I have a Husqvarna 48" lawn tractor with a 24 HP Briggs & Stratton engine that has been used for three seasons cutting one acre of grass. I bought it new and up until last year it always started instantly, but during the last cutting season it became very hard to start.
I changed the oil, the oil filter, the air filter, the gas filter, and the blades, cleaned the spark plugs, sprayed solvent through the air intake, and ran a couple of tanks of gas with double-dose Techron, but to no avail (I always use non-ethnaol gas). I know the battery is weak as it dies after about 15 seconds of cranking, and I'll replace it soon, but even when I jump it with my car it still takes about 15-20 seconds to start in spite of the high cranking speed.
Now here's the kicker - when it does start it runs like a champ for the 1.5 hour grass cutting. I would think that some conditions that could cause the hard starting, such as a dirty carburetor, would also affect the running. I am wondering if a crack of pin hole in the gas lines is causing the gas to drain back to the tank, requiring more cranking to prime the lines (there is not obvious leaking to the ground or gas odor). That said I would also think that line priming would be rather fast.
Any ideas I should try next?
Tom
I changed the oil, the oil filter, the air filter, the gas filter, and the blades, cleaned the spark plugs, sprayed solvent through the air intake, and ran a couple of tanks of gas with double-dose Techron, but to no avail (I always use non-ethnaol gas). I know the battery is weak as it dies after about 15 seconds of cranking, and I'll replace it soon, but even when I jump it with my car it still takes about 15-20 seconds to start in spite of the high cranking speed.
Now here's the kicker - when it does start it runs like a champ for the 1.5 hour grass cutting. I would think that some conditions that could cause the hard starting, such as a dirty carburetor, would also affect the running. I am wondering if a crack of pin hole in the gas lines is causing the gas to drain back to the tank, requiring more cranking to prime the lines (there is not obvious leaking to the ground or gas odor). That said I would also think that line priming would be rather fast.
Any ideas I should try next?
Tom