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
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.
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.
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.
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.
