My Lawn Mower Repair Thread (56k warning)

[Two-Stroke]

There's a thread in "General Mower Discussion" called "Mower Christmas". I think your latest find qualifies for that, hanyoukimura.

About the Toro -- the model number is probably on the deck, under the big plastic piece on the front of the bag. You can use that to look up the engine -- I'm curious about who makes the engine.

 

[hanyoukimura]

Still need to take a closer look but judging by the air filter box and muffler I'd guess its a Tecumseh.

 

[hanyoukimura]

It been a little while and I haven't gotten as much done as I would have liked but regardless I have some stuff to post about.

Of the four I acquired in my last post, I've only really tackled one, the Weed Eater, since I know that's getting sold and its in good shape. It needed carb cleaning and whoever owned it had jerry rigged the governor spring and linkage. Somehow the original became stretched so they put another small spring on it and bent the linkage. This made it idle very high, so I fixed the linkage and the original spring. It runs great now. Considering it doesn't even have rust under the deck this should sell for decent money.

Meanwhile I've made a few more acquisitions. Two of them are Craftsman push mowers. One has a Quantum on it which seems to be in good shape besides the not running party. Carburetor is very dirty, so It should be up and running once I finish cleaning it. The other has a Tecumseh which I'm afraid may be junk. It doesn't feel like it has any compression. If that the case it kinda sucks, but I do have an older Tecumseh which should work once I reassemble the carb. If that's the case I'll put the nicer, new shroud and parts on it to make it look more presentable and put it on the deck which is in good shape.

The final acquisition is a real gem, so I've heard. It's a Toro with a Suzuki 2-stroke on it. Its a self-propelled, RWD mower, quite a beast. Got it for $20 (the other two were 5 a piece).

The guy claims it runs, although pulling it over a few times got me nothing. Maybe bad gas? It was sitting outside all winter. I'd actually like some tips with both this and the Lawn Boy. I've never worked on a 2-stroke so I don't know how to troubleshoot them beyond don't use starting fluid or carb cleaner because they have no lubricants. Any advice on getting these two going would be most welcome.

 

[Two-Stroke]

The final acquisition is a real gem, so I've heard. It's a Toro with a Suzuki 2-stroke on it. Its a self-propelled, RWD mower, quite a beast. Got it for $20 (the other two were 5 a piece).

The guy claims it runs, although pulling it over a few times got me nothing. Maybe bad gas? It was sitting outside all winter. I'd actually like some tips with both this and the Lawn Boy. I've never worked on a 2-stroke so I don't know how to troubleshoot them beyond don't use starting fluid or carb cleaner because they have no lubricants. Any advice on getting these two going would be most welcome.

It's good to hear from you.

Here's the first thing I'd try on the Suzuki-Toro: remove the air filter element (clean if dirty) and test the choke mechanism. It should choke fully when the control lever is in the choke position and "un-choke" fully when the lever is in any other position. One nice thing about these engines is that you can fiddle with the governor adjustment by moving the spring to different positions -- you'll see what I'm talking about when you get it apart.

While you shouldn't use starter fluid, you can "prime" the engine with two-cycle gas. With the air filter element removed, pour a small amount (maybe 1/2 a teaspoon) of two-cycle gas into the carb and then see if it will kick over. If it does, then you probably don't have an ignition problem and probably DO have a clogged carb (a very likely situation.)

You got a great deal on this mower (I hope... unless something is radically wrong.) The bagging system is excellent and the engine very strong.

Let us know how it works out.

 

[hanyoukimura]

Thanks for the info, Hopefully Sunday I'll get to take a look at it.

Regarding the fuel mixtures for these two strokes, is it 32:1 for Lawn Boy and 50:1 for the Toro?

 

[Two-Stroke]

Thanks for the info, Hopefully Sunday I'll get to take a look at it.

Regarding the fuel mixtures for these two strokes, is it 32:1 for Lawn Boy and 50:1 for the Toro?

I run all my two-cycle engines at about 50:1. The technology of the oil has improved in the last couple of decades. It burns cleaner and you can use it at a higher dilution ratio.

I guess there's some risk but I haven't had a problem. I have a few Stihl chainsaws that are more valuable than my mowers and I run them at 50:1.

 

[hanyoukimura]

So it was a beautiful day today and I decided to get some work done on these mowers. First one up was the Craftsman with the Briggs engine.

Cleaned out the carburetor, replaced the gaskets, and put in a new spark plug. It starts right up but the idle is erratic and I'm not sure why.

I also repaired the wobbly front wheel. Either the wheel or the axle was pretty worn because it had a lot of play in it. However, the replacement axle is like $16 ordered, which is more than three times what I paid for the mower :tongue: So instead I bought a steel sleeve that fit snugly over the axle and bored out the plastic wheel. greased it up, and now its good as new. I just came up with this idea today, and it works so well I'm going to implement it in future axle/wheel repairs. :biggrin:

Taking a break from that mower, I decided to play with the other Craftsman with the Tecumseh engine. This thing has no compression, so I decided the easiest thing to do would be to use parts from it to get the engine on this mower running...

Then put the more modern shroud and gas tank on it and put it on the nicer Craftsman deck.

So far so good with one exception. It appears that the 3.5 hp engine is slightly different, enough that the wider shroud of the Craftsman gets in the way of the exhaust. I'll either have to bend the corner of the shroud back to make clearance, or see if a round muffler will fit.

While I was taking apart the 6.5 hp engine a friend stopped by to say hi. He asked what that hole was on the engine and I was like "what hole?" I turned it around and found the reason it had no compression:

Needless to say this engine is definitely toast. Still, plenty of good parts on it, and so long as I can get the 3.5 hp engine running (and running well) it's no big deal.

 

[hanyoukimura]

Well I'm pretty bummed. Spent yesterday evening and this morning getting the 3.5 Tecumseh together and ready to run and...nothing. I'll have to check and see if it has spark this evening.

The only thing I can think of is the linage for the governor seems really tight, lots of tension in the spring, more so than the other working Tecumseh I have. The engines are different so I dunno if that's how it should be or what.

On a side note, I hate these carburetors. This is the second one I've worked on that will not stop leaking. I'll have to get a new seat and pin and hopefully that'll fix it, but there's still the whole "it doesn't run" issue.

 

[Two-Stroke]

I'm waiting for news about the Suzuki-Toro. I guess you would post it if there's anything new.

About the motor with the hole that you showed in the above photo: where is the hole and how do you think it got there? I'm curious -- it seems strange.

On Tecumseh engines: I've never thought much of them and I'd never waste my time on one. Just IMHO. :wink:

 

[hanyoukimura]

I'm waiting for news about the Suzuki-Toro. I guess you would post it if there's anything new.

About the motor with the hole that you showed in the above photo: where is the hole and how do you think it got there? I'm curious -- it seems strange.

On Tecumseh engines: I've never thought much of them and I'd never waste my time on one. Just IMHO. :wink:

Haven't tackled the Toro yet, need to get a gas can for mix fuel before anything. That and its going to be a keeper so fixing it isn't as a high a priority.

The hole, I haven't had a good look inside but maybe the connecting failed spectacularly, which would explain both the whole and no resistance when pulling the rope.

I'm "wasting" my time on them because they're what's on the mower and if they can be brought back to life that means money for me. :wink: