Blue smoke means it's burning oil. Did it do it before the last time you stopped it? Did you tip the mower over for some reason? Maybe add oil and overfill it? Try pulling the plug out and pull the cord a few times then put the plug back in. Try starting it again.
I may have been hasty. I was a bit discouraged having put the effort in and thought I'd failed. I gave it an hour to cool off. It started right up, ran fine, I finished the yard without trouble. It does bog down in thick stuff. The self propelled feature is nice. I've never had one and don't really need it but it sure is convenient.
What else goes wrong? Rings, valves, head gasket?
Also - save the old carburetor and rebuild it for a spare, or pitch it?
That reminds me of a mower my parents had, oh, so long ago. It wouldn't start hot but worked fine otherwise. I think they just decided to live with it. A little break didn't hurt the mower pusher.
All possible. Then the issue might be cost to fix. The Surplus Center in Lincoln, NE has a few engines. I bet there are plenty of other places that do also. I have no idea what kind of season end deals there might be on new mowers.
I'd probably toss it mainly because I don't have much space.
Take the carb apart and take a look inside. It may have some gunk, need cleaning, but it's probably OK. You can typically get a rebuild kit on Ebay for $7 or so. It includes new gaskets, needle valves if it has them, float valve, etc. If it has welch plugs it should include those too. Those are flat pieces of thin metal that cover openings. To clean it well, you take the old ones out with an ice pick or similar, then push the new ones in to seal it again. Supposed to apply some nail polish too to make sure it's sealed. It's a big help to have an air compressor to blow out any gunk too. On the other hand you can buy a new carb for $20, so that may not make all the above worth it. Also may not be worth any of the above until you're sure there are no bigger problems.
I bought a new carb for $20 and installed it. I was just questioning rebuilding the old one as a spare, figuring this one will last a year or two and need to be replaced. It's probably worth getting the rebuild kit just for learning, but on the other hand it's probable better just getting another $20 one for the spare.
Next step: get a new carb for the string trimmer that doesn't run. Could I get lucky twice?
Probably a good time to replace the fuel filter. I had a weedeater that I clenaed the carborator and about the 2nd time I used it, had to clean the carborator again. Found there was a small fuel filter in the fuel tank that had broken off and letting all the junk go to the carborator.
That seems like a great idea. Also you could add a shutoff valve, making maintenance easier.
However. That fuel line is 3 inches long and wedged between the engine and carburetor. And it has to gravity feed. So even though it's a good idea on my model it's probably not workable.
Interesting. Per Amazon it has Easyfeed, a button that advances the line. Bump feeds work but break, autofeed sends your line out faster than you want and breaks. How have you found that Easyfeed?
Works fine. If you press the button too often you're going to waste line. Trick is to only feed line when it shortens. I can tell when it needs line - some folks probably can't.
No, never said it would, but it will prevent fuel issues recurring. Fuel left in a tank for extended periods without a stabiliser added leaves a lot of nasty residue hanging around. By replacing the carb, he solved the generally worst affected area but the lines and tank aren't exempt. They too need a cleanout to prevent future issues.
The bogging down issue was covered elsewhere here - the governor. What also might need checking is the fuel level in the fuel bowl and the jetting. I would have done that anyway, even given it's a new carb, as it might be a fitment to a range of slightly differing engines. The replacement carburettor may not have the same jetting as the original, even though outwardly it looks identical, so may run richer or leaner than specified. Note, float bowl fuel level will influence mixture strength so check there first.
Get the rebuild kit for learning. That is always worthwhile *but*, before you do that, just strip the carb down and clean it out. It might just have degraded fuel blockages which can be very easy to clean out.
Unlikely. Check the spark plug first - or simply replace the plug as a matter of course. They are easy enough to check for spark, just don't assume the plug won't fail under compression pressure in the cylinder.
The fuel shutoff, if needed, would be fitted. That's usually only with gravity feed carbs and prevents the fuel bypassing the needle valve and flooding into the engine when it isn't being used. This tends to dilute the oil and cause bearing issues and or piston seizure.
Yes, a lot of lawnmowers are mounted *on* the tank directly so no fuel line and nowhere to fit one. No need to fit a tap either as the fuel can't get up out of the tank *unless* the engine is running. That said, the carb on those does have a fuel strainer. It just doesn't cope with degraded fuel very well.
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