Max, at about age 65, still likes to mow his own lawn with a gasoline push mower. It's not self-propelled, but it does have an engine. He's has the same mower for like 20 years, and it's been great. Well, a few years ago, he noticed that the mower was not getting very good gas mileage. In other words, the mower was using more gas per lawn cut than it used to. This seemed to be getting worse. So, for example, if one tank of gas used to get him through two lawn cuttings, now a whole tank would only get him to mow the lawn one and a half times. He would have to fill it up in the middle of the second cut. So, he knew something was wrong. He took it to the neighborhood small engine repair shop and for about $100, they replaced the spark plug, the spark plug wire. They gave him a new air filter. And they probably did a few other things like clean the carburetor. Of course, for $4 more, he could have gotten a whole new lawn mower. But, anyway, after all the repairs, he notices that the gas mileage is still lousy. He's bummed out, and he wondered whether there's something else they should have replaced. Of course, there isn't. Now, I will add here the engine and lawn mower are in perfect working order, the same as they were perhaps the day he bought the thing. The lawn isn't thicker than it used to be. The lawn density is the same as it has always been. And the question is, what's wrong?
- posted
20 years ago