Category: Lawn Mower Repair Tips

Lawn Mower Repair Tips, Riding Lawn Mower Repair

Riding Lawn Mower is Making Blue Smoke

If you are seeing blue smoke coming out of your riding lawn mowers engine, that means it is actually burning oil. This means that the oil is getting into the combustion chamber. It can enter past the piston rings, valve guide or through the crankcase breather.

The first and most simple thing to do is just check the level of the oil to make sure that it is not overfilled. When the oil is overfilled, it will come out of the crankcase breather and into the carburetor throat and then move into the combustion chamber.   And of course when it is in there it will burn and create the blue smoke. Wah Lah!

The problem must be corrected though as it will foul out the spark plug and the engine will die. It will also carbon up the inside of the cylinder and create more problems down the road.

A riding lawn mower repair shop is what you will need to resolve this problem and correctly troubleshoot the issue. Visit our Locations page for a shop near you.

Your riding lawn mower can be repaired and back to good running condition with the right mechanic.

Lawn Mower Repair Tips, Riding Lawn Mower Repair, Uncategorized

Riding Lawn Mower Brakes Not Working

If your riding lawn mower has some years on it, your brakes may be wearing out. Most riding lawn mower brakes are a very small brake disc and a brake pad.

This system can be prone to getting clogged up with dirt and grass debris. Normally cleaning this debris out will fix the brake problem. If it does not, you will need to adjust the brakes.

There is a small gap in the brake pad holder that will allow you to see if the pad is worn out. If it is, find a replacement brake pad and remove the nut that holds the brake arm in place and replace it. Carefully clean out the area that holds the pad with compressed air.

To adjust the brakes, it is normally just turning the nut in and out. Turning it in makes the brakes firmer and will grab quicker. If you are mowing on hills, your brakes will wear out quicker and the pad may need to be replaced more often.

If you need a lawn mower repair shop to help with your riding lawn mower brakes, visit our Locations page.

With a good brake system your riding lawn mower will work better and result in a better maintained yard.

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

Self-Propelled Lawn Mower Vibrates Excessively

When you start your self-propelled lawn mower, you usually start it in the concrete or asphalt driveway. While you start it up and it is running at top speed, you seem to notice that it is vibrating more than usual. Did you hit something such as a rock, root or concrete?

Excessive vibration is a sign of a bent crankshaft, loose engine mounts or a bent lawn mower blade. You could also have a cracked mower deck that is causing the problem.

These items should be inspected by a competent lawn mower repair shop to find out which of these is causing the problem. It will not get any better if the crankshaft is bent and will begin to loosen bolts and nuts with the vibration.

It is not recommended that a bent crankshaft be straightened. Straightening it can weaken the shaft.

A diagnostic will need to be performed to determine why it the self-propelled lawn mower shakes more than usual. Consult with a local self-propelled lawn mower mechanic by visiting our Locations page.

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

Self-Propelled Lawn Mower Requires Many Pulls to Start

You should only have to pull 1 or 2 times to start your self-propelled lawn mower if everything is working properly with the engine. Any more than that and you need a tune-up to get that engine running the way it should.

Time and use take a toll on our small engines and the fuel we use today doesn’t do them any favors either. The ethanol that is added to the fuel wreaks havoc on the carburetors and makes them hard to start.

Most self-propelled lawn mowers never receive the maintenance that is required of them until they break down. Maintenance is things like adjusting the intake and exhaust valves, changing the spark plug and air filter. It is keeping good clean fuel in the fuel tank and changing the fuel filter if it has one. It is also cleaning the deck and making sure the top of the deck is clean as well.

A diagnostic will need to be performed to determine why it takes a long time to start your lawn mower. First check the easy stuff like the fuel quality and the spark plug and air filter. If those items are fine, consult with a local self-propelled lawn mower mechanic by visiting our Locations page.

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

Lawn Mower Repair Shop Near Me

Are you in need of a lawn mower repair service or shop to work on or fix your lawn mower? When your lawn mower is broken or needs it’s spring service, a good repair shop is what you need to get it repaired or ready for spring.

Your lawn mower works hard for many months of the year and it needs to be in great shape to perform its job. A spring tune-up and a fall storage service is a good idea as well to keep your engine and mower running well all season long.

Our national lawn mower repair shop listing will help you locate a lawn mower repair shop near me and get your mower up and running soon.

Visit our Locations page and check your state and city listings for a lawn mower shop near you.

Fighting a bad running or cutting lawn mower is a pain and when yours is in good shape, it takes the hassle out of your lawn cutting. You don’t have to deal with that and a good lawn mower repair shop can take care of all that for you.

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

How To Choose A Good Used Self-Propelled Lawn Mower

Your lawn mower just bit the dust or you are buying your first one and don’t want to plunk down $400 for a new one. Yes, I can understand that when you can buy a perfectly good used one for pennies on the dollar.

So many people toss out their newer self-propelled lawn mower just because it is hard to start or won’t start. Those I would steer clear of unless you have some mechanical ability and it doesn’t look like it will cost much to repair the mower.

What you want is a lawn mower that starts easily, doesn’t have a deck full of grass clippings on the bottom or top and looks like it has been reasonably cared for.

My personal preference is a Honda self-propelled lawn mower. But my second choice would be one with a Honda engine on it such as a Husqvarna. Honda by far makes the best engines and the engine is normally the part of the lawn mower that develops a problem. Yes, Honda engines can have problems but they are normally caused by bad fuel or lack of maintenance.

Before you buy the lawn mower, look under the deck to be sure that the blade does not have any large nicks in it or is bent.

Pull the oil dipstick and see if it is low or shows no oil. Both of those could be a red flag. Do not start the mower in that condition. Is the oil pitch black or is it more clean looking? Pitch black means it is past due for a change.

Open the air filter cover and see if it is clogged with grass and debris. Close it back up and check for any fuel or oil leaks and damage. Are the wheels just about out of tread?

Start the mower and put it on a hard surface like a driveway. Just be sure there are no rocks on the driveway or other debris. With the lawn mower running, does it vibrate excessively? If so, that is a sign of a bent crankshaft.

If all that checks out and the mower shuts down properly when you release the safety bail, then you most likely have a good mower that will serve you well for years.

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

Lawn Mower Repair Service Near Me

Are you looking for a local shop to repair your push, self-propelled, riding or zero turn lawn mower?

Visit our Locations page for a shop near you.

Small engine repair shops have been getting harder to find as the older mechanics have been retiring over the years. There are some larger shops but their wait times are often in terms of weeks rather than days.

Our referral site has a lot of smaller shops that can help resolve your small engine problems. The grass doesn’t stop growing just because your lawn mower is broken down, so speed is something that is important. Waiting weeks only means that you will have to borrow a lawn mower or just wait and have a jungle to try and cut when it is ready.

A good lawn mower repair shop takes pride in their work and wants to do a good quality repair. A local shop has their reputation on the line in their community.

Be sure to check for reviews when you are looking for a lawn mower repair shop near you. Check their Google reviews, Facebook and the Better Business Bureau to name a few. After checking the small engine repair business out, call them to see if they can resolve your problem and get a feel for them over the phone to see if they are a right fit for you.

Lawn Mower Repair Tips, Riding Lawn Mower Repair

My Riding Lawn Mower Won’t Shut Off With The Key

If your riding lawn mower keeps running in the off position, the key switch may have gone bad or the ground in the ignition coils may have a break in the wire. Mice can also chew these wires and cause this condition. All it takes is for them to chew through the gray or black wire and then the ignition coils will no longer receive a ground signal to kill the spark.

The ignition switch can do the same thing. You turn the key to the off position and if the switch is not working correctly, it will not allow the circuit to connect to ground and kill the spark. All you are doing is providing a path to ground and that is what makes the ignition coils ground out so to speak.

Check the ignition switch first by ohming across the off terminals to see if you have continuity to ground. If you do, the switch is good. If not, replace it.
Remove the blower cover to access the kill wires. Check the wire on top or bottom of the ignition coils and trace it back to see if it has any cuts or breaks in it. You can also ohm it out to ground and to the ignition switch to see if it is a good wire.

If you still cannot figure out why the riding lawn mower won’t shut off with the key, visit our Locations page for a lawn mower repair shop near you.

Lawn Mower Repair Tips

How To Tell if My Lawn Mower Gas is Still Good

When your lawn mower sits for 4-6 months, that is a question that comes to mind before you pour what could be bad gas into your lawn mower.

Today’s gasoline begins to deteriorate in 90 days and its condition only worsens from there. If you put fuel stabilizer in the gasoline, then it will be good for us to 5 years! Gasoline is expensive, so you don’t want to waste it.

To test your gasoline, you can smell it first and if it has a sour odor to it, more than likely it is bad. You can also pour a small sample into a glass jar. If it doesn’t appear to be very clear with a slight yellowish tint, then it is going bad. As gasoline ages, it begins to turn darker in color. Sitting in a carburetor, it will begin to evaporate and leave a crusty residue behind that will plug up the idle and main jets of that carburetor.

If your gas can doesn’t have a cap on the nozzle, it can also attract moisture because of the ethanol in the gas. Ethanol is a form of alcohol and that will pull the moisture and be absorbed into the gasoline. This is why it is so important for the use of fuel stabilizers today.

Lawn Mower Repair Tips, Zero Turn Lawn Mower Repair

Zero Turn Lawn Mower Has Lost Power

Most ZTR or Zero Turn Lawn Mowers have a twin cylinder engine. The standard manufactures are Briggs and Stratton, Honda, Kohler and Kawasaki. These engines are fairly reliable for the most part, but sometimes can have their problems.

A loss of power on your zero turn can happen when it is brand new or has a 1,000 hours on it. I worked on a fairly new one that had a piece of plastic come from inside the fuel filter and end up in the carburetor and blocked off one of the main jets. It ran fine at idle, but when you turned on the PTO, it would bog down and practically die.

Usually in cases like this, one cylinder is down on power and may not be getting enough fuel, compression or spark. Each of these systems will need to be tested to find out what the problem actually is.

Turn the engine over a couple of times and then shut it down. Pull both spark plugs and see which one is dry and which one is wet with fuel. If a spark plug is dry, fuel may not be getting to that cylinder. If one plug is really wet, spark might not be getting to that cylinder.

Other things can happen like the valves become out of adjustment and a cylinder head push rod will come off and not allow a valve to open.

You want to systematically determine what is causing this problem and then replace or repair the parts and test it again.

If you need expert care for your Zero Turn lawn mower that has lost power, visit our Locations page for help.