mower won't start

[Truckdriver09]

Went outside today to start up my mower and all it did was continuously backfire. It did run briefly for all of 5 seconds and that was only if I kept it on low throttle. It's probably my fault because I let the mower sit for a couple of months since there was no need to cut the grass, but I probably should have gone out and started it occasionally. Can anyone give me some guidance?

The mower is a craftsman command cv491 18hp

 

[possum]

The first thing I would do is make sure the oil is not full of gas and that the gas in the tank was fresh and clean. From there I would figure out what was what.

 

[wjjones]

The first thing I would do is make sure the oil is not full of gas and that the gas in the tank was fresh and clean. From there I would figure out what was what.

Yep.:thumbsup: I would say the gas has gone bad, and hope it hasnt varnished up in the carb.

 

[Rivets]

My bet is that your have water in the gas. I would drain out all the gas and start with fresh, to see what happens.

 

[Truckdriver09]

Just to update everyone...I have drained all of the old gas out of the tank and drained the gas in the carb bowl as well. I put in some fresh gas. I have verified that I have a spark. I also cleaned the contacts on the ignition module and flywheel..there was some rust on them and I was not able to get a polish on them because all I have is scotch brite right now, but they are smooth now. The lawn mower still isn't starting...even if I spray starting fluid in the carb. I did however smell some gas in the oil, so I will be changing that out tomorrow..don't have any extra oil laying around right now.

Also, I should mention that the spark plug was fouled with oil, but I cleaned it off and put it back.

I will report back tomorrow after changing the oil.

 

[Rivets]

Please review this manual for your engine and make sure that you have set the armature air gap, between the module and the flywheel correctly on reassembly.

http://www.mymowerparts.com/pdf/Koh...13-CV14-CV15-CV16-CV460-CV465-CV490-CV495.pdf

 

[Truckdriver09]

After changing the oil and verifying that the air gap on the ignition module is within spec, it's still not starting....even using starter fluid.