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Hey all! I have a Snapper 6.5 hp mulcher/mower with variable speed that I use. It was given to me by my grandmother and is approx 5 years old. It sat in her garage for about 3 years without being used until she finally gave it to me. I brought it to a shop and had it brought up to speed on maintenance. It worked great for about a week. Then I started having a problem. I would go to mow and it worked awesome! But i would stop after a few minutes because I forgot to get my water or a neighbor saying hi and it wouldn't start. It should not be over heated, nor should it be flooded from the priming. I have to let it sit for a day or 2 before it starts again. Any suggestions on what could be wrong with it???? If I can get it started again I plan on putting a cap or 2 of pure rubbing alcohol in the gas line to try and make sure it was all cleared out. I would love any ideas!


:confused2:

If you stop for a minute or two after it is hot, it should not be choked or primed, or it may flood.

Put up your engine's model numbers so we know what you have.

MowEmGirl said:

Hey all! I have a Snapper 6.5 hp mulcher/mower with variable speed that I use. It was given to me by my grandmother and is approx 5 years old. It sat in her garage for about 3 years without being used until she finally gave it to me. I brought it to a shop and had it brought up to speed on maintenance. It worked great for about a week. Then I started having a problem. I would go to mow and it worked awesome! But i would stop after a few minutes because I forgot to get my water or a neighbor saying hi and it wouldn't start. It should not be over heated, nor should it be flooded from the priming. I have to let it sit for a day or 2 before it starts again. Any suggestions on what could be wrong with it???? If I can get it started again I plan on putting a cap or 2 of pure rubbing alcohol in the gas line to try and make sure it was all cleared out. I would love any ideas!

:confused2:

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Ok first thing is you can not talk about fixing mowers with pink writing.

I know you said you took it to a shop for a tune up. But try starting it with the air filter off.

And don't put rubbing alcohol in the gas. Go get some sea foam.

Try starting with the gas cap off.

Bring it back to the shop and tell them to clean the carb like they should have done the first time.

(( cowboy up and get over it ))

Sounds like the coil or your flooding it by priming it after running it for 2 minutes.

Sorry! I meant to give the Model #... it is: MRP216518B Also, I don't prime it unless it is at the initial start up. Thanks!:biggrin:

Well, normally, if it is the coil, it will give you problems with starting cold. Once the motor is hot, it starts much better. Like one of the guys said, it sounds like a carburetor problem. You might need a new carburetor kit, since it would probably not start and run in the first place, if it were clogged. I would put in a new carb kit and clean all the little fuel jets while you have the carb exposed.

Is your engine a Briggs & Stratton?

Is the spark plug cover metal or plastic?

pugaltitude said:

Is your engine a Briggs & Stratton?

Is the spark plug cover metal or plastic?

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Why do you ask this question? Do you suspect a leak?

The metal caps are a resister and the earlier ones used to breakdown causing a no spark when they heat up.

Replacing with a rubber type sorted the problem

Briggs have sorted the problem now.

Also coils are usually alright when cold and tend to breakdown when hot.

pugaltitude said:

The metal caps are a resister and the earlier ones used to breakdown causing a no spark when they heat up.

Replacing with a rubber type sorted the problem

Briggs have sorted the problem now.

Also coils are usually alright when cold and tend to breakdown when hot.

Click to expand...

I was not aware of this metal coil issue, good to know.

On coils, yes, although in my limited experience I have not come across a faulty coil. I recently rebuilt a 1980 b&s (on a harry aluminum deck) that did not qualify even for scrap. The coil was a mess, full of rust, but worked ok. I really enjoyed fixing that one, cast iron flywheel, unused contacts on top (points), a loud muffler and a real choke (no prime bulb).

Generally I've seen that if there's spark the coil is ok and I have never come across a weak or strong spark, good or bad spark and the like, although I have unsuccesfully tried to measure coil output.

On the case at hand I would be inclined to go for an air filter change(almost always neglected), carb cleaning and overhaul including o-ring change on inlet and a diaphragm (if this model has one). A new carb would be an option at same price with a service kit (here approx. 30 Euros).

If problem persisted I would then check cold / hot compression if I had indications and excessive oil consumption, but this goes to far, unless someone has sleeping problems, money to spend and an affection for this kind of work.

I have seen coils that spark great when cold but when they heatup fail. I most recently seen this on a pocket rocket bike, ran for about 5-10 minutes then cutout and wouldn't restart. Checked for spark and there was none. Let it cool down and spark was back. Replaced coil and all is good.