Hi Folks, When I stored my lawnmower last fall, I left a little fuel with winterizer in it.
I drained the fuel out put in new fuel, primed it several times and tried to start. I runs for a couple of seconds then stall with white smoke coming out of the carburetor. If I prime it again it does the same thing.
It's a Quantum Master with a B&S 5.0, several years old.
What can I check for to keep it running ?
Thanks Dick
If you are starting in the spring, start at step 9. If you are starting in the fall, start at step 1.
Your white smoke symtom says to me very dirty plug, and probably too much gum in cyinder from old gas. Carb cleaner, carb cleaner, fresh gas, new plug.
Forgot two steps -- call 'em 9A and 14 A--
9A, Check and top off the oil.14 A. Right after you run one tank of gas through it in the spring, while the motor is still hot from that run, drain the old oil and replace with fresh new oil.
I have six gasoline engines that need to be winterized every year:
riding lawn mower push mower for trim brush mower for trails weed eater chainsaw go-kart
I use StaBil in all of them at the end of the season. I do not drain the gas.
The important thing is to make sure you run the engine for a while after adding the StaBil, so that it gets out of the gas tank and into the carburetor.
Two years ago, I added StaBil to the riding mower but put it away without running the engine (I got interrupted midway through and forgot to come back and do it). The following spring I had one heck of a time getting the engine to start. What finally worked was, I added a whole bottle of Chevron Techron to the gas tank, and cranked the engine for about 10 seconds once a day. After about a week it started.
Other than that occurrence, I've never had any trouble with any of the engines.
In close to 40 years, I have never had a problem letting a mower just sit over the winter with fuel in it. However, twice I followed the religion that requires running it dry in the fall and this resulted in a carb rebuild because the gasket in the middle with the acceleration pump had gotten hard or leaked.
I see Jim has posted a list of excellent suggestions and with these recommendations you should have NO trouble at all.
If I may add my 2 cents worth, you could move to Texas and store your mower in a shed, like I do and the ONLY trouble I have had in the spring is that I have to pull the cord TWICE, in order for it to start, instead of the usual once. :-)
Lewis.
******the bowl nut has a tiny passage in it that is probably blocked..... jmo.. running one dry just puts lots of air in the fuel bowl..air with humidity..oh yeah,,that fuel tank has air in it to when empty.air and humidity.when you run one dry there is allways some gas left in there..and then ther'es the air,air with humidity,and that humidity usually condenses as the temp goes up and down..... lucas
Thanks Jim, Replaced the plug, sprayed the carb and cleaned the air filter, Started on 2nd pull with no white smoke.
Thanks again, Dick
This is more or less my experience, too, although I never had to rebuild the carb. I've found that leaving the tank full of stabilized gasoline makes for an easy start in Spring. In my experience, leaving the tank and fuel line empty means a harder start, but eventually I've been able to get all my various motors started. Brushing off the spark contacts with a wire brush helps, or you can replace them. Also, you have to be careful not to overprime the motor and flood it, a natural tendency to which I have often fallen prey.
A few years ago, I pulled the cord on an old Amerind Mackissick leaf shredder that had not been started for nearly two decades and it started on the third pull! Amazing. I can't recall if it had old stabilized gas in it or not.
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