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I am new to this forum and would appreciate any help from the members:

I have a Craftsman 21HP, 42" cut, Electric Start, Automatic Transmission, Model No:917.288512. It is just over 2 years old and has been working great..........However after cutting my front yard I got a call from my next door neighbor who wanted to use the mower to cut his small back yard. (his mower had a broken front axle and was waiting repair)

Reluctantly I took the mower across to him and showed him the main features of the machine which he found easy as he has an older Craftsman. Anyway the next thing I know is I get a call from him to say the mower has stopped and will not start again. It would appear that he tried to run the mower in "mulch" mode (Cover still on side) over his long grass and he got too much grass cuttings stuck in the blades. Rather than stop the mower he continued to "drive through" the damp grass until the mower stopped.

Now as you can expect it will not start.

I have now changed the fuel, fuel filter, oil and oil filter, Air filter and spark plug. I am getting a great spark from the new plug but it will not start. (it did start once for 15-20 seconds but sounded like a bag of nuts/screws - misfiring)

OK so after the above explanation I come to my obvious questions.

1. How can I get my mower started?

2. By clogging up the mower blades and forcing the engine to stop could that of caused engine damage beyond the normal issues?

Any help would be awesome as I do not want to have to buy another mower as this still looks (and use to run) like new.

Terry

I've seen many Craftsman riders get bogged down by people trying to mow too fast for the grass and crowd the engine. Usually they'll smoke a belt and the blade will stop turning. No engine damage really and no loss of oil, fouling plugs or gas filter needing changed. That clanging shouldnt be coming from inside the engine, but probably the deck or maybe a pulley brake torn loose or in a bind. Pulley rubbing against metal brake perhaps. I'd check the deck. Even if the engine came to a sudden stop it shouldn't be banging and clanging. The re-started engine only ran about 15 seconds and stopped or you shut it off? Did it clang again when you re-started it?

DaveTN said:

I've seen many Craftsman riders get bogged down by people trying to mow too fast for the grass and crowd the engine. Usually they'll smoke a belt and the blade will stop turning. No engine damage really and no loss of oil, fouling plugs or gas filter needing changed. That clanging shouldnt be coming from inside the engine, but probably the deck or maybe a pulley brake torn loose or in a bind. Pulley rubbing against metal brake perhaps. I'd check the deck. Even if the engine came to a sudden stop it shouldn't be banging and clanging. The re-started engine only ran about 15 seconds and stopped or you shut it off? Did it clang again when you re-started it?

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I really appreciate the help. I had a "mechanic" (who I found on the Internet - not a good choice) pick up the mower and try to repair it. Well $200 later it came back still not running with his comments that he cleaned the carburettor but felt that it could be the rings have gone as there is no compression and he wanted more money to "look at that"

However from reading many comments on this Briggs & Stratton engine I ask if he had checked the valves and he said they were OK......Anyway when he left I opened the valve cover and checked the rockers....they were really sloppy so I took out the plug and got the piston at TDC then turned it back a slight turn and adjusted the valve rockers.. Hey Presto I now have a running mower....so it turned out to be the valves.....

I did call the "Mechanic" and let him know but he could not believe it. Oh well I have now cut my back and front yards twice without any problems.....I love my Mower.

Conclusions: Never trust some lawn mower mechanic who you find on the Internet that claims it is his part time job. Always try to find qualified advice from experts and mower forums who know what they are talking about.

Once again that you Lawn World and your members......I will certainly recommend your site to my friends.