I have a Scott mower with a Briggs and Stratton Intek OHV 6.5 HP engine.
One day, when I tried to start the engine, I found the pull string stuck. It showed no sign of problems during the last mowing. I turned the mower side way, disconnected the wire to the spark plug, and turned the blade by hand. After about 3 turns, I couldn't turn it further. So, I turned it the other way. Again, after few turns, I couldn't turn it further. I used another mower to finish the mowing job. Then, I came back to work on this Scott mower. I found that if I pulled the string slowly and if I met any resistance, I let the sting recoiled back, I was able to pull to the end this way. This, of course, didn't start the engine.
I removed the red cover, gas tank, motor oil spout, the engine shroud and examined the pull string mechanism. It seemed OK. No resistance when I pulled it. Thinking that the problem might be something inside the engine and beyond my ability to repair, I put everything back, ready to send it for repair. Before doing that, I did a last trial. I turned the mower on its side again and manually turned the blade. This time, I was able to turn the blade and encountered much less, yet still some, resistance after few turns. I then decided to start it and see what would happen. Miraculously, it started.
Anyone knows what's going on here? There was no obvious obstruction to the blade to begin with (no foreign object under the mower that prevented blade from turning) yet I had difficulty turning the blade manually. And I seemed to have done nothing and the obstruction was mostly, not completely, gone. Is it safe to run the mower?
One day, when I tried to start the engine, I found the pull string stuck. It showed no sign of problems during the last mowing. I turned the mower side way, disconnected the wire to the spark plug, and turned the blade by hand. After about 3 turns, I couldn't turn it further. So, I turned it the other way. Again, after few turns, I couldn't turn it further. I used another mower to finish the mowing job. Then, I came back to work on this Scott mower. I found that if I pulled the string slowly and if I met any resistance, I let the sting recoiled back, I was able to pull to the end this way. This, of course, didn't start the engine.
I removed the red cover, gas tank, motor oil spout, the engine shroud and examined the pull string mechanism. It seemed OK. No resistance when I pulled it. Thinking that the problem might be something inside the engine and beyond my ability to repair, I put everything back, ready to send it for repair. Before doing that, I did a last trial. I turned the mower on its side again and manually turned the blade. This time, I was able to turn the blade and encountered much less, yet still some, resistance after few turns. I then decided to start it and see what would happen. Miraculously, it started.
Anyone knows what's going on here? There was no obvious obstruction to the blade to begin with (no foreign object under the mower that prevented blade from turning) yet I had difficulty turning the blade manually. And I seemed to have done nothing and the obstruction was mostly, not completely, gone. Is it safe to run the mower?
