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lawn-boy stopped running

16 years ago

Need suggestions, after cutting the grass for 15-20 mins. it starts surging and also backfires through the exhuat pipe been doing this all summer. however this past saturday it was doing it and after reading some other messages on this site i tried to see any inprovement without gas cap and then filter removal for a few seconds there was better runnin when filter was removed, so i put spare filter on it. it ran better for about 5-6 passes in the yard then pow, the hingeside of airfilter cover cane off with bluesmoke and gas sprewed from vent hole of cap. it wont start now. do i give it last rites? thanks for help i can get. ps

I'm a first timer

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Comments (7)

roydavid
16 years ago
What model? Engine type? Riding mower or walk behind? If it is a riding mower sounds like a carb problem. Try removing the carb bowl then remove the float and float needle. Clean the needle seat and needle with a carb cleaning solvent. Replace the needle, float and bowl. After that spray some carb cleaner in the carb and start it, let it run for 5 minutes at idle so the engine can warm up. Stop the engine and spray some more carb cleaner in the carb and start it again. Remember to use new fuel. You can also try using some SeaFoam in the fuel.
trainman1
Original Author
16 years ago
it's a push 2 cycle model 10247
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Drain the gas tank, reconnect the fuel line and start the engine. Does it speed up right before it quits? If it does, it tells me that it has good compression and will run on the right mixture, and it runs poorly now because of a rich mixture. You said it has no choke, so it must be 'primer-start', but you didn't mention pumping the primer to start it. If it does not speed up when running out of gas, the mixture may be okay but there is another problem. You also didn't mention excessive smoke - if it's too rich and you have the right amount of oil in the fuel, it will be blowing clouds of blue smoke. If it's not smoking, the next place I would look is the upper and lower crankcase seals (shaft seals). The 2-cycle depends on crankcase pressure and vacuum to run properly, and the seals go bad over time, sometimes popping out. You have to do major disassembly to get to them, but a clue is excessive black goo around the lower seal. If it's a self-propelled mower, the crank pulley has to be removed to get the old seal off and the new one in. Basically you pull the engine to do this. The crankcase is in two pieces and the gasket material between them could be leaking, but usually it is only the seals. You have to remove the flywheel to get to the upper one. Hard to diagnose without being there but just a few things to check.
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Tecumseh. Needs a metering orifice cleaning job. I don't think I can bring myself to type it out for the nth time. Okay, I'll start. Tilt the mower up on it's right side wheels (carb high). Take the brass bolt out of the bottom of the fuel bowl and don't disturb the bowl - it should just stay on. Clean the holes in the bolt; center hole and cross hole - these are the easy ones. Now take a wire tie like found on a loaf of bread and strip the paper off - straighten the wire and use it to rod out the tiny bleed near the end of the threads that is on an angle. It might look like just a speck of dirt - it's that small. This is the one that does the trick. Put the bolt back in and you should be good. From now on, use a fuel stabilizer and either Seafoam or Marvel mystery Oil in your mower gas can, and you won't be doing this every year.
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walt2002
16 years ago
"then pow, the hingeside of airfilter cover cane off with bluesmoke and gas sprewed from vent hole of cap."

That sounds to me like bad reed valves or something stuck in a reed valve.

Walt Conner
1saxman
16 years ago
'That sounds to me like bad reed valves or something stuck in a reed valve.'

Exactly so. You need to first look in the carburetor air intake with a flashlight or turn it to the sun to see if both tongues of the reed valve are covering the intake slots. One or both of them are not slamming shut when crankcase pressure hits. If the crankcase has to be split to check/replace the reed valve, figure on putting in new crank seals at that time. You also need to check your crank seals now to make sure one of them hasn't popped out. Some engine disassembly req'd.
mrcorey5
16 years ago
Can a compression check tell you if the reeds are bad?
1saxman
16 years ago
'Can a compression check tell you if the reeds are bad?'

No, not at the spark plug hole. What you have to do is check compression in the crankcase, which is necessary for the 2-cycle to run. You can remove the spark plug to make it easier to pull through, then remove the air filter to see if it's blowing air out of the crankcase. Since we already know this one is, now he has to find out what's wrong with the reed valve. Also, they all blow some air out as there is some leakage before pressure builds up enough to close the spring steel reeds, but you should be able to tell if they're leaking bad. The faster you pull it through, the less leakage you will see with good reeds.
trainman1
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks for all of the advice, I'm not a mechanic so I would have to take the mower to a repair shop, not knowing what might be the problem or how much it would cost, I purchased a new 10694, again thanks to all for your suggestions

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