Lawn mower repair. Diagnose it yourself! My Lawn Mower Will Not Start!

Wont Start

Top Reasons why your mower wont start:

• Gas- how old is the gasoline you are using? Is it last years, month? The gas you get at the gas station has a shelf life of 3 weeks - tops! After three weeks the ethanol in the fuel attracts water and will make your mower hard to start or not start at all. Even if you drain your fuel at this point most likely it will still not start until the carb is removed and cleaned. Which brings us to the next conclusion.
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• carburetor -This is the number one problem of why your lawn mower will not start. Sometimes it is a manufacturing issue but most of the time it is the reason above and below this paragraph. You can bring your mower to a shop to clean the carb but 50% of the time the carb needs to be replaced.

• mower storage- you think you did the right thing when your drained your fuel tank by either running it empty or actually drained the tank yourself. Unfortunately this does not removed the gas from the problem area. Draining your tank does not remove the fuel that is in your carburetor bowl therefor it congeals and when you put fresh fuel in it clogs up your carburetor and will cause it not to start.
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• poor maintenance- When is the last time you looked at your air cleaner? If air can't get in then your mower will either stall or not start at all. If you have dusty conditions your air cleaner needs to be changed twice a season. Sometimes it is as easy as changing your sparkplug! Simple inexpensive things you can do to save your mower!

• mower was tipped incorrectly -this is a common occurance- mowers are to be tipped two ways either by pushing down on handles all the way or tipping the mower so that the air cleaner is on top. Tipping when the air cleaner is down causes the oil to leak into the air intake causing the mower to smoke and then eventually stall. Sometimes it will not start at all.

• OHV head gasket- this is an unlikely senerio for the average homeowner lawnmower. The head gasket will blow usually caused by the engine over heating. Mice nests are the biggest culprit of an engine over heating. At this point it is probably not worth repairing the average homeowner lawnmower. It will also consume much more oil than what was needed previously.