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need help, mower wont start or even turn

17 years ago

i just got an old mower from somebody planning to fix it up and use it. they said it would need some minor repairs to get working perfectly.

while at there house, i tried to start the mower, the engine would turn but not start. the battery was obviously bad since the turning would get slower and slower.

got it home, tried again, it slowly turned and eventually stopped. i then thought 'hmm, i have an old car battery in the shed' and i got that out, tried that with it, it did nothing. so i went down to walmart and bought a new battery and put it in.

still nothing.

i'm going to assume that the battery doesen't need charging since its new. i checked a fuse that i found near the key switch and that was fine. there appears to be no broken wires at all either. so i have no clue why it woulden't be getting any power. even the headlights don't work, but they could just be burnt out.

the mower is a dynamark with a 12hp briggs and stratton engine in it.

can't say i know much else about it.

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Comments (7)

zaroba
Original Author
17 years ago
ok, bit of an update after some more tinkering.

i shorted out the selonoid and it turned but wouldn't start.
i happened to have another switch (thank god i never throw away junk) put that in, and it tried it. it turned, so the old switch was bad.

now it just wont turn over. tested the spark plug and it sparks. unplugged the fuel line from the engine and fuel came out fine. tried it without the air filter on and still had the same resaults. so i'm guessing the carb needs to be looked at.
bill_kapaun
17 years ago
Post some engine numbers so we can figure out what carb you have.

Have you tried priming the carb with about a teaspoons worth of gas to see if it'll run a few seconds.
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tomplum
17 years ago
You could try posting a pic of the carb so we could all look at it- there's strength in numbers you know. ;) Old fuel in unit?
kiddranger
17 years ago
Try turning engine by hand, if it doesnt turn , there could be something broken inside. Check the starter motor too or the teeth on it, it could be weak. Ive had instances where the starter motor indexer will stay in the engaged position and 'lock the motor'. If thats the case it'll probably need a cleaning. Check the oil for fuel smell, if the gas overflowed the carb and into the motor it could fill the combustion chamber and cause a 'stop' or hydraulicing action. Usually a good rule of thumb is to totally service the machine before attempting to start it- specially if its sat for a long time, such as oil change, carb cleaning, plug change, ect. Its not all that difficult to do these things either. My entire fleet of 15 tractors i got as non runners and they run today with just a simple cleaning/maintenece.
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rustyj14
17 years ago
Also, check the bolted connection where the negative ground cable is attached to the frame of the machine. Rust can form under the cable and at the bolt, which will keep the electrical circuit from doing what it is s'posed to do.
Check the gear on the starter motor, for ground up teeth. Another thing--you must have the negative (-) post cable grounded to the frame! clean all connections to the solenoid bolts! Any rust will keep it from having a good connection. Take out spark plug, put tranny in neutral-see if you can turn the engine thru several revolutions, without it hanging up! AS Kidranger sez--do lots of checking before trying to start it!
Rustyj
zaroba
Original Author
17 years ago
thanks for the info guys.
i'll spend wednesday doing a therogh check and cleaning of the engine.
zaroba
Original Author
17 years ago
minor update...

blades spin fine, the motor spins fine when its not in gear. can easily feel compression in it when turning it by hand. the starter spins the motor at maybe 3 revolutions per sec, the top of the gear is a bit worn but it engages and disengages fine. it also has oil in it still.

i replaced the spark plug with the one from my working push mower and put some of the gas that was in it directly into the cylinder.
after a few secs it started up and ran for a few secs then stalled.

so my guess is that its the carb itself thats not working right. so its just a matter of taking that off and cleaning/fixing it without breaking the stuff inside.

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