Recent content by Joed756

Was this perhaps your first mow of the season? Or, had you just added fuel that has been sitting for awhile. You might have some water in the tank, check with a turkey baster, just not the one that your wife uses.

Yeah, my point was that a response from the OP would be helpful. Star Tech spent time and work providing answers, knowing if they worked or not could be very helpful.

You just diagnosed the problem yourself. If you put gas or starting fluid in the carb and it runs for a few seconds, the carb is plugged. Take it off and clean or replace it. The problem can not be anything else.

Don't try to straighten it. Just reinstall and tighten it, if it leaks, seal it.

An old diesel mechanic trick...use two head gaskets.

As long as you're spinning it up in the dark, reinstall the plug and see if you see any spark when you turn it over. I've seen automotive plugs with internal shorts under compression that allow the spark to jump to the engine head, bypassing the cylinder.

I did that with my truck, worked like a charm.

"the mower starts and runs." You are looking a gift horse in the mouth.

All fuel tanks are vented, otherwise the fuel wouldn't flow from the tank.

I was going to make a similar post, thanks for saving me 45 minutes or so.

Sta-bil claims that a bottle kept beyond it's shelf life will not hurt anything, it will just be less effective. Also, it should be noted that a full system won condense and an empty system won't condense, you don't want to store equipment between those extremes without using a fuel stabilizer.

Mowing week is all done in Minnesota? It seems the diagnostic you're paying for should cover everything mentioned here.

https://www.amazon.com/Gasoline-Portable-Transfer-H-veenjor-Durable/dp/B09ZYTWQ91/ref=sr_1_8?keywords=drill+siphon&qid=1697902809&sr=8-8

Gas, air and spark need to be timed correctly via the flywheel key.