Tag: lawn mower not starting

Lawn Mower Repair Tips

How To Troubleshoot A Lawn Mower Ignition System

If you believe that your lawn mower does not have any spark, a thorough test of the ignition system is in order.

There are two main times that a lawn mower will not develop spark.

The first is during the initial startup and the second is after the lawn mower has been running for a while.

Let’s start with no spark on startup. You attempt to start the engine and believe that there is no spark. Obtain a spark tester and place it in line with you spark plug wire. Crank the engine over and see if there is spark. If you see a bright blue spark, then the problem is not ignition related. If you have no spark, disconnect the black or gray kill wire that is plugged into the ignition coil. With this wire disconnected, if the engine starts, you will not have a way to shut it off, so plan for that! If the lawn mower does start, then the problem is in the kill system circuit and that will need to be inspected to find out the source problem.

If the lawn mower was running for a while and then you lose spark, install the spark tester to determine if you have a no spark condition. If you have no spark, the most likely item that will cause this is a bad ignition coil. Replace the coil and retest the lawn mower for spark.

Lawn Mower Repair Tips

My Lawn Mower Won’t Start in the Spring

This is an all too common problem for lawn mowers today. The ethanol blended gasoline that is in use today is the culprit.

Your lawn mower sits for 5-6 months out of the year with gasoline in it and then you try to start it in the spring and nothing. Today’s gasoline begins to go bad after 90 days. It will then begin to separate the different chemicals all the while the ethanol is attracting moisture into the gas tank through the humidity in the air.

As the different chemicals separate from one another, they begin to dry up inside the carburetor. When this happens, the idle and main jets become plugged up as well as the emulsion tube. Now gasoline cannot go through them and into the engine, so that is why it will not start.

The carburetor will need to be disassembled, cleaned and put back together. If the ethanol intrusion is really bad, the carburetor will need to be replaced. It could be a very expensive one or an affordable one depending on what brand of engine it is.

It would be best to take your lawn mower to a shop near you to get it repaired by someone skilled at carburetor cleaning and assembly. You can find one on our Locations page.

Lawn Mower Repair Tips

My Lawn Mower Won’t Run

Today’s lawn mowers are pretty sophisticated machines. They have smart electronics and fuel systems and if things are not right, they can malfunction easily.

The first thing to do as always is check your fuel quantity. Then check your fuel quality. Is it stale or have water in it? Fuel problems are the number 1 issue when it comes to your lawn mower not running.

If the fuel seems to be OK, make sure that the spark plug wire has not become disconnected, the on switch is on and the choke is on as well. These simple things can trip us up if it has been a long time since we operated the mower.

Also check to see that it is not in gear, in neutral, your foot is depressed on the clutch or brake pedal and you are seated in the seat on a riding lawn mower.

If those checks do not result in your lawn mower not running, then it is time to seek professional guidance and have it properly diagnosed.

Visit our locations page for a lawn mower repair service near you.