Craftsman 19.5 only runs in choke position

[Ken]

The newer john Deeres lawn mower engines have a plastic shaft to hold the choke plate and this plastic will bend or flex with engine running.
The plate moves from its retainer causing partial blockage of air.
Took carb. apart several time before noticing this problem.
Drilled holes and wired in place works fine now.
ken

 

[pawandmaw]

You may be able to adjust your carb. If you are choking your carb. then you are cutting the amount of air to give it more fuel. Your carb needs cleaning!! or rebuilding. Some carbs. are not worth rebuilding. ask a pro, but most people can do it!!! rebuilding a carb is not hard. DO NOT run old gas in your lawn mower!! Old gas will gum up your carb. !! At the end of the season run the gas out then you will be all set for the spring, also change the oil each season with clean air filter, each season!!
I hope this helps!!
Pawandmaw

 

[gordonkearse]

Thanks, pawandmaw. I think you hit the nail squarely on the head. The real problem is today's gasoline. My mower has run fine for years without touching the carb. I'm trying not to cause other problems by digging too deeply. The mower is a '96 model. I have changed the fuel filter four or five times. I've got a carb rebuild kit right here in the drawer next to this computer. It cost $20 on flea-bay.

 

[buzzpa]

Had the same problem once. ... I tried adjusting the carburetor and changing gas and fuel filter but nothing helped. So I was going to rebuild it and when I took it off I noticed that the mounting screws were quite loose so I just tightened them up and that was the problem. ... Has been running great ever since.
Hope this helps.

 

[SPYDERLK]

/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gifNo power. Starts fine in off/choke position as engine warms I have to slowly pull the choke out every few minutes to maintain enough power to cut grass. At times the mower will kill, and will not start back, the engine is not flooded. I had to change the coil once because there was no fire, but I know thats not my problem now. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Kyle

... Well, Kyle made 1 post in nearly 9 yrs. Wonder if it helped him. :confused3:
I think post#8, 5/9/2004 was the answer.
larry

 

[CobyRupert]

Like mentioned above, it's 1 of 2 things: Too little fuel or too much air (loose mounting screws, dry air filter (if a wet type), etc...) For the 1/2 dozen two-cycles I run, all but one has had this problem and I think its because of reduced output from ethanol gas. Fix was learning how to adjust the carb so it's gets more gas (at both idle and high speed).

 

[CobyRupert]

Why did I just answer a page that was started in 2004? :confused2: