Walmart HyperTough Brand - Briggs & Stratton Engine 300E Series - Date Of Manufacture 6/2018
Model No. 08P502-0111-F1
This lawnmower was only running right for 1 season. The engine only had like a max of 5 hours on it total. Symptoms started up going into the second season/year.
Symptom 1 - Sputtering at first
Checked Air filter. Air filter OK. Check spark plug. Looked OK. Went ahead and hit the spark plug electrodes with emery cloth. Seemed to run a little better.
Symptom 2 - Two weeks later. Started OK and ran OK for half an acre then started sputtering then died completely. Sounded just like it ran out of gas. After this the mower would only start then die. I had to push the primer bulb 3 or 4 times each time to get it to start, but would die right after starting. The engine would run on primer gas only.
Checked air filter. Check spark plug and spark plug gap. Pulled off float bowl and emptied it in case there was water in there. No joy. Check valve gap and valve gap was .008. I left that alone. Seemed like something was preventing it from getting gas. So I then pulled the carburetor and just looked around to see what I could see. I pulled what's called the "main Jet" and got my magnifying glasses on and looked at all the holes in the main jet apparatus. Seemed like I could barely see something in one of the jets. I got a sewing needle cause that's the only thing thin and pointed enough to get into the jet holes and wiped this out of one of the jet holes:
It's a very thin sliver of black plastic I think. I'm figuring it some kind of manufacturing debris. Either from the manufacture of the carb itself or the black plastic fuel tank. It was so small I could barely see it.
Here's a pic of the main jet. I think I pulled it out of the one circled in red:
Tip for anyone with this engine and these symptoms. When you pull your carb apart and examine the main jet, if you can't see daylight at the bottom of any jet hole, it's got debris in there blocking it. When you hold the jet up to light and look down through the hole you should see daylight.
Lawn mower now runs fine. That teeny tiny sliver of plastic in a jet hole caused the problem. This carb is still better than the one my old lawn mower had. My old mower had a Briggs & Stratton where the carb was bolted to the fuel tank and it had that diaphragm between the tank and the carb. That diaphragm thing had to be replaced every 5 years or so. The carb in this engine basically has nothing to replace. Just need to check and clean the jets holes when it starts acting up.
Here's an exploded view on the carburetor. I got it off Jacks Small Engines
Model No. 08P502-0111-F1
This lawnmower was only running right for 1 season. The engine only had like a max of 5 hours on it total. Symptoms started up going into the second season/year.
Symptom 1 - Sputtering at first
Checked Air filter. Air filter OK. Check spark plug. Looked OK. Went ahead and hit the spark plug electrodes with emery cloth. Seemed to run a little better.
Symptom 2 - Two weeks later. Started OK and ran OK for half an acre then started sputtering then died completely. Sounded just like it ran out of gas. After this the mower would only start then die. I had to push the primer bulb 3 or 4 times each time to get it to start, but would die right after starting. The engine would run on primer gas only.
Checked air filter. Check spark plug and spark plug gap. Pulled off float bowl and emptied it in case there was water in there. No joy. Check valve gap and valve gap was .008. I left that alone. Seemed like something was preventing it from getting gas. So I then pulled the carburetor and just looked around to see what I could see. I pulled what's called the "main Jet" and got my magnifying glasses on and looked at all the holes in the main jet apparatus. Seemed like I could barely see something in one of the jets. I got a sewing needle cause that's the only thing thin and pointed enough to get into the jet holes and wiped this out of one of the jet holes:
It's a very thin sliver of black plastic I think. I'm figuring it some kind of manufacturing debris. Either from the manufacture of the carb itself or the black plastic fuel tank. It was so small I could barely see it.
Here's a pic of the main jet. I think I pulled it out of the one circled in red:
Tip for anyone with this engine and these symptoms. When you pull your carb apart and examine the main jet, if you can't see daylight at the bottom of any jet hole, it's got debris in there blocking it. When you hold the jet up to light and look down through the hole you should see daylight.
Lawn mower now runs fine. That teeny tiny sliver of plastic in a jet hole caused the problem. This carb is still better than the one my old lawn mower had. My old mower had a Briggs & Stratton where the carb was bolted to the fuel tank and it had that diaphragm between the tank and the carb. That diaphragm thing had to be replaced every 5 years or so. The carb in this engine basically has nothing to replace. Just need to check and clean the jets holes when it starts acting up.
Here's an exploded view on the carburetor. I got it off Jacks Small Engines
