Engine Problems

OttoNP · Addict Joined: 13 Jan 2003 Posts: 848 City: MI

Sometimes an engine can "get" the best of anyone...it took me all day to get my riding lawn mower running. For those of you that like to troubleshoot, let's see how you would have done...

It's a 1986 Toro 11 HP rear engine riding lawnmower. It has a Briggs and Stratton Engine. It has the typical carb mixture adjustment screw and a float adjustment screw (not the float level, another needle valve in the bottom of the bowl).

So I go to start it by jumping it off my truck, I knew the battery was dead. It cranks great and fires up immediately; however, whenever I advance the throttle past halfway it dies. It really sounds like it is getting close though. It will idle for awhile, maybe a minute and then it will die. It will restart pretty easily but as before, won't idle for more than a minute and if you advance the throttle it'll die. When it dies it sounds like it ran out of gas, but the engine doesn't speed up like it normally does when the mixture goes lean...

So what would you do...

Nick
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Swass · Guest

I was going to start out by suggesting that you don't jump it out the back of your truck, but then I realized you meant jumping the battery using your truck.

I'd check the fuel filter first, followed by the air filter.

otiswunguy · Addict Joined: 13 Jan 2003 Posts: 871 City: Sammamish

check the oil level could be a safty switch?bad fuel pump or fuel filter. that would prolly be too easy though. good luck.

ohsix · Posted: Apr 29, 2003 11:16 am Post subject:

maybe a stuck carburator float? if it had gas in it all winter it could have gummed up the the fuel bowl.

TSHutch · Posted: Apr 29, 2003 11:26 am Post subject:

Trash/water in the gas can do that.
Its easy to check too.
Or the choke stuck.

You could just trade it in on the big toro walk behind mowers.
With the big kawasaki moters. I ran those things for two years doing landscaping.
Only had to change oil, spark plugs, and starter ropes.

riverfreak · Posted: Apr 29, 2003 11:52 am Post subject:

too bad the new in everything doesn't last, I hate it when my stuff continiously breaks, seems all I do is shuck out money just to keep things running.....the 1st thing I would have done to the mower is instantly start bitching and give it a couple of kicks! LOL

Seth Martin · Moderator Joined: 12 Jan 2003 Posts: 891 City: Orlando

its running too rich. Not sure what i would have done, but from the description, thats what it sounds like.

Leggester · Posted: Apr 29, 2003 1:35 pm Post subject:

Assiming it ran fine last year and you've dumped the water seperator or changed the fuel filter:

1. check throttle lever to see if it's sticking or the throttle connection is bent.

2. remove air filter to see if it runs better.

3. 11hp? I'm assuming only one spark plug - clean and gap it.

4. change out gas.

5. check ALL wire connections.

No fire, no air = bad motor.

LAST OF ALL, dump carb ( assuming it ran fine last year ) and see if any crud is in there.

JHrod · Wakeboarder.com Freak Joined: 12 Jan 2003 Posts: 3144

don't even clean the spark plug---they are cheap.....just replace it

DaveBrowning · Posted: Apr 29, 2003 6:16 pm Post subject:

TSHutch - What city are you from? I'm from Jonesboro. What lake do you ride at?

ohsix · Posted: Apr 29, 2003 6:30 pm Post subject:

i would say dont even touch the spark plug because it's obviously getting fire if the mower starts.

i'm sticking with a float problem. an easy way to find out if that's what it is would be to tap on the side of the fuel bowl with a wrench or something and see if that helps. it sounds like you've already figured out the problem though.

wakeboarder · Addict Joined: 24 Apr 2003 Posts: 702

check and make sure the moter isinh't grounding. that happened to my go-cart, bent a wire so it didn't touch the moter and it worked fine

OttoNP · Addict Joined: 13 Jan 2003 Posts: 848 City: MI

Yeah, If you read my original post it took me all day to get it running, this is just for fun...

As many of you thought, I too believed the problem to be with the air/fuel mixture. As in bad gas, malfunctioning carb, clogged throttle, throttle linkage, etc...

I checked all the easy stuff first, throttle linkage, choke, oil level, fuel filter (doesn't have one but the gas was good). Then I took a look at the spark plug, which looked pretty new and in good condition. So I'm thinking ran before, won't now, sat all winter with gas, problem is something gummed up in the carb. Drain the bowl, gas is very clean. Next take of the carb and spray it pretty good with carb cleaner, check float, everything looks pretty good. Put it back on and it appears to run better. So I mess around with the mixture screws and find that I can get it to run a little faster and best when it is really rich, I mean to where the screw is almost out. This surprized me since the conditions before made me think it was already rich. At this point I figured I better just put some new gas in it, after all it is a 1986 Toro that someone gave me, who knows how long that gas has been in there. So I added a little carb cleaner to the gas, just in case, and it runs pretty much the same. Since it seemed to run better when I made it really rich, I figured something was still clogged in the carb. At this point I decided to really clean the carb, soak it in that hard core stuff and blow it out with compressed air...

What are you guys thinking so far...

Nick
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Shawn Madison · Posted: Apr 29, 2003 9:45 pm Post subject:

Diaphram spring in the carb is bad-Diaphram damaged?

Fuel line loose/crimped?

Wrong Idle Screw/Part?

Cracked/Damaged plug wire?

TSHutch · Posted: Apr 30, 2003 7:41 am Post subject:

I have had clogged exhaust on leafblowers and weedeaters do similar things.
They will run. But cant move enough air to take any throttle increase. The first thing I do now when I get a new weedeater or blower is remove the screen the EPA makes the manufacturer put between block and the muffler. They always clog up.

But that would not explain why it would run a while then stop.
So nevermind.

OttoNP · Addict Joined: 13 Jan 2003 Posts: 848 City: MI

After cleaning the carb super good and putting it back on, it ran better for like a minute and then it ran even worse. Then, I realized the problem had been that I hadn't been drinking any beer while working on it. I grabbed myself a beer, and then came back to it. I decided that I wanted to see the spark, so I pulled the plug out again and grounded it to the block. It was there, but kind of weak and sometimes it appeared it wasn't there. So now I'm thinking it is the magneto or the spark plug, I'm leaning towards the magneto since it would probably give more randomness. The spark plug looks new, but is much cheaper and easier to get than the magneto, so I head out and get a new plug. Put the plug in and it cranks up great. Everything seems great, adjust the mixtures and she's purring like a kitten. I take one run down my yard and it dies. Won't start, nothing happens. Check for spark, nothing. Check the ground for the magneto for proper operation, and then change the magneto, a $40 part and everything's fixed...

Stupid Magneto, no wonder he is a bad guy in X-men.

Nick
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Swass · Guest

I would've been stumped after checking for gas.

wakeboarder · Addict Joined: 24 Apr 2003 Posts: 702

one of my friends had the same problem, when he opened the diaphram it had a big hole in it. check that out