Hi, looking for a little assistance. This problem may have happened to someone else in the past, but frankly I don't have the time to search the thread histories... sorry.
Disclaimer: I know diddly-squat about fixing lawn mowers and/or small engines. Everything I tried was a result of Google and Youtube searches...
Took my Craftsman mower out today for the first time this year - it's been sitting in the garage for 7 months or so. Filled it with gas, and it started up on the first pull. I then pulled the starter rope out a bit and tied off the dead man brake/engine cutoff handle in order to let it sit and idle for a few minutes since it hadn't run in a while.
Came back outside 3-4 minutes later and it wasn't running, and the starter rope wouldn't pull. Double-checked the oil level (good), and fuel level (still plenty of gas in the tank).
I tried removing the recoil starter assembly, but it was secured with small allen-type screws of some odd size that I don't have a wrench for (wtf). So, I then hand-cranked the blade assembly until it spun fairly freely (after removing the sparkplug wire). Starter rope pulled smoothly after that and seemed to crank the engine (after replacing the sparkplug wire), but it simply won't start, even after removing and re-replacing the sparkplug wire - it's like it no longer has gas in it...
For reference, it's a Craftsman 917.374356 with a 700 series B&S 7HP engine.
Any ideas? I'm assuming the engine isn't totally seized since it will pull and crank. Does it simply need to sit and let any fuel/oil drain out of the cylinder?
Just looking for ideas before I either take it to a small engine repair shop or simply go on Craigslist for another used mower, which would probably cost less than a repair job.
Disclaimer: I know diddly-squat about fixing lawn mowers and/or small engines. Everything I tried was a result of Google and Youtube searches...
Took my Craftsman mower out today for the first time this year - it's been sitting in the garage for 7 months or so. Filled it with gas, and it started up on the first pull. I then pulled the starter rope out a bit and tied off the dead man brake/engine cutoff handle in order to let it sit and idle for a few minutes since it hadn't run in a while.
Came back outside 3-4 minutes later and it wasn't running, and the starter rope wouldn't pull. Double-checked the oil level (good), and fuel level (still plenty of gas in the tank).
I tried removing the recoil starter assembly, but it was secured with small allen-type screws of some odd size that I don't have a wrench for (wtf). So, I then hand-cranked the blade assembly until it spun fairly freely (after removing the sparkplug wire). Starter rope pulled smoothly after that and seemed to crank the engine (after replacing the sparkplug wire), but it simply won't start, even after removing and re-replacing the sparkplug wire - it's like it no longer has gas in it...
For reference, it's a Craftsman 917.374356 with a 700 series B&S 7HP engine.
Any ideas? I'm assuming the engine isn't totally seized since it will pull and crank. Does it simply need to sit and let any fuel/oil drain out of the cylinder?
Just looking for ideas before I either take it to a small engine repair shop or simply go on Craigslist for another used mower, which would probably cost less than a repair job.
