I have a Poulan ride mower. It's been sitting unable to start for about two years or more. We are broke so I couldn't get it fixed...however, living on over an acre of land, it's hard work pushing a walking mower. Along with my 16 yr old son, we decided to try to figure out what was wrong with the mower through online sites.
Someone had said it was the starter. I seemed to remember starters as being some what simple to fix. So, we went on a search for how to fix a starter. (Keep in mind, neither me or my son have any mechanical knowledge.) We discovered what the starter was, took it off, and went to buy a replacement part. Thankfully, the shop tested it and told us it worked fine. We put the starter back on, my ex came to jump start the mower, and we noticed the starter did not engage the fly wheel. We did some more online searching and read where the battery cables could be connected backwards. We looked at the mower, and sure enough, the black wire went to the starter.
We connected the battery properly and tried to start it. The starter engaged the flywheel but the mower did not start. So we did more trouble shooting and decided maybe it was the carburetor. My son took it off and cleaned it. It still didn't work. We replaced the fuel filter and bought a new battery. It still is not starting. When my ex came over he tried to start it, he put fuel in the carburetor and then it will start for a few seconds and die again. My son also cleaned the air filter, the spark plug, and added some fuel line cleaner with new fuel.
Someone suggested maybe the fuel pump, but we can't figure out where that is, or what it looks like. The engine is a Briggs and Stratton but we can't seem to find the model number.
Any help or suggestions will be great since my lawn is really overgrown since my push mower is out of service now, too.
