Category: Push and Self-Propelled Lawn Mower Repair

Push and Self-Propelled Lawn Mower Repair

Lawn Mower Pull Starter Rope Keeps Breaking

Is your pull starter rope always breaking when you try to start your lawn mowers engine? Does it fray easily and then break?

Over time a pull starter can develop some sharp edges in the plastic or metal that the rope has to go through. These sharp edges will slice a little of the rope at a time and when enough of the cords are broken, then the rope will break.

You want to  check the entire length of the pull cord beginning with the eyelet on the right side of the handles. Make sure that it is smooth and if not, some light sanding with some sandpaper will do the trick. Now check out the recoil starter itself for any nicks in the guides both on the plastic and the metal. You can smooth those out or you can replace the entire starter assembly.

Some engine such as Honda, have an easy 3 bolt system that holds the starter in place. Briggs and Stratton has a more complex system and you may have to drill out the old starter and bolt in a new one.

After you replace the starter, it should be good to go unless the rope begins to cut into the blower cover or guides one again.

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.

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.

 

 

Push and Self-Propelled Lawn Mower Repair

Push Lawn Mower Keeps Breaking Pull Rope

If your pull cord rope keeps breaking, it can be a couple things that need checked out.

First, are you using good quality pull rope each time you replace it? There are some very basic white ropes that do not have a lot of strength and will break quickly. A braided rope that is heavier duty will hold up much longer and suit your lawn mower application quite well.

Another problem that is typical is that your pull starter rope guides have developed a sharp spot or the blower cover itself has a sharp piece of plastic that is cutting the rope. Carefully check the guides for any sharp edge. Remove the blower or starter from the mower and check the starter rope guide for nicks or sharp edges both on the outside and the inside.

Smooth out any edge you find with some emery cloth or sand paper and form a nice smooth edge for the pull rope to pull through.

If your knot keeps breaking at the pull cord handle, you can either double knot it or also place a small washer in the handle and pull the rope through it. The washer serves as a support for a hole that may be enlarged by the pull rope. Tie a double knot in the rope and it should be good to go!

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

Lawn Mower Hit Something and Now Won’t Start

A “blade strike” as it is called can do some damage to the lawn mower, but engineers have built in some safety features that help contain that damage.

What happens during most blade strikes is when the blade contacts a rock or root, the impact causes the blade to stop and a shear key located on top of the engine to shear either partially or fully. This causes the ignition timing to fire incorrectly.

The result could be that the pull cord wants to rip out of your hand on a push or self-propelled lawn mower. If you are lucky, you will not injure your hand or shoulder!

The only way to tell if the flywheel key has been sheared is to remove the flywheel cover and in most cases, the flywheel as well. Then you can see if the square key has been partially sheared or is fully sheared.

Replacing the sheared flywheel is solves this problem. It must be the factory key as it is made of a material that will shear away and not solid steel that will damage parts if you hit something else.

If you need a professional lawn mower repair shop to troubleshoot and correct this problem, visit our Locations page for help.

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

Lawn Mower Leaks Oil From Crankcase

Occasionally we see an oil leak from the crankcase gasket that seals the two halves of the crankcase together. Or a pinhole develops in the actual casting of the crankcase and oil will seep out of it. Other areas that leak are protrusions through the crankcase such as the governor arm shaft. Head gaskets can be another source of an oil leak out of the crankcase. An oil seal at the crankshaft is another oil leak source.

Note: Be extra cautious during the testing as you are working near a lawn mower blade. You can shutdown the engine prior to checking for where the engine is leaking for safety.

There are some dyes that can be added to the oil to find a hard to find oil leak. You put the dye in the crankcase and run the engine to get it warmed up. Then a black light is used to identify where the oil leak is coming from.

If you don’t have access to this type of testing paraphernalia, thoroughly clean the engine crankcases and then run the engine until it is warm. Look over the areas that you suspect the leak is coming from and look for the slightest weeping of oil. Wipe the area down and continue to monitor it.  Some leaks are difficult to find, but you will eventually find them.