My Lawn Mower Repair Thread (56k warning)
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hanyoukimura
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Today I decided to have a look at this mower:
Opened up the carburetor to find some of the worst gas I've personally seen. It was black and all gelled up. Very nasty. The primer bulb was ripped and the rubber was sticky and deteriorating.
I've cleaned it out as best as I can, which it looks much better. The mower will fire first pull then die, I'm guessing there's some crud in there somewhere but I can tell where. It getting fuel because when I pulled it apart a second time there was gas in the bowl.
This carburetor is a little different than the Tecumseh carbs I've worked on so far. Maybe someone who has seen this style can fill me in on any hidden passages or reason why it won't stay running. Otherwise I'll play with it more tomorrow.
Here's what I started with:
And after some heavy cleaning:
For those of you wondering about that Toro, worry not. I finally got a small gas can and 2-cycle oil for it, and a new starter rope. Once I'm done with the Craftsman I'm planning on working on it.
Opened up the carburetor to find some of the worst gas I've personally seen. It was black and all gelled up. Very nasty. The primer bulb was ripped and the rubber was sticky and deteriorating.
I've cleaned it out as best as I can, which it looks much better. The mower will fire first pull then die, I'm guessing there's some crud in there somewhere but I can tell where. It getting fuel because when I pulled it apart a second time there was gas in the bowl.
This carburetor is a little different than the Tecumseh carbs I've worked on so far. Maybe someone who has seen this style can fill me in on any hidden passages or reason why it won't stay running. Otherwise I'll play with it more tomorrow.
Here's what I started with:
And after some heavy cleaning:
For those of you wondering about that Toro, worry not. I finally got a small gas can and 2-cycle oil for it, and a new starter rope. Once I'm done with the Craftsman I'm planning on working on it.
Two-Stroke
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Thanks for putting in that note about the Toro. I thought of my first Suzuki-Toro as I read your description of the Craftsman's carb -- the gunk in my Toro's carb had not only solidified but had turned into a hardened coating. I finally got it off with carb cleaner but it was quite a challenge.
I did about three hours of mowing with it this past weekend and it ran like a champ. :thumbsup:
I did about three hours of mowing with it this past weekend and it ran like a champ. :thumbsup:
hanyoukimura
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Well a little progress. I got the Craftsman running. I gave up on its funky carburetor. I far as I can tell its clean but while it'll fire first pull with ease it'll die within a few seconds. So I cleaned up and installed the carburetor from the little gray MTD whose engine ended up on the green Craftsman.
When I first installed it it would start then die but got progressively better with each start. Then it wuld run but die when a load was put on it. Now it seems to run fine. It still doesn't start first try, but that may actually be because the primer bulb is extremely hard and may not be priming very well. Now that I know it works I'd swap out the bulb. I may give it another cleaning with this new spray I got called Gum Cutter, which I hear works a lot better than other carb cleaners.
After that What I need is a shroud or gas tank that will match each other so it can be complete. Most likely I'm keeping this one because I like the way it looks. :biggrin:
Anyway, onto the fun stuff. With that mower basically done, it;s finally time to set to work on the Toro. First things first is it needs a new rope and the spring adjusted so the rope will retract on its own. Then It'll probably need the fuel system dumped and cleaned out, maybe a carb clean, clean/replace the air filter and put a new spark plug in. Hopefully that gets it going.
To be honest though I've been thinking about seeing if I can swap it's engine with the Tecumseh engine on the push Toro I have. I don't know how the drive system is set up and if it can be done, but I'd kind of rather keep the push mower (all of the ones I have are self propelled except the Lawn Boy which I haven't worked on yet). We'll see. Got to get it running first!
When I first installed it it would start then die but got progressively better with each start. Then it wuld run but die when a load was put on it. Now it seems to run fine. It still doesn't start first try, but that may actually be because the primer bulb is extremely hard and may not be priming very well. Now that I know it works I'd swap out the bulb. I may give it another cleaning with this new spray I got called Gum Cutter, which I hear works a lot better than other carb cleaners.
After that What I need is a shroud or gas tank that will match each other so it can be complete. Most likely I'm keeping this one because I like the way it looks. :biggrin:
Anyway, onto the fun stuff. With that mower basically done, it;s finally time to set to work on the Toro. First things first is it needs a new rope and the spring adjusted so the rope will retract on its own. Then It'll probably need the fuel system dumped and cleaned out, maybe a carb clean, clean/replace the air filter and put a new spark plug in. Hopefully that gets it going.
To be honest though I've been thinking about seeing if I can swap it's engine with the Tecumseh engine on the push Toro I have. I don't know how the drive system is set up and if it can be done, but I'd kind of rather keep the push mower (all of the ones I have are self propelled except the Lawn Boy which I haven't worked on yet). We'll see. Got to get it running first!
hanyoukimura
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So as posted in another thread I acquired another mower!
This guy is a Poulan Pro 96146001 self propelled mower with a Briggs Quantum.
The guy who sold it to me (for $10) said that it blew oil out of the exhaust and stopped working, saying he though it was a "bad head gasket"
After a couple pulls it fires up and seems to run well. There's some black puffs at first then it cleared up.
It seemed to be making a lot of vibration noise despite the fact that the mower was running smoothly. So I tipped it over (muffler facing down of course) and come to find out
A few minutes later as it was running it suddenly idled down, then began to sputter to the point where it almost died. As it was sputtering it puffed out black smoke. I shut it off and then started it back up again. Started right up but idled slow and then started sputtering. After that I pulled the new spark plug out which was black. I cleaned it off, put it back in and started it up. No difference.
I left it for a few minutes check the grill (BBQ chicken!). When I came back I started it up again and for about 30 seconds it ran fine, but then it once again it started to sputter.
Today I decided to work on it. I figured the carburetor would be the issue, and it was, in a way. It turns out that someone attempted to "service" the carburetor...or something. I took the small bolt that holds the air filter assembly and the whole carburetor came off. Turns out the 2 bolts which hold the carburetor to the engine weren't there! Further inspection showed it was also missing the o-ring that goes between the carburetor and the engine.
The carburetor itself was pristine, although I cleaned it anyway.
The other problem I discovered is 3 of the 4 mounts for the shroud were broken, so the shroud was really only attached with 1 bolt.
I had a spare shroud but the recoil was broken. I hate replacing the recoil springs/assemblies because it never seems to go well. Instead I opted to pop out the rivets and swap recoil assemblies. Man I hate rivets. Got it done though.
Back together, it fired right up doesn't puff black smoke out now! At first it doesn't idle smooth, but it smooths out as it warms up. However, it seems to not idle as smooth as some of the other Briggs engines I have. What else should I look into to smooth it out?
I did give it a quick wash, cleaned up pretty well.
This guy is a Poulan Pro 96146001 self propelled mower with a Briggs Quantum.
The guy who sold it to me (for $10) said that it blew oil out of the exhaust and stopped working, saying he though it was a "bad head gasket"
After a couple pulls it fires up and seems to run well. There's some black puffs at first then it cleared up.
It seemed to be making a lot of vibration noise despite the fact that the mower was running smoothly. So I tipped it over (muffler facing down of course) and come to find out
A few minutes later as it was running it suddenly idled down, then began to sputter to the point where it almost died. As it was sputtering it puffed out black smoke. I shut it off and then started it back up again. Started right up but idled slow and then started sputtering. After that I pulled the new spark plug out which was black. I cleaned it off, put it back in and started it up. No difference.
I left it for a few minutes check the grill (BBQ chicken!). When I came back I started it up again and for about 30 seconds it ran fine, but then it once again it started to sputter.
Today I decided to work on it. I figured the carburetor would be the issue, and it was, in a way. It turns out that someone attempted to "service" the carburetor...or something. I took the small bolt that holds the air filter assembly and the whole carburetor came off. Turns out the 2 bolts which hold the carburetor to the engine weren't there! Further inspection showed it was also missing the o-ring that goes between the carburetor and the engine.
The carburetor itself was pristine, although I cleaned it anyway.
The other problem I discovered is 3 of the 4 mounts for the shroud were broken, so the shroud was really only attached with 1 bolt.
I had a spare shroud but the recoil was broken. I hate replacing the recoil springs/assemblies because it never seems to go well. Instead I opted to pop out the rivets and swap recoil assemblies. Man I hate rivets. Got it done though.
Back together, it fired right up doesn't puff black smoke out now! At first it doesn't idle smooth, but it smooths out as it warms up. However, it seems to not idle as smooth as some of the other Briggs engines I have. What else should I look into to smooth it out?
I did give it a quick wash, cleaned up pretty well.
Two-Stroke
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Excellent photography... particularly the close-ups.
I'm always pleased to see another entry in this thread. Thanks.
I'm always pleased to see another entry in this thread. Thanks.
hanyoukimura
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Glad to know you're enjoying them. :smile:
Got a new blade today ($5.25 on clearance!), put it on, man what a difference. Runs nice and smooth now.
However it doesn't idle at a constant rpm yet. It "surges" but only a bit, however I'd like to know if there's any way to make it smoother. Any thoughts?
Got a new blade today ($5.25 on clearance!), put it on, man what a difference. Runs nice and smooth now.
However it doesn't idle at a constant rpm yet. It "surges" but only a bit, however I'd like to know if there's any way to make it smoother. Any thoughts?
natenkiki2004
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If the surging is on that Poulan Pro you just showed (awesome) pictures of, I had one with a similar engine and there were no adjustments on the carb. So, I don't think there's a whole lot you can do about the surging other than maybe some carb cleaner run through the carb and intake and perhaps a little on the governor arm/spring to remove gunk and maybe make it a little less sticky.
hanyoukimura
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I'll try that, thanks!
hanyoukimura
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I'm going to investigate the governor spring next time the weather is good.. After all, the guy who owned it last had the spring attached to a screw he jammed in the mower.
Meantime, the Craftsman 917-383740 finally sold today for $85. Nice guy though, plsu what I got as trade was well worth the $20 off.
I haven't had a close look yet, but one is a self-propelled Scotts mower with what appears to be a OHV Tecumseh and two bags and the other is a Honda Harmony self-propelled mower with bag. Pretty sweet deals I'd say!
Meantime, the Craftsman 917-383740 finally sold today for $85. Nice guy though, plsu what I got as trade was well worth the $20 off.
I haven't had a close look yet, but one is a self-propelled Scotts mower with what appears to be a OHV Tecumseh and two bags and the other is a Honda Harmony self-propelled mower with bag. Pretty sweet deals I'd say!