Author: markthemechanic

Lawn Mower Repair Tips

Lawn Mower Repair Referral Website

Is your lawn mower in need of service for a problem or just a tune-up for spring?

Our national lawn mower repair referral website has locations across the country and internationally to assist with all your lawn mower repair needs. Your lawn mower is a very important machine that needs frequent maintenance to ensure that it runs well and performs its job.

Lawn mower repair shops are ready to help get your lawn mower ready for the upcoming mowing season or to fix whatever problem you are having with yours. Most problems can be resolved quickly so you can get back to taking great care of your lawn.

Our lawn mower repair referral website has locations across all 50 states that have many different capabilities from complete dealerships to small local hometown repair shops.

Just visit our Locations page and search for your state or the International link at the top of the page for assistance finding a lawn mower repair shop near you.

Bringing your lawn mower in or having it picked up early in the year helps avoid the spring rush where you may not get it back for weeks. Avoid those long lines by having it serviced over the winter and be ready when spring rolls around!

Lawn Mower Repair Tips

My Lawn Mower Won’t Start

Are you getting ready to cut your grass in the spring or is this something that happened during the mowing season?

If it is springtime, then more than likely the gasoline in the engine is causing it to not start. A thorough carburetor cleaning normally does the trick. In severe cases, replacing the carburetor is necessary because it just cannot be cleaned well enough. This would be the case of a lawn mower that has sat for several seasons.

On the other hand if you were mowing last week and you tried to start your lawn mower today and it didn’t start, there could be an assortment of reasons why it won’t. You could be out of gas. There may be no spark. Your flywheel key could be sheared. Something could be plugging up the fuel line. The spark plug could be bad. Your air filter could be clogged. Mice could have chewed up the ignition wiring and a bunch of other things could be happening.

With this scenario, you need to have a small engine mechanic check it out and troubleshoot the problem. You can find a lawn mower repair shop in your area by visiting our Locations page.

Push and Self-Propelled Lawn Mower Repair

Self-Propelled Lawn Mower Leaking Engine Oil

There are several places that a self-propelled lawn mower can leak oil form. The most common of those places is from the carburetor. Yes, the carburetor. When you overfill the engine oil, it will be sucked into the crankcase breather and then into the breather tube and into the carburetor. Then that oil will drip out of the carburetor and it can also get ingested into the engine and burned up. This will also cause the engine exhaust to burn a light blue color.

Another place is the rocker arm cover. The seal can become split or the bolts holding the cover on can loosen and cause the cover to leak. First, check the bolts to see if they are tight and if they are, check the integrity of the seal.

Oil can also leak at the crankshaft seals. There is a seal at the bottom of the engine and the top is sealed by a tight fit between the crankshaft and the crankcase.

The last place is at the crankcase itself. An item such as the governor arm protruding through the case or the crankcase gasket itself will leak.

Now that you know where the majority of leaks occur from on a self-propelled lawn mower engine, you can find a small engine repair shop near you on our Locations page.

Push and Self-Propelled Lawn Mower Repair, Riding Lawn Mower Repair, Zero Turn Lawn Mower Repair

Gas is Leaking From Air Filter on My Mower

Are you seeing gas pouring out of the air filter area on your lawn mowers engine? When you remove the air filter is it soaking wet with gas?

This is a common problem when a lawn mower sits for a long time such as over the winter. Some lawn mowers have a shutoff valve that allows you to turn off the gas and not let the weight of the gas overcome the needle and seat in the carburetor. A needle is the size of a pencil lead and it has to force itself down on the seat to seal off the gas from coming through the carburetor and flooding the engine.

If the needle and seat becomes dirty or gummed up with fuel residue, gasoline will begin to seep past it and come out the throat of the carburetor and thus into the air filter. It will continue until the gas tank is empty and could cause a fire in your garage or shed.

This problem is a safety concern and should be inspected and repaired by a small engine repair shop. You can find one near you by visiting our Locations page.

Push and Self-Propelled Lawn Mower Repair

Push Lawn Mower Hesitates in Tall Grass

Have you ever heard of the term “biting off more than you can chew?” Yes, you could have done that and waited too long for the grass to be cut or your lawn mower is not delivering the power that it should.

It is not uncommon for your lawn mower to experience bogging if the grass is too high. This is normal and you should not worry about that. On the other hand, if your grass is just slightly higher than normal and it bogs down, then you have a problem.

Before we go to thinking it is an engine problem, is your height of the lawn mower set where it should be? You should leave at least 1 3/4″ inches of grass when you cut it. You do not want to scalp the lawn as that is bad for the grass. Is your lawn mower blade sharp? This will bog down the mower in short order.

If all of those things are in good shape, then you have a power issue and will need to have it checked out to see what is causing this problem.

You can find a lawn mower repair shop in your area by visiting our Locations page for help.

Riding Lawn Mower Repair

Riding Lawn Mower Cuts Out When it Hits a Bump

You are just cruising along on your riding lawn mower and hit a dip or bump in your yard and the mower just cuts off for a split second. Why? Is there something wrong with the lawn mower or could it be something I am doing?

Well…there is probably nothing wrong with the lawn mower as it is doing what it is supposed to do. When you hit a bump, it causes you to momentarily come off of your seat. When you come off your seat, the seat switch activates and cuts off power to the ignition system to kill the engine.

Why does the seat switch kill the engine? Because it is thinking that you just rolled the lawn mower and it wants to shut down the engine which in turn will stop the lawn mower blades from dicing you up if it rolls over onto you.

The seat switch is a vital part of the safety switch system and unplugging it is a very bad idea safety wise. If the lawn mower rolls over and lands on its wheels and doesn’t die, the mower could continue moving and hit something or someone. I know it is an annoyance when you hear the engine popping, but that switch is there for a reason and make sure that it works as it should.

 

Lawn Mower Repair Tips, Push and Self-Propelled Lawn Mower Repair, Riding Lawn Mower Repair, Zero Turn Lawn Mower Repair

My Lawn Mower Oil Smells Like Gas

It is not uncommon for your lawn mower engine oil to smell like gas. If you have a leaky carburetor needle and seat, the gasoline will seep past it and overflow the carburetor and end up in the cylinder. Once inside the cylinder, it will seep past the piston rings and end up in the crankcase.

What causes this is a buildup of deposits on the needle and seat inside the carburetor. These deposits cause the seal to not work properly and the weight of the fuel pushing on the needle will overcome it and then allow fuel to go past it.

Two things will need to be done to resolve this problem.

The first thing is to completely clean the carburetor. It must be disassembled and cleaned entirely.

The next thing is that the oil must be changed. Warm the engine up for a brief time and then remove the oil and replace it with the proper oil. Synthetic oil is fine to use in your lawn mower engine.

After you have run the engine and changed the oil. Fill the gas tank up and check the oil the next time before you mow to see if you smell any gas or if the oil level is higher than normal. If everything is OK, you should be fine to use your lawn mower.

Lawn Mower Repair Tips, Push and Self-Propelled Lawn Mower Repair

My Lawn Mower Pull Cord Pulls Easily With No Resistance

So you are pulling on the lawn mower rope and it seems very easy to pull. On top of that, the engine will not start or will barely start and then die.

This is a common symptom of either a broken connecting rod or a valve seat that has come loose. It is also possible that a valve could have become stuck and is not closing like it should. Either of these would produce no compression in the engine and with zero compression, you will not have any engine start.

The engine will need a compression test before you do any repair work to determine what the issue is. A compression tester fits into the spark plug hole and then you pull the rope or turn the key and turn the engine over at least 5 times. Then check the compression on the gauge to see what it reads. If you have a reading of 50psi or above, that is in the normal range. If it is below that, there is an internal problem that will require some disassembly to find out why your pull cord pulls easily.

If you need a professional lawn mower repair shop in your area, visit our Locations page for assistance.

Push and Self-Propelled Lawn Mower Repair

Push Lawn Mower Won’t Start

An engine that won’t start won’t get much grass cut today. Your push mower has a single cylinder engine that is pretty basic. There are not a lot of fancy electronic controls for the electrical or governor systems and it is just a plain gasoline engine.

Every gasoline engine needs these things to run. It requires fuel, compression, air and spark and to troubleshoot why your engine will not start will require a systematic approach to figuring out why it won’t start.

Fuel

Today, we always start out with the fuel you are using. Is it good and clean fuel? Does it have water in it? Is it older than 90 days? Good clean fuel makes all the difference in the world when it comes to starting your engine. As fuel ages, it becomes less volatile and harder to ignite as the vapors evaporate that ignite easily.

Compression

Without a compression gauge, it is hard to tell exactly how much compression your engine has. You can however get an idea of the compression that the engine has by how hard it is to pull the engine over with the pull rope. If there is a good bit of resistance, then you should have good compression.

Air

A dirty air filter will cause your engine to run rich or get too much gas. You need the right mix of fuel to air for the engine to start properly. Check that air filter and if there is any doubt, replace it.

Spark

Obtain a spark tester and attach it to the spark plug and spark plug boot. Pull the starter rope and observe the spark. You should see a bright blue or orange color depending on what spark tester you have. If you have good spark, remove the spark plug and check its condition. Also check to see if it is wet with fuel. If it is, replace the spark plug and try to start the engine again.

If you are still struggling to get your lawn mower started, visit our Locations page for a small engine shop near you.

 

 

Riding Lawn Mower Repair

I Press The Go Pedal and Riding Lawn Mower Does Not Move

On many riding lawn mowers, the pedal on the right side is called the “go pedal”. When you press it the riding lawn mower simply goes. Depending on how hard you press it will determine the speed that the lawn mower should go.

When your right foot presses the pedal, the linkage tightens the belt on the pulleys or moves a valve on the transmission to make the riding lawn mower move. In many cases if the lawn mower does not move, it is a belt that has come off of a pulley or has worn out. The linkage could also be sticking or the transmission itself could be experiencing a problem.

It is best to remove the deck to check out this problem so you can have access to the belts and linkages. Remove the deck and that should give you enough clearance to look under the deck. Visually inspect the belt for wear and ensure that the springs and pulleys are all working as they should.

Depress the go pedal and see if the belt becomes tight and if not, you have most likely found your problem. Replace that belt and test the machine to see if it works as it should.

If you need professional assistance, visit our Locations page for a riding lawn mower shop near you.