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I sold this Troy-Bilt mower I refurb'ed. When the gal said she'd take it, I told her I'd have it in the garage when she got here. I had put a new carb on it and then gave it a full servicing. When I put it away it was purring like a kitten. I pulled it out of storage to put in the garage and decided I'd best fire it up to be sure it still ran OK. It took several pulls to get it fired and I chalked that up to being in the cold.

So I left it in the garage where it never gets below 45 degrees. When she came to pay me last evening she told me she would have her son-in-law pick it up later next week. I'm thankful she said that. I told her she could look it over and hear it run. I took her to the garage and gave two good pulls and it fired,,,,, then it sat there and surged and surged. I told her not to worry about it and that I'd have it running smoothly before he comes to get it.

I just went out and tried it again. Same crap. It's still surging. I'd hate to think there was grunge left in that new carb, but it has to be a fuel problem. I'll get it up on the bench and give it a good going over.

Not only is that just a little frustrating, it has happened at a real inopportune time. I popped something in my left knee and can barely hobble. Hobble or not, I'll be on the garage come Monday morning to fix it.

If it ain't one thing,,,,,

Looks like murphy gave you a visit.

Hammermechanicman said:

Looks like murphy gave you a visit.

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Yep. Probably not a big deal, but it's sure frustrating. After I got the new carb installed I probably started and ran the thing a half dozen times. I know I let it sit and run for right at fifteen minutes right before I put it in my outdoor storage. Then WHAM, it decided to surge. Grunge in the carb? Clogged fuel line? Governor suddenly out of whack? I'll find it, but it's funny when a thing like this just happens.

Bummer, Your knee & my back.. Anyhow I bet it all works out well w/mower sale.

Sorta the BB that I installed a new hydro in. Been sitting a month and a half after I tested it. Customer came to pick it up Friday. The was as stiff as could be. It turn that the turnbuckle end was out of place even though I only unbolted it for the install. Reposition it as it should be and things were fine. $1200 repair finally out the door.

Fortunately, diagnosing small engines is a LOT like diagnosing computers. The steps are the same, anyway. LOL! Obviously something changed between when I ran it for about 15 minutes right before sitting it in my outdoor storage and when I brought it out for the customer to see. That's why I'll be checking the fuel tank, fuel line, and inside the carb first. I may well have missed seeing something in the tank before I filled it with gas. Whatever MIGHT have been in the tank could now be clogging a fuel line or maybe blocking something in the carb. Those three would seem to be the most likely culprits. If that all checks, then it'll be time to check adjustments to the carb or maybe the governor. I can't imagine any of that changed just by sitting there for a couple weeks, but I suppose it's possible. Maybe the filter housing is a little warped and there is an air leak, but that doesn't seem real likely since it was running perfectly when it went into storage. Whatever it is, I'll find it. One other thought did cross my mind. I suppose it's entirely possible that a mouse climbed into the thing to keep warm and drug something along with him for nesting material or for a snack. I'd have thought I'd have seen that, but then I haven't done a thorough inspection yet, so I can't rule that out. Several of my neighbors and I all put food out for our squirrels and birds. Maybe a mouse grabbed some corn, a peanut, or other small piece of food and drug it into the engine. Can't rule anything out while troubleshooting, I do know that.

As for the knee, it's feeling better this morning. If I'm really conscious about it and make sure I don't do any turning or twisting when I have weight on it, it's not too bad. Maybe if I stay off of it again today I'll be feeling a lot better tomorrow and can get out there and work without too much pain.

Yes things can happen just sitting there. It won't the first or the the last it happens either. Or at least not for me. I seldom repair a cube carburetor and have not to re-tune a few days later after the kit materials get settle into being in contact with the fuel mix.

Even when doing computer programming you will find a few days later something you miss at the beginning or a better way of doing something especially when you are try to keep the coding to a minimum. This why I now let others to do the programming as the programming languages keeps changing too.

StarTech said:

Yes things can happen just sitting there. It won't the first or the the last it happens either. Or at least not for me. I seldom repair a cube carburetor and have not to re-tune a few days later after the kit materials get settle into being in contact with the fuel mix.

Even when doing computer programming you will find a few days later something you miss at the beginning or a better way of doing something especially when you are try to keep the coding to a minimum. This why I now let others to do the programming as the programming languages keeps changing too.

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Yep. You're 100% correct. One of the reasons I decided to get out of the computing industry was that I had learned and relearned, learned something new, then relearned that, over, and over, and over,,,,,, After so many years of that, I just got burned out on trying to keep up. If you never heard it before, the saying was that if you buy the latest and greatest computer on the market and load it with the latest and greatest operating system, it will be damned near obsolete within 12 to 18 months. Back when processors were going through the whole 286, 386, 486, then Pentium stages, they were offering a new, better, faster, processor in less than 12 months. It was really hard to try and keep things running smoothly, especially when the operating systems were advancing just as quickly. And yes, I can recall all the sleepless nights when I managed to think of a better way to accomplish a task in something I programmed or coded. My wife spent half her nights coming to the office and begging me to get back to sleep. She knew just how grumpy I was going to be after not getting more than 3 or 4 hours sleep each night. LOL!

I finally managed to get that mower back on the bench. I found nothing mechanically wrong with anything. So, I pulled the carb and dropped the bowl and looked at the gas that was in it. I saw no foreign material of any kind. I then pulled the fuel tank with the fuel line and let it run out for a few seconds. It looked just fine and there was obviously nothing clogging the line. I put it all back together and pulled the starter rope three times. It fired up, spit and sputtered a couple of times and then settled in to purr just like it should. I didn't specifically change anything. I saw nothing in the carb, the tank, or the fuel line. I guess it just wanted me to toy with it some more. LOL! The customer hasn't bothered to contact me for a time to pick it up, so I'll have the opportunity to start and run it a few more times. Strange, but at least it's running like it should.

In other news, I bought a nearly new mower that a young girl had offered for sale online. She was honest about it and said she only used it a few times. That part seemed true enough, just looking at it. It had the appearance of a new one. She said she used it only a few times and it quit running and she could never get it started again. She only tried to get Walmart to take it back. She never took it to anybody for repair. She had it in storage for a year and a half, give or take. I told her that her asking price would be OK if it was running, but not knowing what the problem was really hurt the value. I offered $40 and she took it. I threw it on the bench as soon as I got it home. What I found made me feel a bit sorry for the gal. I popped the shroud and the problem was right in front of me. One of the small screws holding the coil in place was loose. That side of the coil was rubbing the flywheel. It had rubbed for quite a while before it was completely dead, apparently. I didn't see any specific damage to anything so I just reset the coil gap and will do a complete service to see how well it runs. I'm betting it will run like a top.

I met her at her storage unit. She was selling a LOT of stuff in preparation for a move. As I was getting ready to pay her, I noticed two, brand new, never used, 2 ton jack stands. I asked if she was selling them. She kind of hesitated like she didn't want to sell them, but then caught me off guard when she said that she also had a nearly new string trimmer she wanted to sell. She pulled it out and I kind of joked that it didn't look like it had ever been used. She said she thought she had only used it 5 times. I asked if there was something wrong with it. She said there wasn't. She had just moved into an apartment shortly after buying it. It's a cheap Hyper Tough trimmer from Walmart. I wasn't overly thrilled about it, but asked her to put a price on it and the jack stands. She said she'd take $20. The jack stands are worth about 20 bucks, so in effect, I got the trimmer for nothing. All it needs is a tune up and it'll be ready for sale. Can't make much on a cheap trimmer like that, but an extra $30 or $40 is better than a kick in the butt. LOL!
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