Lawnmower woes.

FrancieBrady

Can't get it started. Drained the fuel pump of old petrol. Changed sparkplug and used Easy Start. Jumped to life briefly on Easy Start, but nothing since. Any other ideas other than kicking seven shades out of it ála Mr Fawlty?

upupup

check and clean the air filter

FrancieBrady

upupup wrote: »

check and clean the air filter

Cheers, will try that.
BTW, is the air filter the same as the air intake?

cnocbui

It will be water or other contaminants in the carburetor, most likely. That's always what it is with mine.

fiacha

Is it an electric start ride on mower ?
Is the petrol in the tank fresh ?

Have you checked that the blade can turn freely ? Sometimes old grass etc can block it and that stops the engine from running.

Little Bit of carb cleaner never did any harm and often sorts these things out

Hocus Focus

FrancieBrady wrote: »

Cheers, will try that.
BTW, is the air filter the same as the air intake?

It is.
If it fired on Easystart, then it is getting a spark, so we can rule that out. Next thing to look at is the fuel; you say you have drained the old fuel out of the fuel pump, that's fine but you need to drain and clean the carbuerettor. (The most common cause of non-starting in small petrol engines stored over winter fuel evaporating in the carb. Should be run dry before storage) Did you ascertain that there is petrol getting to it, if there is a drain plug on the bottom of the bowl, loosen it and see if fuel flows out.
Is there a petrol tap that you forgot to switch on? If this is not the answer, perhaps the float in the carb is sticking, check that it moves freely, and that the float valve is not stuck in its aperature.
After a couple of attempts at starting, take out the spark plug and see if it's wet with fuel. This confirms that there is petrol, as well as the spark and leads us next to look at the air supply. Take off the air filter/intake and try starting without it. If it starts at this point, it indicates that the air filter is dirty/blocked.
A useful trick for encouraging a reluctant engine to start is to take out the plug and heat it up, with a cigarette lighter, or better still, with a blow torch or a gas ring.

FrancieBrady

Appreciate all the tips folks. That will make me look like I am doing something tomorrow AM...although if the the grass gets much higher she won't see me anyway!

Well come back and let youse know how I get on.

Needles73

FrancieBrady wrote: »

Appreciate all the tips folks. That will make me look like I am doing something tomorrow AM...although if the the grass gets much higher she won't see me anyway!

Well come back and let youse know how I get on.

Can you give us exact details of the engine/lawn mower. I’d be thinking you may have to clean your carburetor. Easy start is the work of the devil.

_Brian

Petrol goes off over time, possibly has turned to funk in the carb.

We run a bunch of mowers and stuff at work. I got a tin of carb cleaner, items that have been laid up for a time and won’t start get a spray in the air inlet. Does the trick 90% of the time and once started they are fine.

I find strimmers and leaf blowers the worst offenders.

Anyhow, carb cleaner, got it in Halfords.

FrancieBrady

Needles73 wrote: »

Can you give us exact details of the engine/lawn mower. I’d be thinking you may have to clean your carburetor. Easy start is the work of the devil.

Off into the jungle shortly, will get back to you with details.

Why is Easy Start in league with the devil?

Needles73

FrancieBrady wrote: »

Off into the jungle shortly, will get back to you with details.

Why is Easy Start in league with the devil?

Repeated use damages the engine.

jmreire

_Brian wrote: »

Petrol goes off over time, possibly has turned to funk in the carb.

We run a bunch of mowers and stuff at work. I got a tin of carb cleaner, items that have been laid up for a time and won’t start get a spray in the air inlet. Does the trick 90% of the time and once started they are fine.

I find strimmers and leaf blowers the worst offenders.

Anyhow, carb cleaner, got it in Halfords.

For any 2 stroke engine, always empty the fuel tank at end of season, then start it up until it burns all the remaining fuel in the lines and carburettor. The 2T additive in the fuel turns into a gel which gums up the carb and lines when it's left too long.

FrancieBrady

Completed took apart the carb and cleaned it and put it back. It started and ran happily in the workshop for 5 minutes. Brought it down to the lawn and it refuses steadfastly to start!
Any ideas?
It's a Honda by the way.

p.s. I also drained the fuel completely and put fresh petrol in.

blackbox

I'd clean the carb again - something may have dislodged.

cnocbui

I have a Honda. Did you take out the main jet and idle mixture screw when you cleaned it? The idle mixture passage needs to have petrol forced into it via the tiny hole in the main venture because it's a narrowing passage so if there is stuff in there you basically need to reverse flush.

FrancieBrady

cnocbui wrote: »

I have a Honda. Did you take out the main jet and idle mixture screw when you cleaned it? The idle mixture passage needs to have petrol forced into it via the tiny hole in the main venture because it's a narrowing passage so if there is stuff in there you basically need to reverse flush.

I will pop it off again and have a look. I wonder is it that I didn't reset that screw properly? Would a gasket not fitting properly cause it not to restart?

cnocbui

The idle mixture screw shouldn't affect starting but might cause it to stall when the revs drop. Yes, if the carb is seated well on the gaskets, that would do it. A tiny smear of grease on gaskets can help them to seal well with less force.

I am having a problem starting mine at the moment also, but it's the blade clutch not releasing properly so making the cord really hard to pull.

FrancieBrady

Had no joy on this folks. It is off to the lawnmower hospital and it's stay at Chez et Jairdin Francie is over.:(

Had to buy a new one.

TheBoyConor

Your problem is more than likely carburettor blockage caused by stale fuel caking up in the carb. This is always a problem nowadays since the introduction of oxygenated fuels, ie fuel with ethanol blended in.

Even with being drained down at the end of every summer and fresh fuel added in the new season, my mower won't run properly and needs to have the carb cleaned.

Your mower probably needs the car cleaned too. Remove and dismantle the carb and clean it all up and refit it and you should be OK.

However, unless you are confident with this kind of work you should bring it to a small engine mechanic as it is easy to loose or damage the small parts and resetting the carburettor fuel mixture can be a little trick if you are not used to it.

EDIT. I just see you bought a new mower. Probably wasn't necessary. I would be fairly sure that this new mower will have the same hard starting issue after a season or two unless you properly mothball the mower at the end of the summer.

Mothballing the engine would involve draining down the fuel system completely and purging it of all traces of fuel then thoroughly work a good shot of WD40 into and around all the fuel system components and passages to protect everything from deterioration while in storage.