel from the local big box.

[Tobra]

Had similar problems. Cleaned some dirt out of the carb and it lit up on first pull.

[Scott Douglas]

Went thru this just the other day with the neighbors mower. He'd hired a gardener about a year ago but only had him doing his lawn once a month. With the rains we got this winter the grass really has taken off so he wanted to do an in between mowing. His mower sits outside, under a tarp. He noticed it was dirty so 'washed' it off some. Pulled the plug and took sand paper to it. It still wouldn't start even with the fresh gas he put in it.
So, we pulled the plug to check for spark. Got it, but it wasn't what I'd call real regular (Honda engine BTW). I shot some MAF cleaner down the throat of the carb, pulled the carb drain plug, twice and got nothing but nice clean gas. Fired up my compressor and gave the carb a blast from the front of the intake. Checked the plug again and it was wet. Still not showing a real regular spark so I had him go buy a new one.
Worked like a champ was the report I got later.
Air, fuel, spark=run.
Ah, the basics of internal combustion.
If you knew my neighbor you'd understand why I have to break it down to the basics.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by Dantilla

Needed to knock down some grass that grew knee-high by an old warehouse I own.
Pawn shop nearby had a Husqvarna mower with a Honda engine- Ought to do it.

Pawn shop dude fired it up. Sort of. Ran like crap. Barely. Made a low-ball offer to take it as is.

Brought it to the property, filled it with 100 octane Avgas. Sputtered and spit for a minute, then purred like a kitten. Has run like new ever since.

All my small equipment runs on Avgas. Zero alcohol, stays stable pretty much indefinitely.
I don't bother to drain the tanks before winter. After sitting months, they fire right up.

Some airports will sell gas to anyone, some won't.

Ditto marinas that sell no alcohol gas to boaters. Luckily, no alcohol gas is available near me. Gasohol is terrible for small engines.

[cstreit]

I throw some Techron in the tank and clear the plug. Get it running with starter fluid. Carb is gummed up from cruddy fuel, this will help it over some time.

[HobieMarty]

Originally Posted by Dantilla

Needed to knock down some grass that grew knee-high by an old warehouse I own.
Pawn shop nearby had a Husqvarna mower with a Honda engine- Ought to do it.

Pawn shop dude fired it up. Sort of. Ran like crap. Barely. Made a low-ball offer to take it as is.

Brought it to the property, filled it with 100 octane Avgas. Sputtered and spit for a minute, then purred like a kitten. Has run like new ever since.

All my small equipment runs on Avgas. Zero alcohol, stays stable pretty much indefinitely.
I don't bother to drain the tanks before winter. After sitting months, they fire right up.

Some airports will sell gas to anyone, some won't.

I use 90 octane non ethanol fuel in my Craftsman LT2000. It sat all winter, used it just last week and it fired right up, runs great on that fuel.

I also use non ethanol fuel in my leaf blower and weed eater. The weed eater was purchased in 1987, leaf blower in 1990, both are Homelite. Only thing ever replaced on both is the fuel lines, filter, and primer bulbs, did that about 2 years ago, they run like champs!!!

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