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Small Engine Repair Guidance? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter NewlyRetired
- Start date
berndog
Footballguy
Games start at noon EST so I hope your neighbors don't mind an early wake up call.I have a back up mowerYou are looking at this wrong. The timing of a broken lawnmower is almost perfect with the start of the World Cup. Without the lawnmower you can't cut the lawn so you have no choice but to watch the games, well played.
. My yard is large and the grass is very thick. I have to cut at least 2 times a week to keep up
The back up mower is a small push one so it takes me about 3 hours or so.
I think your hard work will be rewarded and your lawn mower will purr like a kitten when you fire it up tomorrow.
3C's
Footballguy
I don't think it was a bad indication really. The magic does happen though as it sits in the carb. :fingerscrossed:
SWC
Bromigo
brohan i hope that this magic sauce from three c works but if it does not here is all i can say the black smoke probably means you are running too rich which means with too much gas so adjust it to the lean side or more air side just a little bit maybe like a thirty second of a turn and see if that gets it going but do not do that until you just start it and let her run tomorrow and see if the magic sauce does its thing anyone please chime in on what you think about the black smoke and carb adjustments
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
Ok cool. That is the one that can be turned a lot.
The name is confusing. If I was trying to adjust the gas mixture, I would have thought the "Low Idle Fuel" screw would have been the one to adjust, not the "low idle speed" screw.
The manual says to set the throttle to low and then adjust to 1200 rpm using a tachometer. I will just use my ears as best I can to see if I am making any difference. I wish I knew which way to turn the screw to speed up the idle. The manual does not specify. It just says turn screw "in" or "out".
SWC
Bromigo
the low idle fuel one is the one that you want to adjust to change the fuel to air mix and i think you go just a little bit towards more air but i do not think it would hurt to turn up the idle speed either and again do not wreck the thing maybe just take it in and have a pro fiddle with it
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
OK here is my update
* The mower started up this morning on one pull
* At full throttle it sounded better but still rocky
* I lowered the throttle to about 1/4 strength, and it almost stalled
* Back to full throttle and same rockiness
* Engaged the blades and the mower coughed and spitted out black smoke. It would have stalled if I did not disengage the blades
* I told my wife about my lack of progress and she said "That is what you get for pretending to be a real man"
* I called the repair shop I have sent the mower to in the past. He won't fix them anymore "too much of a pain". Well hell :(
* I drove down to another shop and talked a guy who said "how ####### old is that mower?" when I told him the name. Well double hell :(
* He said if the carb is damaged it is not worth replacing because of how expensive it is compared to the age of the mower. He is going to pick up the mower tomorrow and look it over next week. I told him to not make any expensive fixes until he calls. This might be the time to put the old girl to sleep if it comes to it :(
* Of course then I am stuck with trying to figure out how to get rid of the beast.
* Oh and more pushing with my 22 inch back up lawn mower. Yippee
* The mower started up this morning on one pull
* At full throttle it sounded better but still rocky
* I lowered the throttle to about 1/4 strength, and it almost stalled
* Back to full throttle and same rockiness
* Engaged the blades and the mower coughed and spitted out black smoke. It would have stalled if I did not disengage the blades
* I told my wife about my lack of progress and she said "That is what you get for pretending to be a real man"
* I called the repair shop I have sent the mower to in the past. He won't fix them anymore "too much of a pain". Well hell :(
* I drove down to another shop and talked a guy who said "how ####### old is that mower?" when I told him the name. Well double hell :(
* He said if the carb is damaged it is not worth replacing because of how expensive it is compared to the age of the mower. He is going to pick up the mower tomorrow and look it over next week. I told him to not make any expensive fixes until he calls. This might be the time to put the old girl to sleep if it comes to it :(
* Of course then I am stuck with trying to figure out how to get rid of the beast.
* Oh and more pushing with my 22 inch back up lawn mower. Yippee
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NewlyRetired
Footballguy
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
I was thinking of this. I live on a horseshoe shaped street though so the only people who pass my house live on my small street.
coyote5
Footballguy
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
Again, thanks to everyone for all the advice and help in this thread. I really appreciate it.
I will let you guys know how it ends up.
I would love to get a few more years out of the mower since we intend to significantly downsize house/yard once the youngin heads off to college. But if it has to go, I can't complain about a 17 year old, heavily used residential machine.
I will let you guys know how it ends up.
I would love to get a few more years out of the mower since we intend to significantly downsize house/yard once the youngin heads off to college. But if it has to go, I can't complain about a 17 year old, heavily used residential machine.
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Fat Nick
Footballguy
I feel like it's got to just need a carb adjustment given all you've tried, unless it's more serious.
The only concerning thing is the smoke under load (blades engaged). This would likely indicate that you are somehow getting oil in the combustion chamber. Likely a worn out ring that's hurting your compression and letting oil get in. It's possible that this rough idle is caused by this as bad compression can lead to fuel issues since most older mowers rely on the vacuum of the intake stroke to draw the fuel through the carb and into the cylinder. If you've got bad compression, you're not getting as much vacuum, and thus not enough fuel. If it's rings, it's probably not worth it to fix.
Re. how to get rid of it, I'll echo 3C's comment of Freecycle. If you're not on there, it's a GREAT place to get and give stuff. I feel much better giving something like that away to someone who needs it than trying to hock it on craigslist. FWIW, I've gotten a few things off Freecycle, including that free snow blower with the blown engine I mentioned earlier, and a pretty good Igloo cooler. I've also given away a ton of old house items (ceiling fans, light fixtures, old sockets). It's amazing what kind of stuff people are looking for.
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
The repair guy came to pick it up today.
In between his non coherent grunting I did hear him mumble something about a mouse nest in the engine. I don't know if that is my issue though but I would take anything simple.
In between his non coherent grunting I did hear him mumble something about a mouse nest in the engine. I don't know if that is my issue though but I would take anything simple.
I get a mouse nest every now and then up in the fan above the flywheel. Pretty easy to figure out most of the time since it binds up the flywheel. One time it turned out really bad for the mouse. 
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
I was out doing some touch up painting around the outside of the house this morning when I saw the guy pull up with my mower.
He grumbled a ton of stuff I was not able to decode but was able to make out "rebuild" and "carburetor"
The mower sounded correct when he started it so hopefully this was the issue. He said he found an old "kit" he bought years ago and never used. Not sure what the kit was for but I assume for some carb parts?
Anyway the price was reasonable with pickup and delivery so if this gives me another 2-3 years I will be happy.
Next year I will try to change the oil and spark plug which would hit most of the big items for maintenance(this year was air filter, fuel filter and carb).
He grumbled a ton of stuff I was not able to decode but was able to make out "rebuild" and "carburetor"
The mower sounded correct when he started it so hopefully this was the issue. He said he found an old "kit" he bought years ago and never used. Not sure what the kit was for but I assume for some carb parts?
Anyway the price was reasonable with pickup and delivery so if this gives me another 2-3 years I will be happy.
Next year I will try to change the oil and spark plug which would hit most of the big items for maintenance(this year was air filter, fuel filter and carb).
Nathan R. Jessep
Footballguy
Drifter
Footballguy
Inspired by this thread, I just got done with a very long overdue maintenance on my old Honda mower. Changed the oil, spark plug, air filter and blades (they were badly chewed up). Cleaned it well and ran a bit of Mechanic in a Bottle through it. Was idling a bit rough at first but by the end of the 15 minutes it was purring smoothly and I could even throttle it way lower than I've been able to in years without it stalling.
Just got done. The wife asked if I was going to mow the lawn now, to which I replied, "Do the what now?"
Just got done. The wife asked if I was going to mow the lawn now, to which I replied, "Do the what now?"
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3C's
Footballguy
Ran a little MIB in a small 2 cycle tiller that was giving me fits...to the point of I almost carried it down to the end of the driveway to have someone take it away. I pulled and pulled and couldn't get it fired up. Put some MIB in and primed then pulled a bunch more another day. Let it sit then tried again another day. Started after a few pulls. Let it run with more MIB in it and let it sit again. Next day it ran like a champ.
Johnny Rock
Footballguy
A little late to the game here but I hope your wife was kidding with the bad joke. That was a low blow since you were trying. That's how you learn. Good job.
Too bad you messed with the mixture screws first before cleaning the carb. You want to have a baseline to start with. I'm glad you got it going. It would be a shame to just give it away and let some other rube adjust the carb and get a free mower.
SWC bringing the goods in this thread. And I'll definitely remember MIB thanks to 3C's man crush.
Too bad you messed with the mixture screws first before cleaning the carb. You want to have a baseline to start with. I'm glad you got it going. It would be a shame to just give it away and let some other rube adjust the carb and get a free mower.
SWC bringing the goods in this thread. And I'll definitely remember MIB thanks to 3C's man crush.
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
This thread gave me the confidence to fix my snow blower this winter and save a decent amount of money. Typically I would have just called a service guy but I figured what the hell, and gave it a shot myself.
*My first problem related to one of the augers not turning. After doing some googling, I found that a shear pin had broken. This was a simple fix of just getting a new one and replacing it.
*My second problem was towards the end of removing most of the snow during the recent storm, my blower would refuse to throw any snow once it came under even a small load. I verified that the augers were turning and they were so I went back to google.
*The first thing I adjusted was belt tension but that was already at the max setting. I then decided to try and change the belt. When I removed it, it had a nice 2 inch chunk severely worn making that 2 inch section extremely thin. It was likely to break pretty shortly but my guess is that chunk missing was likely causing the belt to slip. So I bought a new one and had some problems getting it on but once it finally got into place, the mower appears to be back in full power condition.
As always, thanks to those that gave encouragement this summer as it led to me being willing to try and make these simple fixes this winter. I even impressed the wifey
*My first problem related to one of the augers not turning. After doing some googling, I found that a shear pin had broken. This was a simple fix of just getting a new one and replacing it.
*My second problem was towards the end of removing most of the snow during the recent storm, my blower would refuse to throw any snow once it came under even a small load. I verified that the augers were turning and they were so I went back to google.
*The first thing I adjusted was belt tension but that was already at the max setting. I then decided to try and change the belt. When I removed it, it had a nice 2 inch chunk severely worn making that 2 inch section extremely thin. It was likely to break pretty shortly but my guess is that chunk missing was likely causing the belt to slip. So I bought a new one and had some problems getting it on but once it finally got into place, the mower appears to be back in full power condition.
As always, thanks to those that gave encouragement this summer as it led to me being willing to try and make these simple fixes this winter. I even impressed the wifey
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Fat Nick
Footballguy
Don't know what kind of snow blower you have, but I have a frankenstein blower that I've gradually built and modified. I started with a free Craftsman 27" blower with a bad engine. I added a larger Harbor Freight Predator engine, and drilled out the carb jet so it would run better in the cold weather. I then added an impeller kit.This thread gave me the confidence to fix my snow blower this winter and save a decent amount of money. Typically I would have just called a service guy but I figured what the hell, and gave it a shot myself.
*My first problem related to one of the augers not turning. After doing some googling, I found that a shear pin had broken. This was a simple fix of just getting a new one and replacing it.
*My second problem was towards the end of removing most of the snow during the recent storm, my blower would refuse to throw any snow once it came under even a small load. I verified that the augers were turning and they were so I went back to google.
*The first thing I adjusted was belt tension but that was already as the max setting. I then decided to try and change the belt. When I removed it, it had a nice 2 inch chunk severely worn making that 2 inch section extremely thin. It was likely to break pretty shortly but my guess is that chunk missing was likely causing the belt to slip. So I bought a new one and had some problems getting it on but once it finally got into place, the mower appears to be back in full power condition.
As always, thanks to those that gave encouragement this summer as it led to me being willing to try and make these simple fixes this winter. I even impressed the wifey
I'd HIGHLY recommend looking into adding an impeller kit if you get bored and want to tinker. Maybe a 2 hour and $20 investment, and my blower will throw slushy snow 20-30'. It's basically an extension of the metal impeller that is made out of thick rubber (in my case, bailer belt). It rubs, and eventually wears to the contour of your impeller housing. Basically, it closes any gaps between the impeller and the housing, and prevents slush build-up. Works VERY well.
The Commish
Footballguy
Since reading this thread I have decided I want to learn a bit about my small engines. I figured I have accumulated enough tools that I wouldn't be able to afford to take them all the the shop every time there was a problem. First up? My gas pressure washer. It wouldn't start. It had been sitting for a little over a year, so I started at the beginning.
1. Siphoned out the old gas and put in new.
2. Replaced the spark plug, checked the air filter.
Still not working, so I went online and found a carb refurb kit and went through the motions. Took me a few hours to get it off the pressure washer, take it apart, clean it, put it back together and put it back on the pressure washer. It worked!!! Awesome right? I then went online looking for something else and saw that I could have bought a brand new carb for the same price as the refurb kit and simply replaced Lesson learned, but I'm getting more comfortable around these little engines, so there's that.
1. Siphoned out the old gas and put in new.
2. Replaced the spark plug, checked the air filter.
Still not working, so I went online and found a carb refurb kit and went through the motions. Took me a few hours to get it off the pressure washer, take it apart, clean it, put it back together and put it back on the pressure washer. It worked!!! Awesome right? I then went online looking for something else and saw that I could have bought a brand new carb for the same price as the refurb kit and simply replaced
Lesson learned, but I'm getting more comfortable around these little engines, so there's that.
Fat Nick
Footballguy
That's kind of how I learned. I traded an old rusty snow blower for 2 gas edgers. One of them was REALLY old, like 1970's, but it had a really well-made but old engine. I basically started taking the whole thing apart, removing ALL The rust, and restoring it. Taught myself a lot about small engines in the process. They're actually quite simple and fun to work on. With the interwebs these days, you can teach yourself how to do a lot of things.Since reading this thread I have decided I want to learn a bit about my small engines. I figured I have accumulated enough tools that I wouldn't be able to afford to take them all the the shop every time there was a problem. First up? My gas pressure washer. It wouldn't start. It had been sitting for a little over a year, so I started at the beginning.
1. Siphoned out the old gas and put in new.
2. Replaced the spark plug, checked the air filter.
Still not working, so I went online and found a carb refurb kit and went through the motions. Took me a few hours to get it off the pressure washer, take it apart, clean it, put it back together and put it back on the pressure washer. It worked!!! Awesome right? I then went online looking for something else and saw that I could have bought a brand new carb for the same price as the refurb kit and simply replaced
I've found that a good starter fluid blast into the air intake gets a lot of stubborn engines running. Even if they struggle to stay running, if you can nurse them to turn over a few times with fresh gas, a lot of times that's all it takes.
The Commish
Footballguy
I poured 3-4 tablespoons of gas in the spark plug hole....ran for about 5 seconds, then stopped. When I went to take the carb apart it was so gummed up, I wasn't sure I'd be able to get it apart to clean it. It was REALLY bad, which is odd because We've only had the thing for 4ish years and used it maybe 2 times a year before it sat a year. The plug looked perfect, so did the filter, but I replaced them anyway. I don't understand how the carb could get that fouled that quickly.That's kind of how I learned. I traded an old rusty snow blower for 2 gas edgers. One of them was REALLY old, like 1970's, but it had a really well-made but old engine. I basically started taking the whole thing apart, removing ALL The rust, and restoring it. Taught myself a lot about small engines in the process. They're actually quite simple and fun to work on. With the interwebs these days, you can teach yourself how to do a lot of things.Since reading this thread I have decided I want to learn a bit about my small engines. I figured I have accumulated enough tools that I wouldn't be able to afford to take them all the the shop every time there was a problem. First up? My gas pressure washer. It wouldn't start. It had been sitting for a little over a year, so I started at the beginning.
1. Siphoned out the old gas and put in new.
2. Replaced the spark plug, checked the air filter.
Still not working, so I went online and found a carb refurb kit and went through the motions. Took me a few hours to get it off the pressure washer, take it apart, clean it, put it back together and put it back on the pressure washer. It worked!!! Awesome right? I then went online looking for something else and saw that I could have bought a brand new carb for the same price as the refurb kit and simply replaced
I've found that a good starter fluid blast into the air intake gets a lot of stubborn engines running. Even if they struggle to stay running, if you can nurse them to turn over a few times with fresh gas, a lot of times that's all it takes.
Fat Nick
Footballguy
Basically, if you have gas left in the carb bowl, and you let it sit still and without running it, that gas will slowly start to thicken. 1 season usually isn't enough for it to get really bad. I've had things I've left untreated in the fall start right up in the spring. But...leave it for a full year, and it's almost a guarantee it'll get gummy. Once the gas has gotten to a gel-like consistency, it's hard for the normal vacuum of the engine to move it out. That's usually what the issue is if a starter spray into the air intake will let something run, but it quickly stalls out. It's just not getting fuel from the carb.I poured 3-4 tablespoons of gas in the spark plug hole....ran for about 5 seconds, then stopped. When I went to take the carb apart it was so gummed up, I wasn't sure I'd be able to get it apart to clean it. It was REALLY bad, which is odd because We've only had the thing for 4ish years and used it maybe 2 times a year before it sat a year. The plug looked perfect, so did the filter, but I replaced them anyway. I don't understand how the carb could get that fouled that quickly.That's kind of how I learned. I traded an old rusty snow blower for 2 gas edgers. One of them was REALLY old, like 1970's, but it had a really well-made but old engine. I basically started taking the whole thing apart, removing ALL The rust, and restoring it. Taught myself a lot about small engines in the process. They're actually quite simple and fun to work on. With the interwebs these days, you can teach yourself how to do a lot of things.Since reading this thread I have decided I want to learn a bit about my small engines. I figured I have accumulated enough tools that I wouldn't be able to afford to take them all the the shop every time there was a problem. First up? My gas pressure washer. It wouldn't start. It had been sitting for a little over a year, so I started at the beginning.
1. Siphoned out the old gas and put in new.
2. Replaced the spark plug, checked the air filter.
Still not working, so I went online and found a carb refurb kit and went through the motions. Took me a few hours to get it off the pressure washer, take it apart, clean it, put it back together and put it back on the pressure washer. It worked!!! Awesome right? I then went online looking for something else and saw that I could have bought a brand new carb for the same price as the refurb kit and simply replaced
I've found that a good starter fluid blast into the air intake gets a lot of stubborn engines running. Even if they struggle to stay running, if you can nurse them to turn over a few times with fresh gas, a lot of times that's all it takes.
I look for gas cut-offs on most all of my small engine stuff. Not all of them have one, but if they do, the best thing to do is to cut the fuel cut-off, and let it just run out of of gas. Burns most of the gas in the bowl, and clears the lines. It seems to take larger volumes of gas longer to go skunky, so I don't even mind storing something with a full tank over the winter, etc. especially since I Sta-Bil everything. It's leaving gas in the bowl that seems to cause issues. I don't know if it's the smaller volume that's there or what.
It really has no correlation with how much the engine was used. You could start it up 1 time for 5 minutes, and if you let it sit, it'd get gummed up.
NutterButter
Footballguy
I took apart the carb on my blower a few years back when it would stall. Let it dry out for a couple of days, put it back together and now it works great. Saved me 75 bucks and so easy to do. I'd bet that most trips to the repair shop have to do with old fuel in the carb.Since reading this thread I have decided I want to learn a bit about my small engines. I figured I have accumulated enough tools that I wouldn't be able to afford to take them all the the shop every time there was a problem. First up? My gas pressure washer. It wouldn't start. It had been sitting for a little over a year, so I started at the beginning.
1. Siphoned out the old gas and put in new.
2. Replaced the spark plug, checked the air filter.
Still not working, so I went online and found a carb refurb kit and went through the motions. Took me a few hours to get it off the pressure washer, take it apart, clean it, put it back together and put it back on the pressure washer. It worked!!! Awesome right? I then went online looking for something else and saw that I could have bought a brand new carb for the same price as the refurb kit and simply replaced
