Mower flooded, now needs starter fluid every time?

[SirLawnboy]

My lawnboy 20" is a decade old and it used to start on the first or second pull. Shockingly I guess considering its age but I always changed the oil and used fuel stabilizer.

Unfortunately last year my mower flooded and I had some real problems and ended up replacing the carb entirely, new air filters, new spark plug, several oil changes (my mystery oil additive), and now I only use ethanol free gas... but still every time I go to use it it will not turnover unless I spray starter fluid into the carb. After that I can turn it off and on to empty the bag during the course of mowing, but sure enough a week later it won't start.

I've replaced so much of it and I'm just not sure what could be the issue give. New spark plugs and the carb being crystal clean!

Please help!

 

[mechanic mark]

rebuild your original carburetor with an oem lawnboy kit.

 

[slomo]

On a 10 yo engine, I would clean the cooling fins first thing. Hard starting is either valves out of whack or clogged/dirty carb. Could be several other things. De-carbonize the cylinder as your engine manual states. Lap the cyl head flat with a piece of plate glass and 220-800 grit wet/dry paper with soap and water. Then lap the block where the head goes.

Do you mean water flooding or fuel?

Do you have some Chinese Amazon Gambler Series carb on her or OEM?

 

[SirLawnboy]

Hi thanks, I'll try to suggest the parts I don't get lol.

I got a Chinese carb but had the original prior. It did help me to the point where I could get it started.

When I say flooded I believe it was literally under water (floodwater). It didn't last too long but maybe minutes but less than an hour.

I know the oil got water somehow because it was whacky when I drained it , not viscous. I changed the oil maybe 4 times to get it started the first time or two since it seemed to help.

Thank you for trying to help me.

 

[SirLawnboy]

Ok so I went out there to check out the carb and I realized the vane spring (I believe) was entirely missing. Thats obviously an important part to help open and close that throttle plate, but what does missing it do exactly out of curiosity?

 

[Rivets]

Depending on which engine you have it could be the cause of your problems. Please provide us with the model and serial numbers of your mower so we can see which engine you have.

 

[SirLawnboy]

Best I can tell it is:
Model 10641
Serial: xx0057842 where xx might be 34 or 31 or similar
Upc is 021038106410

 

[SeniorCitizen]

Ok so I went out there to check out the carb and I realized the vane spring (I believe) was entirely missing. Thats obviously an important part to help open and close that throttle plate, but what does missing it do exactly out of curiosity?

if its the spring i;m thinking of that spring works in conjunction with the governor to control engine spreed . with the engine dead the spring should have the throttle plate fully open .

 

[Tiger Small Engine]

Best I can tell it is:
Model 10641
Serial: xx0057842 where xx might be 34 or 31 or similar
Upc is 021038106410

Probably in this case, the air vane keeps the choke closed so it will start. Once the mower starts, the flywheel fins push the air vane and open the choke. Replace the spring and it should fix it for you.

 

[Rivets]

All depends on which of the three carbs you are dealing with. If you have a simple choke carb, Senior and Tiger are correct. If you have an AutoChoke setup, the spring will close the choke until the engine starts running. At that point the choke will open.