Honda push petrol mower not starting

makeorbrake

Hi all. Have used this lawn mower once this year already - and it was very reluctant to start. Just tried to use it right now - and no joy - it's not having it.

Took out the spark plug and ran a bit of sandpaper on the contacts to remove any excess carbon (although there didn't seem to be a hell of a lot).

Could the plug itself simply be dead?


Any suggestions as to what else I can try?


Grass is a lot longer than I should have left it so I need to sort this out sharp-ish

roadsmart

Clean the air filter, they're usually exposed underneath and clog up very quickly. Heat the tip of the plug before you replace it. Then find the rubber bulb near the carb and push it 3 or 4 times til you feel resistance, and then try it.

When's the last time the oil was changed? It's always neglected.

PeteFalk78

Is the spark plug sparking?

roadsmart

Doh, forgot about earthing the plug:D

CJhaughey

Empty the old petrol out and get fresh petrol.
Old petrol won't start many machines as its full of water and has gone off.
Unlikely to be sparkplug, if it was working when you parked it up.
Modern petrol absorbs moisture from the atmosphere, the carb should have a drain bolt/screw that you undo to let the old stale fuel out.

makeorbrake

roadsmart wrote: »

Clean the air filter, they're usually exposed underneath and clog up very quickly.

Checked the air filter - it looked fine - no dirt/dust worth talking about.

roadsmart wrote: »

Then find the rubber bulb near the carb and push it 3 or 4 times til you feel resistance, and then try it.

It's a Honda Izy 4.5HP mower. I didn't see any bulb?

roadsmart wrote:

When's the last time the oil was changed? It's always neglected.

I have to admit to having neglected this myself. Bought the 'mower this time last year - used. Never got round to changing the oil. Have just now done that this morning. The blade needs some work also but I'll tackle that once I get the ruddy thing running first.

PeterFalk78 wrote:

Is the spark plug sparking?

Yes, checked that and it's sparking.

CJhaughey wrote:

Empty the old petrol out and get fresh petrol.

Did that.

CJhaughey wrote:

The carb should have a drain bolt/screw that you undo to let the old stale fuel out.

New territory for me....I took the carb out - but there wasn't anything in the way of gunk inside. Drained out the bit of petrol that was in there - and in the line in - as far as the fuel cut off switch.


It still won't start - not a kick. Please keep the suggestions coming as I'd really like to get the better of this (rather than it get the better of me!)

I read that a yellow spark is a weak spark and blue is a strong spark - I didn't have anyone else around - so had to use the camera on my phone to record. It shows a spark - but it looks more yellow than blue...although the darn thing is so fast its hard to say for sure...

roadsmart

Nice mower. Dunno if they have a priming bulb or not. The spark plug would be niggling at me, so for the sake of 3 or 4 euro why not change it. Also throw a drop of redex into the fuel, then try her again.

deandean

remove the air filter. pull the starter few times with full throttle.set. now spray a.squirt.of.lynx or a gas refill or any aerosol that uses butane into the air intake and pull start a few times. if you have a spark this should get yougoing. best of luck!

makeorbrake

deandean wrote: »

remove the air filter. pull the starter few times with full throttle.set. now spray a.squirt.of.lynx or a gas refill or any aerosol that uses butane into the air intake and pull start a few times. if you have a spark this should get yougoing. best of luck!

Thanks. I;ll give this a go tomorrow.



I just tried out a suggestion that a friend made i.e. syringed a very small amount of fuel in the slot where the spark plug goes. Tightened up the spark plug as fast as I could - then pulled the chord. It fired for 1-2 seconds - but then died. Repeated this again - and the same result.

Not sure what conclusion I should draw from that???

roadsmart wrote: »

The spark plug would be niggling at me, so for the sake of 3 or 4 euro why not change it. Also throw a drop of redex into the fuel, then try her again.

Failing the above, I'll go get another plug and the redex.

Boiled-egg

makeorbrake wrote: »

Thanks. I;ll give this a go tomorrow.



I just tried out a suggestion that a friend made i.e. syringed a very small amount of fuel in the slot where the spark plug goes. Tightened up the spark plug as fast as I could - then pulled the chord. It fired for 1-2 seconds - but then died. Repeated this again - and the same result.

Not sure what conclusion I should draw from that???






Hmmm
I'm wondering if there is fine problem with the fuel supply. I'd be checking the fuel filter and the hoses.

BorneTobyWilde

Undo the bottom bolt, take the thing off and clean it. Turn tap on when bowl is off,make sure petrol is flowing, if so turn off.
Clean bowl and refit.Turn tap back on. Should start then

makeorbrake

Boiled-egg wrote: »

Hmmm
I'm wondering if there is fine problem with the fuel supply. I'd be checking the fuel filter and the hoses.

Apologies in advance for being thick about this - but not sure where the fuel filter is. :-(

BorneTobyWilde wrote:

Undo the bottom bolt, take the thing off and clean it. Turn tap on when bowl is off,make sure petrol is flowing, if so turn off.
Clean bowl and refit.Turn tap back on. Should start then

Yeah, I took out the carburetor this morning. There didn't seem to be any 'gunk' worth talking about - and I removed any petrol that was in there.

At 1.30am I don't have the will to go and check right now - but I guess it's possible that one of those springs may not have gone back in properly after removing and then refixing the carburetor. I don't think so but better double check to make sure. It was definitely akward getting the springs back on.

PeteFalk78

makeorbrake wrote: »

Apologies in advance for being thick about this - but not sure where the fuel filter is. :-(

It may be behind the air filter assembly which you'll need to remove. TBH the first thing I'd do would be to change the spark plug, it's only gonna cost you a couple of euro.

I've heard of some problems on the Izy's with the starter coil but I don' think that's the problem here.

ART6

Buy a can of Holt's Cold Start and spray it in to the air intake immediately before trying to start. If it then starts run it at high revs for a minute or two to clear out the fuel system.

makeorbrake

Well, I can get it started now - don't ask me what exactly led to that as I have no idea. Perhaps there was some air in the fuel line.

Unfortunately, in taking the carburetor out, I've created another problem - meaning the choke stays open regardless of what way I set it :-(

I've obviously not put it back together exactly the way it was when I've started. There was an obvious problem with the pulley setup and I *thought* I had put that right but apparently not.

I'll have to raise the white flag and get someone competent to put it right...:(

makeorbrake

Got a buddy to look at this. Turns out that when I put the ruddy carburetor back together, I put it in the wrong way round - meaning that it couldn't close!