It's all E10 around here, but I filled up my jug fresh at the beginning of the season.
Mower runs better with choke on
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Originally Posted By: wag123
Originally Posted By: Trav
Put a little Berrymans chemtool in the tank. Not much about an ounce or so, let it idle for a few minutes to get it into the internals then let it sit a day or two.
Its a lot easier than taking stuff apart and is a good first step.
The main jet has a restriction in it. Putting something in the gas tank will RARELY solve this kind of problem. The float bowl needs to come off and a small stiff wire poked through the main jet to clean it out. On some small engines the main jet is actually in the float bowl nut itself, just poke a stiff wire through the small hole in the side or top of the nut (the small hole is your main jet).
I vote for the Chemtool, it is probably just some ethanol corrosion. Many carb guys will tell you not to poke a wire through the jet, it can damage the soft brass. I have had to do it a few times to remove hard deposits though.
Originally Posted By: Trav
Put a little Berrymans chemtool in the tank. Not much about an ounce or so, let it idle for a few minutes to get it into the internals then let it sit a day or two.
Its a lot easier than taking stuff apart and is a good first step.
The main jet has a restriction in it. Putting something in the gas tank will RARELY solve this kind of problem. The float bowl needs to come off and a small stiff wire poked through the main jet to clean it out. On some small engines the main jet is actually in the float bowl nut itself, just poke a stiff wire through the small hole in the side or top of the nut (the small hole is your main jet).
I vote for the Chemtool, it is probably just some ethanol corrosion. Many carb guys will tell you not to poke a wire through the jet, it can damage the soft brass. I have had to do it a few times to remove hard deposits though.
Originally Posted By: yonyon
Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
Originally Posted By: Trav
Put a little Berrymans chemtool in the tank. Not much about an ounce or so, let it idle for a few minutes to get it into the internals then let it sit a day or two.
Its a lot easier than taking stuff apart and is a good first step.
You can do that? So that stuff is powerful enough to eat away and any gunk in the jets?
Usually Trav gives pretty good advice, but this crazy idea of using carburetor cleaner to clean a carburetor is just too crazy and off the wall...
Very funny! But I think he has a valid question which I too would like to know the answer. I am assuming he is asking if it is safe to run the mower on straight chemtool.
Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
Originally Posted By: Trav
Put a little Berrymans chemtool in the tank. Not much about an ounce or so, let it idle for a few minutes to get it into the internals then let it sit a day or two.
Its a lot easier than taking stuff apart and is a good first step.
You can do that? So that stuff is powerful enough to eat away and any gunk in the jets?
Usually Trav gives pretty good advice, but this crazy idea of using carburetor cleaner to clean a carburetor is just too crazy and off the wall...
Very funny! But I think he has a valid question which I too would like to know the answer. I am assuming he is asking if it is safe to run the mower on straight chemtool.
Originally Posted By: Vikas
Originally Posted By: yonyon
Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
Originally Posted By: Trav
Put a little Berrymans chemtool in the tank. Not much about an ounce or so, let it idle for a few minutes to get it into the internals then let it sit a day or two.
Its a lot easier than taking stuff apart and is a good first step.
You can do that? So that stuff is powerful enough to eat away and any gunk in the jets?
Usually Trav gives pretty good advice, but this crazy idea of using carburetor cleaner to clean a carburetor is just too crazy and off the wall...
Very funny! But I think he has a valid question which I too would like to know the answer. I am assuming he is asking if it is safe to run the mower on straight chemtool.
No don't try to run it on straight chemtool. If it runs, just add a tad to the gas as a cleaner - it's not meant to replace gas.
Originally Posted By: yonyon
Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
Originally Posted By: Trav
Put a little Berrymans chemtool in the tank. Not much about an ounce or so, let it idle for a few minutes to get it into the internals then let it sit a day or two.
Its a lot easier than taking stuff apart and is a good first step.
You can do that? So that stuff is powerful enough to eat away and any gunk in the jets?
Usually Trav gives pretty good advice, but this crazy idea of using carburetor cleaner to clean a carburetor is just too crazy and off the wall...
Very funny! But I think he has a valid question which I too would like to know the answer. I am assuming he is asking if it is safe to run the mower on straight chemtool.
No don't try to run it on straight chemtool. If it runs, just add a tad to the gas as a cleaner - it's not meant to replace gas.
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Usually Trav gives pretty good advice, but this crazy idea of using carburetor cleaner to clean a carburetor is just too crazy and off the wall...
Yes i know. Sorry i get fired up sometimes and go off the reservation
Truth is i just hate taking stuff apart if i don't have to, i try the cheapest and easiest thing first. If it doesn't work i can always take it apart later.
Usually Trav gives pretty good advice, but this crazy idea of using carburetor cleaner to clean a carburetor is just too crazy and off the wall...
Yes i know. Sorry i get fired up sometimes and go off the reservation
Truth is i just hate taking stuff apart if i don't have to, i try the cheapest and easiest thing first. If it doesn't work i can always take it apart later.
Mowed 1/2 my lawn yesterday with Chemtool added to the tank. We'll see if she's any better tonight after it soaks a bit.
This is an old thread, but it always bugs me when I'm reading a thread with exactly the same problem I'm having and it's never resolved... so here's how this one concluded (2 years later).
I wound up taking apart the carburetor and cleaning it out. It actually looked pretty clean, and after cleaning it the mower ran the same.
Fast forward to this year and I started to think it was maybe due to the governor and not the carburetor, so I started to play with it. To make a long story short, it seems like over this mower's 20 years of life one of the springs wore out, specifically #5 in the diagram below.
So I rebent the spring hooks to make it a little shorter (I had to try a couple times to get the right throttle setting), and then adjusted screws #18 and 19 so it wouldn't over-rev while on choke, and it's working much, much better now.
It runs at the right speed now and goes through tall grass like a champ. And it starts after ~5 pulls now instead of 10 - 15.
So I'm not going to say it's as good as new, but it's good enough for me.
I wound up taking apart the carburetor and cleaning it out. It actually looked pretty clean, and after cleaning it the mower ran the same.
Fast forward to this year and I started to think it was maybe due to the governor and not the carburetor, so I started to play with it. To make a long story short, it seems like over this mower's 20 years of life one of the springs wore out, specifically #5 in the diagram below.
So I rebent the spring hooks to make it a little shorter (I had to try a couple times to get the right throttle setting), and then adjusted screws #18 and 19 so it wouldn't over-rev while on choke, and it's working much, much better now.
It runs at the right speed now and goes through tall grass like a champ. And it starts after ~5 pulls now instead of 10 - 15.
So I'm not going to say it's as good as new, but it's good enough for me.
How ironic that you posted this today. I just fixed a friends mower with a very similar problem. His would start and barely run after pushing the primer bulb several times. I replaced his Chinese spark plug and externally cracked fuel line with no improvement. Since the mower would continue to run if I puffed a bit of starting fluid into the intake every few seconds, I figured the carb was gunked up. I took it off and just sprayed some cleaner into all the "holes", again with no improvement.
He went out and bought a new carb (not my idea). Just before I was going to install it, I noticed that the throttle cable did not move the governor spring at wide open. The carb linkage got bent and no longer pulled the governor spring enough.
Easy fix with some pliars, but it reminded me, once AGAIN, to always be careful to check the simplest things first.
He went out and bought a new carb (not my idea). Just before I was going to install it, I noticed that the throttle cable did not move the governor spring at wide open. The carb linkage got bent and no longer pulled the governor spring enough.
Easy fix with some pliars, but it reminded me, once AGAIN, to always be careful to check the simplest things first.
You mean the problem wasn't e10 and an additive didn't fix it? Shocking.
Does this have a combination choke/throttle or is it separate?
Does this have a combination choke/throttle or is it separate?
I had a similar trouble with a 2 stroke Mantis. I tried the Chem tool. No immediate joy, I put it away to deal with on the following weekend. As I was carrying it to the bench, I gave it one final try. It started immediately and ran fine. So the soak with Chem Tool worked, it just wasn't instant. I have learned to try carb cleaner before a tear down. It works enough times to be my first attempt to fix a bad carb.
Originally Posted By: jhellwig
You mean the problem wasn't e10 and an additive didn't fix it? Shocking.
Does this have a combination choke/throttle or is it separate?
Yeah, the same lever controls both, and that was part of what made the problem confusing - it was opening the throttle wider when the lever was in the choke position than at the "rabbit" setting.
You mean the problem wasn't e10 and an additive didn't fix it? Shocking.
Does this have a combination choke/throttle or is it separate?
Yeah, the same lever controls both, and that was part of what made the problem confusing - it was opening the throttle wider when the lever was in the choke position than at the "rabbit" setting.
You might need to just adjust the throttle cable. Most of those have a way to be adjusted. That might explain why it takes so many pulls to start. The choke might not be coming all the way on.
Originally Posted By: jhellwig
You might need to just adjust the throttle cable. Most of those have a way to be adjusted. That might explain why it takes so many pulls to start. The choke might not be coming all the way on.
That was my first thought, but when I had the carb off I was playing with the throttle lever, and it certainly seemed like the choke was closing properly. I also tried disconnecting the cable from the lever and pulling it by hand (plier) and it acted the same.
You might need to just adjust the throttle cable. Most of those have a way to be adjusted. That might explain why it takes so many pulls to start. The choke might not be coming all the way on.
That was my first thought, but when I had the carb off I was playing with the throttle lever, and it certainly seemed like the choke was closing properly. I also tried disconnecting the cable from the lever and pulling it by hand (plier) and it acted the same.
If it takes 10 pulls to start, the throttle cable probably needs to be adjusted to fully engage the choke. The screw on top of the carb is the one everyone misses. The main jet is rarely clogged to the point where the mower runs that badly. If it was clogged, the mower wouldn't run at all.
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