So I am trying to get my 159cc Columbia (MTD built) mower to run but have been having problems diagnosing the issue.
The mower starts but then bogs down and cuts out. Usually within seconds of starting if not right away. Once out of several test starts it ran maybe 4 seconds then choked up and restarted itself for a second or two before cutting out. It was running longer time periods (~30-60 seconds sometimes) before cutting out prior to removing the carb for cleaning.
The fuel in the tank is premium grade gasoline about 4 months old with stabilizer added at the pump. I drained the stuff from the tank and added fresh from the can.
It sounded like a carburetor issue so I cleaned that three times with carb cleaner (thought maybe I had missed something and tried again between startup tests) and once with an ultrasonic cleaner. It seemed pretty clean when I first pulled it off: no rusting , discolouring, or gumminess. Bought and installed a replacement carb just to ensure there was no hidden issue I was missing there...
Not sure if I'm missing something crucial on the reattachment of the carb. There is a black gasket that I recall going onto the front of the carb before the metal piece covers it. I've done my best to align the black gasket with the holes on the front of the carb. Made sure all the levers on the carb are correctly positioned. Could the long black gasket behind the carb being incorrectly positioned could cause these symptoms?
Tested the gas cap vent to see if it was restricting air intake and it was so I replaced that but I had been cracking the cap during testing after I learned this could cause the same symptoms.
I dumped the fuel in the tank (rinsed tank with fuel; blew out with compressed air), changed spark plug, and burned out/shook muffler empty. Fuel filter was changed early last year and the beginning of this season; blew it out but didn't seem clogged. Changed the fuel line because it was cracking a bit on the outside and worried that it was breaking down inside the line.
Also tested the ignition coil because it looked rusty and I've been running this mower for a few years. It tested out of spec so I replaced that.
Despite all of this I am still getting the same symptoms and the mower won't stay running after start up.
At the end of the day I am not mad if I can't get this mower running again as it was $200 CAD and I've run it for 3 years+. I went out and bought a Troy-bilt 159cc because it has the same engine type. At least I have a running mower now. I can use any of the newly bought parts on that in the future and harvest spares from the Columbia.
It would be nice to pinpoint the issue so I can learn from that. At the very least I have learned quite a bit about the machine through this process.
Any thoughts on next steps or testing?
The mower starts but then bogs down and cuts out. Usually within seconds of starting if not right away. Once out of several test starts it ran maybe 4 seconds then choked up and restarted itself for a second or two before cutting out. It was running longer time periods (~30-60 seconds sometimes) before cutting out prior to removing the carb for cleaning.
The fuel in the tank is premium grade gasoline about 4 months old with stabilizer added at the pump. I drained the stuff from the tank and added fresh from the can.
It sounded like a carburetor issue so I cleaned that three times with carb cleaner (thought maybe I had missed something and tried again between startup tests) and once with an ultrasonic cleaner. It seemed pretty clean when I first pulled it off: no rusting , discolouring, or gumminess. Bought and installed a replacement carb just to ensure there was no hidden issue I was missing there...
Not sure if I'm missing something crucial on the reattachment of the carb. There is a black gasket that I recall going onto the front of the carb before the metal piece covers it. I've done my best to align the black gasket with the holes on the front of the carb. Made sure all the levers on the carb are correctly positioned. Could the long black gasket behind the carb being incorrectly positioned could cause these symptoms?
Tested the gas cap vent to see if it was restricting air intake and it was so I replaced that but I had been cracking the cap during testing after I learned this could cause the same symptoms.
I dumped the fuel in the tank (rinsed tank with fuel; blew out with compressed air), changed spark plug, and burned out/shook muffler empty. Fuel filter was changed early last year and the beginning of this season; blew it out but didn't seem clogged. Changed the fuel line because it was cracking a bit on the outside and worried that it was breaking down inside the line.
Also tested the ignition coil because it looked rusty and I've been running this mower for a few years. It tested out of spec so I replaced that.
Despite all of this I am still getting the same symptoms and the mower won't stay running after start up.
At the end of the day I am not mad if I can't get this mower running again as it was $200 CAD and I've run it for 3 years+. I went out and bought a Troy-bilt 159cc because it has the same engine type. At least I have a running mower now. I can use any of the newly bought parts on that in the future and harvest spares from the Columbia.
It would be nice to pinpoint the issue so I can learn from that. At the very least I have learned quite a bit about the machine through this process.
Any thoughts on next steps or testing?