Posted: 6/3/2009 1:08:44 PM EDT
|
This has nothing to do with cars or bikes, but I figure this is the right place to post since this forum is full of mechanics.
I've got a Honda 4-cycle mower that will not start. Some history first: Mower is about 6 years old. It hadn't been used in years because I was given an old riding mower. Several months ago, I tried to start it up, and when I put fuel in the tank it just poured out the carburetor. A rubber mallet to tap on the carburetor (not pound) along with some carb cleaner solved that problem. However, when I started the mower, it would ONLY run with the choke on. The moment I pulled out the choke, it would die. If I threw the choke back on, it would come back to life. That was last week. Now when I try to start it, it runs for about 1 second and dies. If I try to start it immediately, it won't do anything, but if I wait about 10 seconds, it'll do the same thing (leads me to believe there may be a fuel blockage, and it needs time to refill the line). Ideas on how to fix this? I'd rather not spend any money on it if I don't have to. |
|
Ok, so I finally got the time tonight to take apart the carb and clean it thoroughly with some carb cleaner.
I put it back together, mounted it on the mower, and...now the choke butterfly valve (not sure if that's the correct name) will only open, not shut. I'll play around with it some more tomorrow when I can get some more daylight. |
|
Alright, I'm downright confused now.
I got the carb back on, all the cables fixed correctly, and it still wouldn't start. So I pulled out the spark plug and it was fouled to hell. I replaced the plug and the mower started immediately. It wanted to stall now and then, but it ran while I mowed a little bit. It was too hot out, so I shut the engine off and went inside to wait until it wasn't so hot out. I was just out there, and the mower wouldn't start. I noticed some oily residue all over the top of the deck, so I opened the gas cap and found that ALL of the gas had drained out. I refilled the tank to see if I could find a drip, and didn't see any. After several pulls, the mower VERY slowly started firing on it's own. When it finally got some power behind it, I noticed some fluid being shot out of the exhaust. Looked like either oil or gas. I checked the oil level and it's normal. The mower only ran for about 2 minutes and then it died again. Now it won't restart. I'm thinking that the mower is flooding itself, but I don't know how to solve that problem. |