Hi all, new here,
We've got a mid-80s Mountfield Empress 16 with a Tecumseh BVS 143 engine. Solid machine which ran flawlessly until a few years ago when it got progressively more tricky to start and ended up being retired due to inheritance of another machine.
Cut a long story short, I want the Mountfield back as it's built to last and becoming a classic, and does a much finer job overall than the newer machine (a B&S Sovereign with a fiddly height adjustment system, a safety pull bar and no roller).
Over the past few years, the Empress has been seen by several local repair shops with varying results; each time it has come back improved, done a few mows and then proven impossible to start next season. Last year, it was taken to a local mechanic, who again did a service on it and got it running acceptably. It did a few cuts and then failed to start later in the season. We recall that he had mentioned the flywheel needed attention but we cannot recall exactly what was wrong.
It's my dad's mower but I'm now hoping to take this on as a project. I am inexperienced and generally piecing things together as I go, from vaguely similar online discussion threads and from this manual:
With that in mind please exercise patience as required, and clarity in responses, wherever possible.
The historical detail is provided to paint as accurate a picture as possible but I must stress I have drawn a line under it and am working from the present state, as multiple mechanics and repair shops have so far failed to satisfactorily remedy what we see as the main problem ("it fails to start") for any significant duration of time, and because we cannot recall all of the particulars which we have been told at various points with respect to specific components.
Therefore here is the situation as of today:
Attempted to mow yesterday but failed to start as expected. Cue me committing to getting it running again!
It sounds as though it's cranking and about to start but never actually turns over.
The pull cord is stiff at particular and repeatable points in its motion - approximately the first few centimetres are stiff, then there's a strong distinct tug and further stiffness over the next quarter (approximately), then it runs generally smoothly with a few more stiff points. This is not due to the pull cord itself (which is relatively new) and I confirmed this today - with the pull cord removed and cranking the engine by hand, it remains stiff and resistant as described.
Things which have been checked or adjusted:
- Engine oil was low and has been topped up to the level
- Fuel was old and low; it has been topped up with fresh fuel to a reasonable level
- Air filter was dry and dirty; it has been cleaned in water and lightly saturated with engine oil
- The carb mixture screw has been adjusted using the guidance in the manual linked above - close, open by three quarters of a turn
- The throttle cable has been checked and adjusted using the guidance in the manual linked above.
- Cranking the engine is stiff at particular points in its motion as described above
- The engine does crank and can often sound like it's about to start
- The spark plug (replaced by a mechanic last year with a lightly used part) was wet with what seems to be oil
- With the spark plug removed, the engine cranks completely smoothly - all of the resistance described above is completely gone. As soon as the spark plug is inserted, whether cable connected or not, there is resistance to cranking as described above
- There appears to be damp behind the carb and there is a smell of fuel in the air after attempting to start
After cleaning the spark plug today, I succeeded in starting the engine a couple of times by using a tip I found online: pulled the cord three times with the throttle in choke position (failed to start each time), and then retry with the throttle in fast idle position. On the first attempt in idle, it coughed and almost started. After repeating the entire choke/idle process again, on the second attempt, it did indeed very reluctantly start and run.
I then managed to repeat this success several more times and on a few occasions it was possible to start on the first attempt in the choke position. The engine was running reasonably smoothly. Each time, the engine abruptly and spontaneously slowed down and then cut out within 15 seconds of starting, irrespective of throttle position. After sitting for a while, I could not repeat the success again using any method, and even having removed, cleaned and reinserted the spark plug again, I've not had it start again in a while and have put it away for the day. When it did start, on several occasions, there was a very violent kickback/recoil of the pull cord.
Any advice at all to get us on the right track would be much appreciated. I am happy and able to provide photos of any component to help clarify what's going on.
Many thanks indeed.
We've got a mid-80s Mountfield Empress 16 with a Tecumseh BVS 143 engine. Solid machine which ran flawlessly until a few years ago when it got progressively more tricky to start and ended up being retired due to inheritance of another machine.
Cut a long story short, I want the Mountfield back as it's built to last and becoming a classic, and does a much finer job overall than the newer machine (a B&S Sovereign with a fiddly height adjustment system, a safety pull bar and no roller).
Over the past few years, the Empress has been seen by several local repair shops with varying results; each time it has come back improved, done a few mows and then proven impossible to start next season. Last year, it was taken to a local mechanic, who again did a service on it and got it running acceptably. It did a few cuts and then failed to start later in the season. We recall that he had mentioned the flywheel needed attention but we cannot recall exactly what was wrong.
It's my dad's mower but I'm now hoping to take this on as a project. I am inexperienced and generally piecing things together as I go, from vaguely similar online discussion threads and from this manual:
With that in mind please exercise patience as required, and clarity in responses, wherever possible.
The historical detail is provided to paint as accurate a picture as possible but I must stress I have drawn a line under it and am working from the present state, as multiple mechanics and repair shops have so far failed to satisfactorily remedy what we see as the main problem ("it fails to start") for any significant duration of time, and because we cannot recall all of the particulars which we have been told at various points with respect to specific components.
Therefore here is the situation as of today:
Attempted to mow yesterday but failed to start as expected. Cue me committing to getting it running again!
It sounds as though it's cranking and about to start but never actually turns over.
The pull cord is stiff at particular and repeatable points in its motion - approximately the first few centimetres are stiff, then there's a strong distinct tug and further stiffness over the next quarter (approximately), then it runs generally smoothly with a few more stiff points. This is not due to the pull cord itself (which is relatively new) and I confirmed this today - with the pull cord removed and cranking the engine by hand, it remains stiff and resistant as described.
Things which have been checked or adjusted:
- Engine oil was low and has been topped up to the level
- Fuel was old and low; it has been topped up with fresh fuel to a reasonable level
- Air filter was dry and dirty; it has been cleaned in water and lightly saturated with engine oil
- The carb mixture screw has been adjusted using the guidance in the manual linked above - close, open by three quarters of a turn
- The throttle cable has been checked and adjusted using the guidance in the manual linked above.
- Cranking the engine is stiff at particular points in its motion as described above
- The engine does crank and can often sound like it's about to start
- The spark plug (replaced by a mechanic last year with a lightly used part) was wet with what seems to be oil
- With the spark plug removed, the engine cranks completely smoothly - all of the resistance described above is completely gone. As soon as the spark plug is inserted, whether cable connected or not, there is resistance to cranking as described above
- There appears to be damp behind the carb and there is a smell of fuel in the air after attempting to start
After cleaning the spark plug today, I succeeded in starting the engine a couple of times by using a tip I found online: pulled the cord three times with the throttle in choke position (failed to start each time), and then retry with the throttle in fast idle position. On the first attempt in idle, it coughed and almost started. After repeating the entire choke/idle process again, on the second attempt, it did indeed very reluctantly start and run.
I then managed to repeat this success several more times and on a few occasions it was possible to start on the first attempt in the choke position. The engine was running reasonably smoothly. Each time, the engine abruptly and spontaneously slowed down and then cut out within 15 seconds of starting, irrespective of throttle position. After sitting for a while, I could not repeat the success again using any method, and even having removed, cleaned and reinserted the spark plug again, I've not had it start again in a while and have put it away for the day. When it did start, on several occasions, there was a very violent kickback/recoil of the pull cord.
Any advice at all to get us on the right track would be much appreciated. I am happy and able to provide photos of any component to help clarify what's going on.
Many thanks indeed.