Craftsman mower won't start. Cleaned carb. What else to check?

Fish

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  • / Craftsman mower won't start. Cleaned carb. What else to check?
The third number is the date code. 2003....
 

ilyaz

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  • / Craftsman mower won't start. Cleaned carb. What else to check?
This or this are a lot cheaper than this. But are they "you get what you pay for" kind of cheap?
 

Fish

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  • / Craftsman mower won't start. Cleaned carb. What else to check?
Chinese junk is a roll of the dice. They are not all equal.
 

ilyaz

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  • / Craftsman mower won't start. Cleaned carb. What else to check?
Chinese junk is a roll of the dice. They are not all equal.

Any of those parts ever not Chinese? :)

Are they made of different metals/alloys? If so, are any better than any other ones?
 

Scrubcadet10

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  • / Craftsman mower won't start. Cleaned carb. What else to check?
It's probably all polished pot metal. The Chinese have perfected the art of looks, but not quality.
you might look into an Oregon or stens carburetor. They cost less than the briggs, but quality control is certainly better than Wee Fewl Yu in china.
stens number is 520-966.
Rotary sells them under 14111
oregon sells it under 50-657
 
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ilyaz

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  • / Craftsman mower won't start. Cleaned carb. What else to check?
Got the new carb in the mail today. Installed. Primed. Started with 2-3 pulls. Then I stopped it and needed a dozen pulls to start again. It ran, then died. Now I can't start it at all. Every 2-3 times I pull, I hear pops like mini explosions. What's my next step?
 

slomo

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  • / Craftsman mower won't start. Cleaned carb. What else to check?
Flywheel key jacked up? Are you priming to start all the time? Don't overlook anything on a new to you used mower. A good cleaning wouldn't hurt either. Turtle Wax the deck and engine cover. Tire dressing..... That sucker is filthy.

Did you partially crack the fuel cap yet and try to run it? Did I miss the Briggs gas cap trick on one of these pages? Do you have good fuel flow at the line that connects to the car-bu-trator? Take some good pics of your new car-bu-trator setup. Did you get another choke model? Carb linkages all jacked up? Can you open the throttle with your finger and rev the engine while running?

Remove the top engine cover. Clean all the dirt, oil, grass and bugs from the cylinder block cooling fins yearly. It's in the manual for ALL small engines.

slomo
 
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ilyaz

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  • / Craftsman mower won't start. Cleaned carb. What else to check?
Flywheel key jacked up? Are you priming to start all the time?

I primed a couple of times, then took the filter off and sprayed carb cleaner into into the carb. Not sure if it helped at all.

Did I miss the Briggs gas cap trick on one of these pages?

Don't remember seeing it here. What's the trick?

Did you get another choke model?

No, I got the primer model. I am curious if there was a reason why the previous owner put the wrong carb on it other than a mistake or using what was imemdiately available.

Remove the top engine cover. Clean all the dirt, oil, grass and bugs from the cylinder block cooling fins yearly. It's in the manual for ALL small engines.

Will do. Would a motor be overheating if the cooling fins are too dirty? Although wouldn't it happen after the motor was running for some time, not for 30 seconds, no?
 

slomo

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  • / Craftsman mower won't start. Cleaned carb. What else to check?
Crack open your gas cap. See if it makes the engine run proper after say 1-2 minutes. After 1-2, the fuel bowl will get low and make the engine stumble. If your vent in the cap is bad, it will cause this.It stops the fuel flow to the carb.

Bet someone just threw on some carb they had sitting in the garage just to try it out??

If the engine has a small oil leak or someone misses the funnel when changing the oil, some how oil will find its way to the top of the engine block. Then when you dirt mow, makes a dirt/oil/grass/bugs dam on top of the cooling fins. I've seen birds and mice nests and of course there's always a ton of oil up there. If you neglect this step, you will get valve seats popping out and such. Burning oil from the bore getting out of round and so on. Internal engine issues from improper/lack of maintenance.

Air cooled engines like these got hot in less than one minute or shortly after. Not like a car engine with water that takes minutes to heat up. Surface dirt like you see on your mower shouldn't cause an over heat. Unless you get oil and grass up there with it. Keep the sucker clean. Use a blower after every mow and a dusting paint brush. Clean the air filter after every mow with your paint brush,.especially when you dirt mow. Put a small trail of grease around the air filter sealing gasket. Helps stop the dirt from getting inside the engine.

slomo
 
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