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Might be hydrolocked. Check oil level. If it is way too high and smells like gasoline, you may have stuck needle valve in the carb and the excess fuel is leaking into the crankcase. The excess fluid will prevent the piston from moving, ie: hydrolock the engine.

I noticed that it is easy to over tighten the screw that the vane swivels on and this results in an impingement on the vane’s movement. Now when I work on one of these auto choke Briggs I always make sure the vane is moving freely.

I have the same issue. The only one I’ve ever seen was on Ebay and the asking price was $150.00. My guess is that so few of these mowers were sold that there is not enough demand for Honda or other companies to make mulch plugs. Jacks Small Engines sells OEM Honda plugs for the more common...

Just when you think that you are at the end of your rope….you are!

I have seen this with a pressure washer I owned. The pressure relief valve on the pump was stuck closed. Try connecting the wand and pulling the trigger to relieve pressure on the pump. Then try starting engine.

Was given this mower. I don’t have the owners manual (not available from John Deere as free pdf) and am not enthusiastic about buying one. If anyone has the manual, could you tell me what it says about shifting the transmission? Do you use the clutch after putting it in first gear?

Thanks. Should have mentioned that I already took the fuel cap off. The fins are clean. Since it starts and runs with a spray of carb cleaner, I am thinking there is something going wrong in the carb.

This rear engine mower has a 9HP Kawasaki. It starts easily and runs smoothly until it gets hot. I replaced the igniter and still have the issue. I have driven it with a spark tester attached and it does have spark right after it quits. I also sprayed carb cleaner into the carb right after...

Let us know when you get it figured out. If it turns out to be ignition timing due to sheared off key, you’ll need to determine why it sheared. You can’t hit an immoveable object with a pressure washer, so the prime suspect has to be the pump locking up the drive shaft.

If the plug is sparking but not igniting the starter fluid then you either have low compression or you have jumped time. I had a pressure washer once that sheared the woodruff key every time I stopped the engine. It only did this when the pump was attached, so I guess there was an issue with...

Have you considered that you may have it wrong end to? In my experience the z bend on the spring usually goes into a fitting on the self propel unit and the other end of the cable connects to the handle. The ball on the cable end fits inside the cone that the spring forms.

Here’s an easy issue to rule out or in: do you have an autochoke on this machine? If so, next time the engine dies on you take off the air filter and visually confirm if the choke is open or closed. If it is stuck closed then you have your answer. Taryl Fixes All has a good video on fixing...

I know this is an old thread but in case anyone else is looking for a solution, let me add that in the same video where Jim demonstrates his paint stirrer tool, he mentions another fix for slipping. With the machine sitting on its backside, there is a long spring on the left side that is...

It is gravity. Maybe it would help if you think about objects floating in liquids, rather than being suspended in air, like you do when you attach the blade to your balancer. If you threw a two by four in a pond it would float horizontally, not vertically, unless you attached an even heavier...

I Googled using copper antiseize grease on aluminum and found several sites that say this is not a problem. Not pretending to be a chemist, so can’t explain why there is no galvanic reaction, but apparently there isn’t. Here’s one...

I own an HRC216HXA. It is a beautiful machine but it is very heavy and if you don’t want to bag, you need the mulching kit (plug) which is not available. I always have an assortment of mowers to choose from but I almost always go with my 1983 Toro 20672. If you can get to North Carolina, I can...

Nothing to lose by taking a look inside the engine. Hubba has to remove the engine in any case, so taking a few more bolts out is not adding much work. I would do it with grandson’s participation so he can see what oil starvation does to an engine and so he can see how an engine works. Could...

My Cousin Vinnie had a scene where this concept was explained with great clarity. The slippery substance was southern red clay mud, not frozen precip, but same result. The wheel on the slippery stuff spins and the other just sits there. This was the key piece of evidence that got Vinnie’s...

Sounds like a bad ground to the starter solenoid or a bad solenoid. Without good ground not enough electrical energy flows from the battery to trigger the magnetic switch to give the starter motor its full dose. Some solenoids have a separate grounding wire and some just ground to the chassis...

With the kill wire disconnected you can’t be shorting out the spark, so the most likely culprit for no spark is a defective coil. Could be a bad magnet/flywheel, but that’s got to be pretty rare. I’d bring the coil back to dealer and let him test it. Maybe put it on another machine in stock...

Hard to tell from the pics, but I think you are saying that the long lever hits the short stub to ground the coil when the blade brake engages the flywheel, and also hits the metal backing of the brake when the blade brake is disengaged. I noticed a screw on the fitting for the long lever. Can...

The fact that it got harder and harder to start and now there is no visible spark, would point in the direction of a failing coil. Sometimes it is hard to see a spark when you ground a plug. I prefer to use a spark tester. Less than $10 at Harbor Freight. It is also possible that the...

I collect old tools and have experience sharpening them. That’s going to be really hard steel and not easy to sharpen, but before I took a power tool to my favorite pliers, I’d try an extra extra slim taper saw sharpening file. These are equilateral triangles in cross section. If the file...

Got lubricated on Christmas Eve? Thanks for the highly refined comment, Glades Cat, and Merry ChrIstmas to everyone.

Not exactly on point, but worth noting when talking about using synthetic oil: The conventional dinosaur stuff works better for breaking in new rings. Otherwise, I only use synthetic.

I don’t think there is any grass that would thrive with dog urine supplements. It is the heavy concentrations of lactic acid and nitrogen/urea that kills all grasses. The pH actually is not a problem. Dog urine pH is around 6.5 and that just happens to be the sweet spot (no pun intended) for...

All true, but the biggest reason is lack of competition. If the part was interchangeable with other mass produced parts, you’d see much lower prices. I just forked over $800 for a Honeywell thermostat for my Trane heat pump. No other thermostat is compatible with this unit and no one but...

I have found twice now that the autochoke lever that is thermostatically controlled gets lazy or stuck if the mower hasn’t been used in a while. Moving it back and forth until it frees up has solved the issue for me. The spring should move that lever fully back and close the choke after the...

I would try to rule out a fuel issue first. Next time it is cold, try squirting carb cleaner into carb before pulling starter rope. If it starts right up, you have a problem with getting fuel to the carb on startup. Does this have a primer bulb or a choke? If it has the autochoke system...

So Grounded, it appears to me that you have a perfectly operating mower with a kill switch that works when you release the brake/bail lever. Is that right? If so, this isn’t a problem, it is you pondering why your kill switch is working. I suggest you google “how does a kill switch work on a...

You have a fuel problem. Cleaning the carb is never a bad idea but after reading from your original post, I see that the trouble began with restarting after shutting down a warmed up engine. I looked up the parts diagram for your JD js38 mower and saw that you have a thermostatically...

I would take off the air filter and spray carb cleaner or starting fluid into the carburetor. Then try to start it. If it starts and then quits, you have a fuel delivery problem. If it does not start, then you have either a compression problem or an ignition timing problem. Ignition timing...

A couple of posters have told you that the coil is likely to be the problem. I agree. Coils typically fail initially when they get hot. Over time they fail completely. Rivets gave you the procedure for ruling out a failing coil. When you can’t restart a hot engine, that’s when you test for...

Did you check to see if the fuel supply line isn’t kinked or clogged? Don’t take this wrong, because I have done it myself, but did you forget to open the fuel valve after shutting it down last week after mowing? Fuel filter clogged?

Have you checked to see if Autozone has a gear puller that would work in their free lending program?

Maybe OP did use a spark tester. I always use mine to check for spark before buying a new coil, but I also check to see if the coil is being inadvertently grounded. If the kill switch is not being opened when you pull back the bale, the spark will be grounded and your tester will show a no...

I suspect that your mower is permanently grounded by corrosion closing the circuit at the kill switch. Pull the bale as if you were going to start the mower. Tie a string around it and the handle to keep it up. Now trace the cable housing down to the side of the engine and make sure there is...

I do a lot of work on bicycles. Got started at age 8 when my father got tired of fixing all the flats in the neighborhood and fobbed the job off on me. Step one is to put a dab of spit on the valve stem and see if it bubbles. If so, tighten valve stem or replace and job done. Step two is...

I have no experience with this wheel set up. Can you get the bolt out? Your picture shows the wheel and tire with no bolt. If you can get the bolt out then maybe try a gear puller. Buy a longer bolt with the same threads and put a dimple in the middle of the head for the puller’s bolt tip to...

I just replaced the tires on my HRB215SXA. I tried heating with a heat gun, then tried putting the tire in a bucket and pouring boiling water over it, then finally cracked the code by boiling the tires for five minutes and quickly wrestling them onto the wheels before they cooled off. No need...

If you have no primer bulb, then does the mower have an autochoke? If so, I would check to see if the choke is closed on startup.

I have a 32 year old Toro with a 4 stroke Suzuki engine. The deck is heavy duty aluminum. Works perfectly and is a joy to use. The self propel works great and has never given me a problem. It is set up as a mulcher only. I also have a 40 year old Toro with a Tecumseh engine that has BBC. I...

I do not claim great expertise, but here are my thoughts. You didn’t mention air. How is the filter? Try starting it without the filter. If you have gas, spark, compression, timing and air, then it must start. So, something doesn’t compute and you have to go back and reevaluate your...

I had similar experience with an autochoke Briggs on a lawnmower. If spark is strong then I suspect that the hot engine is evaporating the fuel before it can ignite and a little choke would solve it. But the autochoke won’t let you apply light choke. The thermostatic controlled lever is...

Thanks. I did visually see the plug spark but it wasn’t easy. The sparkplug lead is so short that I couldn’t ground the tip of the plug without using a jumper wire. I did see a spark but just to make sure, I bought a new plug. Just went out to the shop and tried the finger test and only felt...

This is a 4 stroke engine with overhead valves. The coil is good, per my spark tester. I shot starting fluid into the carb and got no ignition. Shot some carb cleaner directly into spark plug hole. No ignition. Pulled the flywheel and the woodruff key is intact. Checked the valves and...

Did I miss where you checked the air filter? Mice like to nest in resting equipment.

Here are two thoughts from an amateur. First:Have you run over something, like a stump? If so, you may have a timing issue. I have seen motors where the flywheel has moved but not completely sheared the woodruff key. Second thought: I had that same engine and the plug was sparking, so...

The gcv160 has a plastic camshaft pulley and a rubber belt to time the valves. You would have seen it when you adjusted the valves. Take a good look at that pulley and see if it is damaged. I think it also controls the compression release function. That might answer both the poor engine...