It was running fine until 3 weeks ago. It was difficult to start. I sprayed starter fluid in it and it would start right away. Did a fine job of mowing. Now the thing starts Only with starter fluid but will not stay running. It misses when it does start. I put in a new plug. The old one was rather ugly on the outside. But it looked fine. Put a new one anyway. I did the maybe gas cap is clogged check. Start and loosen the cap. It quits. Seems maybe not getting gas? or maybe the electric circuit quits. Runs rough as anything when it does run- only about 20 secs. Misses, etc. I don't have the manual for it so I was hoping to find an exploded diagram of it so as to take apart the thing, clean the carburetor etc.. It looks simple but I'd like to see an exploded view. Probably clogged fuel line. I did mow 2 times without an air filter only because the old one was ugly and did not have the replacement yet. I used a section of a house filter as a temporary. I don't think that destroyed the motor so quickly?? Any suggestions?
Remove the carb and clean it... also remove any parts of "filter" that may be in it...
as for running without a filter... In the right conditions you can damage an engine in seconds... Yiu should never Mow without a proper filter...
The fact that it was starting with starter fluid indicates that your initial problem was/is fuel related... Post back with your engine make and I will give you a link to the carb cleaning... :smile:KennyV
