Hi, I am new and have Toro questions

[Lrobby99]

Just yesterday I bought a used Toro 22" that I believe is a 20371 with 149cc Kohler engine from a nice friend of mine who bought it new. The mower was heavily used one season, then stored (improperly) for about 1 year. Did not want to start, so poured a little fuel in the carb. Sputtered a little, then roared to life. Warmed up, tested the self-propel mechanism, everything worked good. Pressure washed it, dumped the dirt out of the air filter, changed the oil. Gave him $100 for it. And the reason I only believe it is a 20371 is half the ID sticker is missing.

My concern is the engine needs 3-5 good pulls to fire up. Even when warm it seems to take a good 2-3 pulls. Shouldn't this fire up much better? And that Kohler is no easy engine to pull over. If my wife is ever going to use this mower, it will need to start much easier. My plan now is to dump or burn the fuel remaining in the tank, replace with fresh, and add some quality carb-fuel line cleaner. Then see how she starts.

Does anyone have any other good engine advice?
Is there a particular fuel treatment recommended?

Also, I tried it out a little yesterday. Works nice but left grass clumps. The underside of the deck is clean. The blade is a little nicked up. The grass was not particularly tall and I have it mulching, not bagging or discharging. What could that problem be? The height is adjusted to just below middle.

thanks in advance.

 

[shiftsuper175607]

Just yesterday I bought a used Toro 22" that I believe is a 20371 with 149cc Kohler engine from a nice friend of mine who bought it new. The mower was heavily used one season, then stored (improperly) for about 1 year. Did not want to start, so poured a little fuel in the carb. Sputtered a little, then roared to life. Warmed up, tested the self-propel mechanism, everything worked good. Pressure washed it, dumped the dirt out of the air filter, changed the oil. Gave him $100 for it. And the reason I only believe it is a 20371 is half the ID sticker is missing.

My concern is the engine needs 3-5 good pulls to fire up. Even when warm it seems to take a good 2-3 pulls. Shouldn't this fire up much better? And that Kohler is no easy engine to pull over. If my wife is ever going to use this mower, it will need to start much easier. My plan now is to dump or burn the fuel remaining in the tank, replace with fresh, and add some quality carb-fuel line cleaner. Then see how she starts.

Does anyone have any other good engine advice?
Is there a particular fuel treatment recommended?

Also, I tried it out a little yesterday. Works nice but left grass clumps. The underside of the deck is clean. The blade is a little nicked up. The grass was not particularly tall and I have it mulching, not bagging or discharging. What could that problem be? The height is adjusted to just below middle.

thanks in advance.

Sounds like you are figuring it out.

New fuel and new air filter should help.

My guess on the clumping is that the grass/weeds are very wet and you are cutting a lot of height. Only so much clipping can be mulched.

 

[Rivets]

Need someone to properly clean and adjust the carb. Clumping with that mower is usually caused by cutting the grass too low and/or wet.

 

[Lrobby99]

Need someone to properly clean and adjust the carb. Clumping with that mower is usually caused by cutting the grass too low and/or wet.

I hope this isn't a stupid question, but are there actually yet adjustable carburetors on consumer 4 cycle engines anymore? No, have not looked myself and I should. I've been working long hours and it's too damn cold out this week to putz in the garage at night. Thank you.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Usually the only adjustment will be an idle screw, if any and that is hidden behind a pop out plug, if it is there at all.
Most are totally non adjustable which means that 99% bought from big box stores will be out of adjustment as they are mostly jetted for sea level use.

SO a carby job is mainly cleaning and in particular the emulsion tube and the cross drilled holes in the same

 

[Rivets]

You are correct, there are no external adjustments on the carb. From knowledge I have gained over the years, I have been able to tweak the new carbs to get them to start easier and smoother. Sorry I lead you to believe you could make any adjustments.