Bought this used about 5 years ago, steadily getting harder to start.
Mower spins slowly but does not fire. Replaced battery, same symptoms.
Has spark, has gas, no air issues
Have a large charger, now have to use 12v boost, which spins the engine 3 times faster than just battery alone.
Will start with the booster
Once started, no issues, could hit 12" weeds and no bogging.
Want to fix the hard start, as I don't want to use the charger and burn up the starter
Spoke to a friend that works on small engines, suggested to check valves
Did so on Sunday, Left side was .007 and .008.
Supposed to be .004-.006
Set both to .005
Right side was .010 and .011
Set both to .005
Did not fix my starting problem, Maybe starts a little faster on boost
Ran the mower through moderately tall grass, and now it bogs down, have to slow to a crawl.
Pulled it back in, checked all 4 valves , seems to be at .005.
Went back out, now I seem to have a slight Popping noise (sounds like a go cart) without blades engaged
With blades on, still bogs
Pulled back to the garage, let sit at idle for 2 min, and it slowly went slower until it shut off, never did that before.
Let it sit for 2 hours, then used the booster to start, still runs, so I'm happy (though popping noise might have killed it).
I suspect I am not getting TDC correct, so tomorrow will try the other valve method (1 valve open, check the other, etc.)
Cheap compression tester arrives tomorrow, but now I read that may not work.
Any ideas?
Thanks for the help!
