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So--- Pros:

What are the common mistakes made by amateur repair people?

im no pro but here would be my lessons learned through the years about repairing stuff

biggest mistakes are from assuming things rather then doing the full diagnostic to be sure and jumping all over the place trying things rather then do a test of one thing at a time before moving on. if you start throwing parts at it or messing with a bunch of things at once then you cant be sure which of the things you did made it better or worse

Also don't go disassembling things that you don't know how to put back together. Received a 5 hp briggs years ago in a cardboard box that had been totally taken apart including removing the piston and crankshaft. Had to reassemble the engine to determine what was wrong with it. After getting it back together with all new gaskets found that it didn't have fire to the plug. Cause of failure was faulty spark plug.

And lIke Keakar said doing the shotgun approach to parts replacement can actually cause you even more money than it should if the tech has to track down everything that you did to make sure you didn't mess something up.

Carb linkage wrong
Govenor out of adjustment
Wiring just f'ed up
Gaskets missing or incorrectly installed
2 stroke fuel lines on wrong
Wrong part
Wrong belt
Wrong spark plug
Stripped fastners
Switches bypassed wrong
Electrical tape on wire connections
Parts on backwards
Like others have said. Most folks can't troubleshoot problems logically and just guess and change parts. I usually spend more time figuring out what they did than fixing the problem.

Or like the time I received a riding mower in five large boxes. The original problem was it needed a drive belt. The DIYer didn't know how to get the belt out so took everything a part execpt the one thing he needed to remove. He bitch like heck that I only charged him $50 to put the whole thing back together after spending all day doing it. Keep complaining until I told I can always charge him the full labor time of 8 hrs @ $45 per hour. He shut up and left.

Here is one for the books. Blade on rotary push mower duct taped on. Customer just wanted me to balance the blade.

And like Hammer I have taken twice as long on equipment where someone else that had no idea of what were doing tried to fix a problem. I had one parts replacer spend nearly $300 trying to fix electrical when it was only a fifty cents terminal that was bad.

One piece of advice when trying something that is to multiple pictures as you take something apart. That way you can refer to them as you put it back together.

DYI mechanics who fit into one of these molds.
1. I saw my uncle fix one of these a couple of years ago.
2. I don’t want to fix it right, I just want it to run.
3. I don’t listen to my wife when I need help.
4. The guy at the parts store doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
5. I refuse to admit I’m over my head.
6. I’m smarter than the mechanics around here.
7. Don’t tell what I’m doing wrong, tell me how to fix it.
8. I want to do it as cheap as possible, just get it running.
9. My pride won’t let me say, I think I screwed up.
I’ll stop there,

Rivets said:

DYI mechanics who fit into one of these molds.
1. I saw my uncle fix one of these a couple of years ago.
2. I don’t want to fix it right, I just want it to run.
3. I don’t listen to my wife when I need help.
4. The guy at the parts store doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
5. I refuse to admit I’m over my head.
6. I’m smarter than the mechanics around here.
7. Don’t tell what I’m doing wrong, tell me how to fix it.
8. I want to do it as cheap as possible, just get it running.
9. My pride won’t let me say, I think I screwed up.
I’ll stop there,

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What he said!

I had a guy bring me a tecumseh VH100 literally in a basket completely disassembled with a chunk broke out of the steel cam gear. WTF??? He said he and his father were trying to figure out why it wouldn't start and broke the cam taking the engine apart. He had bought a new cam and gasket set but forgot how to put it together. After i told him how much it would cost to put it together he asked if i just wanted it and the 36" Bunton walk behind it went on. So i got an older mower for free. Been using it like a mini bushhog for probably 15 years now.

Every year while teaching I would see a minimum of 5 basket cases brought in by students who had a family member disassemble the engine and got lost. They became one of my best teaching tools, because if a student could get it running, they understood how an engine works, plus what not to do in the future. Cost to the family member was just parts, so they were happy also. Before you ask, no we didn’t have 100% success, but I did see a lot of DYI mistakes.

When i was in 8th grade shop class the wood shop teacher (not a small engine mechanic) got a bunch of pushmower engines off old mowers from a local shop. I knew more about small engines than he did. He did some awesome wood projects but he really didn't know much about small engines. I was "that kid" relatives gave broken mechanical things to just so he could take them apart.

I'm not in the business anymore but never ever let the customer tell you that it's probably something simple and easy to fix..?

I could never understand if it was so simple WHY did you bring it here...??

Flywheels and/or clutches, their removal and installation.

Hammermechanicman said:

Carb linkage wrong
Govenor out of adjustment
Wiring just f'ed up
Gaskets missing or incorrectly installed
2 stroke fuel lines on wrong
Wrong part
Wrong belt
Wrong spark plug
Stripped fastners
Switches bypassed wrong
Electrical tape on wire connections
Parts on backwards
Like others have said. Most folks can't troubleshoot problems logically and just guess and change parts. I usually spend more time figuring out what they did than fixing the problem.

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What the heck...

have you been watching me!!?!?!?!??!
? ?

seattlepioneer said:

So--- Pros:

What are the common mistakes made by amateur repair people?

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The first mistake they make is.......opening their tool box!

It's just a lawn mower. How complicated can it be?

About a month ago, a guy brought in a zero turn mower in that he bought from us, and had it 2 weeks. It had quit running in the middle of his mow, and this guy was pissed off about it. He had to get help to push it on the trailer to bring it to us. He was so pissed off and mad about it that I just let him and his sidekick push it off the trailer in the back lot. A day later when I looked at it, it was just out of gas. Being a business, you can't tell someone how stupid they are but...I didn't need too, he knew it and was calm when he picked it up!

mower king said:

About a month ago, a guy brought in a zero turn mower in that he bought from us, and had it 2 weeks. It had quit running in the middle of his mow, and this guy was pissed off about it. He had to get help to push it on the trailer to bring it to us. He was so pissed off and mad about it that I just let him and his sidekick push it off the trailer in the back lot. A day later when I looked at it, it was just out of gas. Being a business, you can't tell someone how stupid they are but...I didn't need too, he knew it and was calm when he picked it up!

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Diagnostics code on the invoice is Operator Headspace and Timing.

mower king said:

About a month ago, a guy brought in a zero turn mower in that he bought from us, and had it 2 weeks. It had quit running in the middle of his mow, and this guy was pissed off about it. He had to get help to push it on the trailer to bring it to us. He was so pissed off and mad about it that I just let him and his sidekick push it off the trailer in the back lot. A day later when I looked at it, it was just out of gas. Being a business, you can't tell someone how stupid they are but...I didn't need too, he knew it and was calm when he picked it up!

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Should of gave him an hour minimum charge and seen how his temper stayed..?

4getgto said:

Should of gave him an hour minimum charge and seen how his temper stayed..?

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Probably would've had to call the cops...I try to NOT, escalate problems if at all possible....people are on the very edge in todays society!

I read the answers guess it is the same everywhere and those dumb asses keep breading, do a lot of repairs at home, fellow came with a Diesel riding mower, real nice, I said let's save you some money, don't lie to me and tell me what it did the last time you used it, he was pissed a Kubota, I said let get around that, I want an estimate, said tell me what is wrong and I will give you an estimate, finally he said you can have it, ok but let me get it running or see what is wrong we can go from there, he said no I going buy me a zero turn, bad boy, I thinking you really are stupid, after he left check the tank no Diesel, put some in fired right up, the next morning I see a drip, the fuel line was bad, changed it and called him, I said its 30 dollars, he said I don't want it, then he said It eats batteries, checked the ling to the starter, bare on the frame, got a nice 60" cut hydraulic lift deck, I love stupid people.

<<Should of gave him an hour minimum charge and seen how his temper stayed..? >>


You didn't change the spark plugs?

Its Me said:

I read the answers guess it is the same everywhere and those dumb asses keep breading, do a lot of repairs at home, fellow came with a Diesel riding mower, real nice, I said let's save you some money, don't lie to me and tell me what it did the last time you used it, he was pissed a Kubota, I said let get around that, I want an estimate, said tell me what is wrong and I will give you an estimate, finally he said you can have it, ok but let me get it running or see what is wrong we can go from there, he said no I going buy me a zero turn, bad boy, I thinking you really are stupid, after he left check the tank no Diesel, put some in fired right up, the next morning I see a drip, the fuel line was bad, changed it and called him, I said its 30 dollars, he said I don't want it, then he said It eats batteries, checked the ling to the starter, bare on the frame, got a nice 60" cut hydraulic lift deck, I love stupid people.

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That's why my preference is to pick up old mowers people are discarding because they are frustrated with equipment that isn't working.

Often I can get them to work for a few dollars or nothing as you describe.

If I can't I've probably torn it apart enough that trashing it is the best option.

In the meantime, my modest skills in doing repairs and maintenance may improve somewhat.

Sounds like you got yourself a nice piece of equipment!

I don't know if this was an amateur or just an educated idiot. Got a JD 335 in with the fuses on the interlock circuit board mounted next to the battery. The two spade type fuses are soldered into the fused holder terminals on this $158 interlock module board. Also have to have the $58 ignition switch since at one time was a single component is now two separate parts.