LT2000 won’t start

[S.A.P.]

LT2000, type 917273760, Engine - 31H777-0297-E1
Went to run it and started and ran for about 30 seconds. Installed new Chinese carb last year and ran great all summer. Suspected condensation so took carb off and drained, cleaned with carb cleaner, dried with compressed air, reinstalled, put new fuel. No start
I’m being a little lazy plus my mower is stored outside, under cover, and it’s too cold to work on it unless I can zero in on the problem. Anyone can help?

What have U learned ?
It must have spark, or it would not have run for the 30 seconds.
It's not getting fuel.
If it has a spark, compression, and fuel, it should run.
It certainly sounds like a fuel obstruction.
What have U learned ?
Did the mice build a nest in the flywheel that shut the fuel off ?
What have U learned ?
Did U clean all of the orifices in the carb, and jets ?
What have U learned ?
It sounds like a restriction in the fuel supply. It gets enough to run 30 seconds, and then dies.
What have U learned ?
If U have the bowl off of the carb, do U have fuel, freely flowing past the needle valve to supply the needed fuel ?
What have U learned ?
Can U feed it fuel, gravity feed the carb ? Will it run then ?
HMMM ...
WHAT HAVE U LEARNED ?
HMMM ...
GEE IT'S HARD TO HELP, IF U DON'T LEARN ANYTHING ...

 

[timcapps]

Since it's cold, you may want to try (if you haven't already) the simple solutions before you tear into the carb/engine. Spray starter fluid into the air intake while cranking it. If you don't have starter fluid, take the plug out and pour a teaspoon of gas in. I had to do that to get my snowblower to start 2 weeks ago because it was very cold.

 

[S.A.P.]

He knows it will start and fire.
It will run for 30 seconds he says.
If he can dump a teaspoon full of gas in it every 30 seconds it will probably run, but I doubt he can get the sparkplug in and out that fast ...

 

[bertsmobile1]

He knows it will start and fire.
It will run for 30 seconds he says.
If he can dump a teaspoon full of gas in it every 30 seconds it will probably run, but I doubt he can get the sparkplug in and out that fast ...

No.
He said it starter, ran for 30 seconds then stopped.
No mention of weather it does this repeatidly .
So a proper diagnosis would start at square 1 .

 

[S.A.P.]

So to start then :
One might proceed like this :
# 1 gravity feed the carburetor with clean gasoline.
It runs ? Fine !
It don't ?
# 2 check the flow into the carb thru the needle valve.
Had fuel ? Fine !
No fuel ?
# 3 Remove obstruction !
It runs ? Fine !
It don't run ?
# 4 fuel shutoff solenoid ?
It works ? Fine !
It don't ?
# 5 repair replace solenoid
It runs ?
It don't ?
# 6 repair internal carb issues, clean jets, orifices, needle, seat, use a bread wire or torch tip cleaner. These are tiny ports, so find thum, and clean and inspect carefully. U may be overlooking something.
Note :
If U have spark, compression, and fuel, U have all of the things needed.
U can use a spray bottle to mist gasoline into the carburetor to keep it running. But yore issue seems to be carburetion or fuel pump type problum. If it runs while U mist gas into it, but dies when U quit, U have an issue to deal with.
U can remove the plug, and roll the engine with the fuel line removed from the carburetor to see if the fuel pump is working, using a catch pail, if U desire.
I for one, don't know what U have done, or are doing. We're trying to help, but communication is key, in order to help diagnose the problum.

 

[TobyU]

Had a blower same thing, put a new spark plug in 2 pulls runs great.

He will typically only find this on handheld blowers and string trimmers etc.
When you're dealing with anything with a four horsepower or larger lawn mower style engine '99.5% of the time it is not the plug and another plug is not going to solve the problem.
In the few situations that it may occur a new plug is normally not necessary as all you're doing by putting the new plug in is providing a dry non-filed out plug. You could simply take the old plug out and wipe it off or blow it off or burn off the fuel with a lighter for three or four seconds and end up with the same results.
Probably at least nine times out of 10 when these larger engines won't start and run they're not getting enough fuel. Very rarely do they get too much. Even when they do get too much if you simply turn the choke off on the ones where you can do that with a lever or reach your finger down and open the choke via it's linkage and crank it a few times it will typically fire right up. The small two-stroke engines and the four-stroke versions of them typically will not do this.

 

[Smithsonite]

In the past 14 years of wrenching on this stuff full time, only ONE time was a bad plug causing a no-spark condition. Plug quality is pretty good today.

 

[S.A.P.]

In the past 14 years of wrenching on this stuff full time, only ONE time was a bad plug causing a no-spark condition. Plug quality is pretty good today.

I rebuilt an old cast iron single cylinder Briggs years ago and bought a brand new Champion Spark Plug to put in it. I tried to start the engine and it wouldn't fire, yet each time I tested the spark from the coil it was good and strong, jumping half an inch as I pulled it away from ground.
After taking the plug out 3 or 4 times, checking the gap and spark from the plug, I became quite befuddled. Finally the last time I was looking at the bottom of the plug, I discovered that the porcelain was loose in the steel head of the plug and was moving up and down. Each time I had spun the engine to start it, the contacts were separating so as to change the gap, (too far apart) under the compression stroke causing the plug not to fire. I have not trusted Champions for a long time now. I bought 8 new ones for my Old 89 Chevy Silverado years ago, and had a cylinder that wasn't firing as one of the 7 plugs was junk. I had put new wires, cap, rotor, and other hardware on the truck. Lots of stores sell a cheap sparkplug, that would be a cull to a regular auto parts store. Farm & Fleet is where I got the plugs for 99¢ a piece. Other cheap ignition parts I bought there failed early too !
"Wells Ignition Products" is what they sold, and I will never buy them again either. I don't try to save money by using cheap plugs or ignition parts anymore.
U get sometimes what U pay for, and the trouble out on the road or doing work with a machine, costs a person a lot of time, grief, and even money, to diagnose problums, caused by failure.

 

[S.A.P.]

8

 

[StarTech]

In the past 14 years of wrenching on this stuff full time, only ONE time was a bad plug causing a no-spark condition. Plug quality is pretty good today.

You been lucky. I replaced nearly a dozen plugs last year for not firing under compression load. One customer swore the plug was good just because it would spark out of the engine until I replaced it and the engine ran. Matter of fact I got a Chuck Wagon on the yard awaiting a plug this week. I just didn't have the correct plug in stock.

Different OEM plugs have different inherit problems. Then there are the ones that have been dropped a few times before you get them. NGK plugs are normal fairly reliable except for the little 10mm ones. Those CMR ones have numerous failures here. Here I never assume a new plug is good until it is known good.

The plugs I have the best luck with are the Bosch and NGK plugs. Then it goes downhill from there. Besides I get them for about the same as the Champion plugs so I only stock them.