Tag: lawn mower won’t start

Riding Lawn Mower Repair

My Lawn Tractor Won’t Start

So you are dealing with a finicky lawn tractor that doesn’t want to start when you turn the key?

That is not uncommon and should not surprise you because it is a machine and every machine will breakdown from time to time. A machine is only as good as the quality of its parts and the maintenance that is performed each year.

Let’s check some easy stuff first.

Is the battery fully charged? Does it have at least 13 volts? Do you have the lawn tractor in neutral? Do you have the clutch pedal fully depressed?

Are you sitting in the seat so the seat switch is engaged?

Those are the most common problems that cause a lawn tractor to not start. The other not so common ones are that the main fuse has blown. You can check it by finding it under the hood or near the transmission area. It is normally close to the battery. If you find the fuse has blown, replace it with a new one and that will probably fix the non starting issue.

Continue to check for power to the starter if it doesn’t and if there is power to the starter, then most likely the starter is bad. Replace it and test the lawn tractor for proper operation.

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

Push Lawn Mower Won’t Start With Fresh Gas

So you just put some fresh gas in your lawn mower and it refuses to start when you pull the cord. You pull and pull and pull and it still won’t start or it may sputter a little. But how can that be when you just put fresh gas in your lawn mower?

Well, it could be that your lawn mower sat all winter long and the gas that is in it has gone bad. The gasoline with ethanol in it today only lasts about 90 days before it starts to go bad. Once it goes bad in the carburetor, it begins to plug up the idle and main jets and then the lawn mower is not going to run at all or barely run.

A mixture of fresh and bad gas doesn’t solve the problem either. It will still cause the same non starting problem and you will be pulling until your arm wears out and have the same results. The carburetor must be removed and cleaned and all gas emptied from the system and fresh gas added before you attempt to start the lawn mower once again.

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.

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 is Hard To Start

A hard starting lawn mower can be a real pain to get started and it can be even harder to start after you shut it down for a minute or so to pick something up from the yard.

Hard starting is generally a carburetor choke problem or a valve issue. But there are other things that can cause it and they will be covered here as well.

Choke springs or incorrect setup of the choke can make your engine very hard to start. It will not be resolved until the choke is repaired properly and tested when the engine is cold and hot.

A valve issue is a little more complicated. A valve could have a lot of carbon buildup on the valve stem causing it to stick open or closed. Or the valves could be out of adjustment. A good lawn mower mechanic can adjust the valves and get your engine starting much better and easier. A pull start lawn mower should start within 2 pulls of the starter cord. A riding lawn mower should start within a few revolutions of the engine. Another thing that can cause hard starting is a valve seat that is coming loose and not sealing well. The seat will have to be replaced to correct this issue.

One more possible scenario is that your air filter could be so clogged that the engine is not getting enough air to start. Check the air filter to see what condition it is in and replace it if it is suspect.

Your engine could also have a leaking head gasket. A compression and leakdown test will need to be performed to see if that is the issue here.

Lastly, you could have water in your fuel or the wrong fuel in the fuel tank. It is not uncommon to see diesel fuel filled gasoline tanks, so if the fuel is in doubt, drain the tank and carburetor and refill with fresh fuel.  Check our locations page for a shop nearest you.

I hope these tips will help you get your my lawn mower is hard to start back up and running once again.

Lawn Mower Repair Tips

6 Things To Check If Your Riding Lawn Mower Will Not Start

You turn the key and NOTHING. Great…looks like you are not getting much grass mowed today and now you are going to have to haul the mower to the shop or have someone come and get it!

Well….not so fast. Let’s check these 6 things to see if one of them is a simple fix that will get you mowing today.

  1. Is the PTO lever or switch in the engaged position? If so, move it to the disengaged position.
  2. Is the Clutch Pedal depressed all the way in? If not, push it until it stops.
  3. Is the mower in gear? Some riding lawn mowers will not start if they are in gear. Place it in neutral.
  4. Is the battery weak? Use a test light or voltmeter and test across the battery terminals. The test list should glow brightly and the battery should read at least 12.6 volts. Are the battery terminals tight and clean?
  5. Check the main fuse. It could be located under the hood or under the battery in the rear of the riding lawn mower.
  6. If the riding lawn mower turns over, is there fuel in the tank?

By checking those simple things you could be up and running again. Always check the easy things first and in many cases, you will find out what is causing your riding lawn mower to not start.

Lawn Mower Repair Tips

Lawn Mower Will Not Start Troubleshooting

Your lawn mower can be a real pain at times when it won’t start or will run for only a few seconds. You pull it out, turn the key or pull the starter rope and nothing. Well, instead of breaking out the old “sledgehammer”, let’s take a look at some things you can do to try and get that lawn mower back up and running quickly.

If you have a self-propelled lawn mower or push mower, the first thing you want to do is check for spark and fuel. Start off by removing the spark plug and see if there is any fuel on the end of the plug. Next, attach a spark tester to it. If you don’t have a spark tester, you can leave the spark plug attached to the spark plug wire and lay the spark plug on the metal part of the engine and either video tape the spark or use a mirror in front of the lawn mower to help visually see any spark.

If you have spark and are not getting any fuel, then a carburetor problem is the likely culprit. If you have no spark but are getting fuel, then your ignition magneto is bad or something is grounding out the kill wire. The kill wire is the black wire that connects to the spade connector on the ignition magneto and is routed to the kill switch that is activated when you release the safety bail.

If your lawn mower has sat over the winter, the fuel is bad and will need to be drained and new fuel put in the tank. The carburetor may also be gummed up by that old fuel so it may need cleaned as well.

Riding lawn mowers are basically the same to troubleshoot. But with a riding lawn mower, be sure that the battery is completely charged and that the main fuse is good and not blown. If you turn the key over and nothing happens, you either have a battery issue, a bad key switch or wiring, a starter solenoid that is bad, a bad negative cable ground or a safety switch that is not working.

If your lawn mower will still not start, a VERY SMALL amount of starting fluid can be sprayed into the carburetor venturi after the air filter has been removed. If the engine does fire, then you know for sure that you have a fuel problem and there is none going through the ports in the carburetor.

Just remember, an internal combustion engine needs fuel/air mixture, spark and compression to work properly. If you have all of those and the engine timing is correct (you didn’t hit something with the lawn mower blade on push and self-propelleds), your engine should run.

Hopefully this gets you pointed in the right direction to get your lawn mower will not start troubleshooting issue resolved quickly.

 

 

Lawn Mower Repair Tips

Lawn Mower Will Not Start When Hot

This problem requires some critical thought and the process starts with heat. What does heat do to an engine? It makes the fuel hot if the gas tank is located near the engine and it heats up the ignition system. It also affects the choke system if it is not adjusted properly. Heat expands things and this expansion affects the metal tolerances inside an engine.

You may use your mower for 15 or 30 minutes and then shut it down to remove a stick from the yard or refill it with fresh gasoline. You pull the rope or turn the key and nothing…nada.

First, let’s check the choke to be sure it is working like it should. Is it closing and opening normally? If not, this could be the problem.

Second, let’s check for spark and see if you have a good blue spark if you are using the plug to the cylinder head method. An inline spark tester will show a bright orange glow or a bright blue spark depending on the type of tester you have. On occasion once an engine is shutdown and heat soak has begun, it could affect the sparkplug or the ignition coil and not allow good spark to occur.

Third, are the intake and exhaust valves properly adjusted to the specs your engine calls for? Valves that are too tight or too loose will make for a no start when hot.

Lastly, you may have water in your fuel that is making it hard to start. Take a fuel sample at the carburetor to see if you have any water in the fuel or other contaminants.

By checking each one of these items one by one, you can home in on the lawn mower will not start when hot issue.

Lawn Mower Repair Tips

My Lawn Mower Will Not Stay Running

This is another frequent problem with a lawn mower. It will run for a while and then dies. It could run for a few seconds or it could run for 30 minutes and decide to conk out. It really doesn’t matter to you of course as you want it to keep on running!

A few things you can check is to make sure your fuel is good. Your mower needs clean and fresh fuel to run. If you can take a fuel sample, it should be clear, not have any discoloration other than a slight yellowish color and not have any debris or particles in it. The odor should be strong and not stale.

If you determine that your gas is bad, it will need to be removed from the carburetor and the fuel tank and fresh fuel added.

Another problem is a carburetor that is plugged up. It will run on choke but when it transitions to the main jet, it will stumble and die because it is not getting fuel through that jet. Cleaning the carburetor is the solution for this problem.

Your choke could be stuck closed and cause the mower to run for a short period of time and then die. You can tell this by looking at the open end of the carburetor and seeing if the butterfly is closed or if it is opening as the engine warms up. A stuck choke will cause your lawn mower to not stay running every time.

The last thing is the ignition system. Your ignition coil could be heating up and malfunctioning. When an ignition coil breaks down, it will stop producing power to the spark plug and it will die at that point.

By checking these items one by one, you can narrow down what the problem is and get your lawn mower running once again.

Lawn Mower Repair Tips

My Lawn Mower Won’t Start

This is one of the most frequent problems with a lawn mower and especially if it has sat over the winter. Depending on where it stayed over the winter could add to the problem. If it was in an unheated shed for example, the battery could have run down or mice may have chewed your ignition wiring.

In many cases it is the fuel itself that has gone bad. Over time fuel becomes stale and the lighter part of the fuel will evaporate which makes it very hard to ignite. The fuel will then begin to phase separate into different parts and dry up which plugs up the ports in the carburetor. This will cause your lawn mower to not start. The only correct way to resolve this issue is to clean the carburetor and properly dispose of the fuel in the gas tank.

Your ignition system could also be the problem for your lawn mower not starting. Your ignition coil could be bad or the spark plug as well. The kill system could also be malfunctioning causing a no spark condition. A key switch or safety switch could also be the culprit and by testing them out with an ohmmeter, they can be ruled out if they are in working order.

Those are the main things that cause a lawn mower to not start when it should. By inspecting and diagnosing them one at a time, you can rule out which items are good and which are not.