My Lawnmower must be a Chevy

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pishta

pishta

I know I'm right....
Joined
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My damn lawnmower never starts unless I take the fuel bowl off and clean the carburetor, and the gasket that seals the bowl is only 1 dollar!

Its actually a Craftsman with a Tecumseh 6.75 motor. I dont know whats going on in the carb. I completely drained and changed the old gas, cleaned up the bowl, cleaned up the "power screw" that has a tiny jet in the bottom and blew the fuel line clean. I dont have any sort of fuel filter on it, just a screen at the base of the fuel tank. Even if I pump the primer bulb 3X (or 10X) it rarely starts after sitting for over 3 days. Getting annoying...
 
joel d. snyder said:
uh, it's january. what's a lawnmower?
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think he meant 6.5 horsepower snowblower!:D


pishta said:
My damn lawnmower never starts unless I take the fuel bowl off and clean the carburetor, and the gasket that seals the bowl is only 1 dollar!



Its actually a Craftsman with a Tecumseh 6.75 motor. I dont know whats going on in the carb. I completely drained and changed the old gas, cleaned up the bowl, cleaned up the "power screw" that has a tiny jet in the bottom and blew the fuel line clean. I dont have any sort of fuel filter on it, just a screen at the base of the fuel tank. Even if I pump the primer bulb 3X (or 10X) it rarely starts after sitting for over 3 days. Getting annoying...
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I feel really bad for you....... heres what I can do, I'll come mow your lawn(for the price of the plane tickets and food of course... can't forget food!) from january until march or maybe april... or until the mercury is above freezing for more then 4 days here, which ever comes first :D
 
pishta said:
Its actually a Craftsman with a Tecumseh 6.75 motor....
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...LOL... Be careful what you call it. My last Craftsman/ Tecumseh had some contract-built carb built 'specially for......Sears. Tecumseh had nothing to do with the carb on that engine.
 
Pishta, have you tried starting it without priming it. I've got a Tec. lawnmower that floods real easy. Also pull the starter/fan cover off the top of the engine and check the gap between the ignition coil fingers (those 2 laminated things) and the permanent magnet on the fan/flywheel, they also like to come loose. Set your gap to .008" and you'll get a good hot spark. Helps for starting.
 
You northern types!My guess Pishta,ethanol in the gas killing it.Fresh plug?Tecumseh usually bullet proof.
 
Sorry to get off subject but I see this stuff about the crappy gas now-a-days. My generator has the same gas in it from when I used to use it to power a small compressor for my air powered spud gun. That was 2006. Go out, turn the gas on, verify the kill switch is on & give it a half hearted pull & it is runing....back to the regularly scheduled programing.....
 
Abodybomber said:
You northern types!My guess Pishta,ethanol in the gas killing it.Fresh plug?Tecumseh usually bullet proof.
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if your having lawnmower problems I feel bad for you son, I have 99 problems and grass ain't one!:D

did I do good?

now back to your winter hibernating schedule
 
Differant areas of the country have diff fuel blends, depending on the season.. You prob have a fuel volatility issue.. Dont use any fuel that has been in a un-sealed jug, or fuel that has been in sunlight. Makes a big differance
 
I dunno, but one of my neighbors runs a Lawnmower & Leaf Blower, 365 days a year, rain or shine... WTF? That grass aint going to grow for about 6 months out of the year anyway, so why bother cutting it everyday?

That dude must spend a couple thousand a year just in fuel for his lawn. (if there even is one, I'm sure he's mowing dirt by this point)
 
Maybe he's running his mower to drown out the noise of his electric generator that he uses to recharge the batteries for his "grow op". Just a hunch. :glasses7:
 
Your problem can be described with one word "Tecumseh".
I have always had trouble out with their carbs. I won't buy anything with a Tecumseh engine on it.
 
I had a Toro before this one and it was reliable as a slant six. It started on the second pull every time. loud as heck though. The motor finally fell through the base after I took it off a curb. I think the gas is crap here in the winter, and the "power screw" with the jet in it draws gas from the very bottom of the bowl. Dont know why I have to mow, it hasnt rained but once since june.
 
I have a 10 yr old Sears mower (forgot if Craftsman), the OHV engine. In winter, I leave it in the sun for a few hours first, when I can. Lately, I need to use starter fluid and/or pump the bulb 10 times. I don't like that it lowers the compression during starting to make pulls easier. Not sure how that works and if it might be part of the starting problems.

Mine also has some kind of manifold vacuum sensor that feeds back to the carb, with a rubber tube under the gas tank. Mine got hot and developed a crack. After fixing that, it seemed to run better.

One data point is I found it can be affected by fuel. My wife had filled the 300D with gas instead of diesel, so I drained the gas/diesel mixture. I thought to use some up by running it through the mower. Worked OK for a while, but eventually got where it wouldn't run without goosing the choke. Maybe I got near the bottom where the diesel was thicker. I understand that in winter they blend gas to be more volatile, so maybe you just need to get a tank of current winter gas for your mower.
 
Never had probs w/starting,...I did find that the last one I bought has no oil drain,...WTF...
 
you can put a briggs and stratt carb on the tecumseh engine. little mod but not much and runs alot better. tecumseh carbs are known for their probs.
 
pishta said:
My damn lawnmower never starts unless I take the fuel bowl off and clean the carburetor, and the gasket that seals the bowl is only 1 dollar!

Its actually a Craftsman with a Tecumseh 6.75 motor. I dont know whats going on in the carb. I completely drained and changed the old gas, cleaned up the bowl, cleaned up the "power screw" that has a tiny jet in the bottom and blew the fuel line clean. I dont have any sort of fuel filter on it, just a screen at the base of the fuel tank. Even if I pump the primer bulb 3X (or 10X) it rarely starts after sitting for over 3 days. Getting annoying...
Click to expand...

I had a craftsman with the exact same engine. It's sucked. I gave it away, and bought another Craftsman with a Briggs and Stratton engine. Problem solved.
 
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