New used mower

[hrdman2luv]

Not without proper compression it will no ignite starter fluid.

Both pistons blew my thumb off the plug hole. Abruptly, I might add.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Thanks for the tips Bert.

Just a couple of questions.

1. The safety switches. If I had a bad safety switch, the coil wouldn't spark right? I'm getting good spark. Especially after I cleaned the plugs. They all work through the key switch, which works through the kill wire on the magneto. Right?

2. If no safety switch problem, what could be causing the starter fluid to not ignite in the cylinders? I've removed the plugs and even squirted fluid into the cylinders. (quickly re-installing the plugs and trying to start the engine) But to no avail. The plugs themselves don't look bad. They weren't bad when I first got the mower.

If there is fuel in the cylinder and spark at the plugs then there is only two alternatives

1) spark is at the wrong time ( check the position of the fly wheel and make sure both halves of the key way are linned up )

2) inadequate compression .
The others have covered this quite well and I have no intention of reinventing the wheel so bite the bullet, get a couple of bins to put the bits in, charge up the digital camera and photograph the engine every time you take some thing off so you will have a step by step rebuilding guide

 

[bertsmobile1]

And you don't need any real special tools to do the valves as they are just a clearence measured with a feeler gauge.
Removing & replacing the valve springs can be done with nothing but a few screwdrivers and / or pry bars.
measure the clearences with a springs in place then work out how much to remove the remove the valve springs, push the valves back in and measure again.

subtract the amount you needed to remove from the first measurement from the second ( no spring ) measurements and get out the oil stone

 

[hrdman2luv]

And you don't need any real special tools to do the valves as they are just a clearence measured with a feeler gauge.
Removing & replacing the valve springs can be done with nothing but a few screwdrivers and / or pry bars.
measure the clearences with a springs in place then work out how much to remove the remove the valve springs, push the valves back in and measure again.

subtract the amount you needed to remove from the first measurement from the second ( no spring ) measurements and get out the oil stone

We need a "thank you" button... Thanks Bert.