LA145 can't start engine

[Garybake]

Congrads stevelee!
1.) Battery is cycled down to a low charge. Not Dead like need replacement.
2.) Because it was weak so was spark at plug (like 9 volts)- Not strong enough electrical arc to ignite fuel/air. (I bet it spun over slow too). Boost battery brought voltage to starter back up to 12 volts and stronger spark electrical jump. (Engine spun faster.)
3.) One and a half hours running is not enough to keep a charge might restart tomorrow but not next week. So you need to charge up the battery on a trickle charger overnight (12 hrs.) to get it back strong. (12 volts)

Jinman may be able to tell you what the misconnection at left hand side wire bar & small white color plastic tabbing holder is all about.
I am happy for you!
Charge up the battery as the longer it is left at low charge the more long term damage it can sustain.
Gary:thumbsup:

 

[jinman]

Today, I cleaned again the carb and spray wd40 on the needle valve and made gas tank empty( because some of gas was last year), and put brand new Octan93 gas, and then looked at carefully all the connection, and found out there was one mis-connection at left-hand side wire bar, so I corrected it by clicking it in the small white color plastic tabbing holder( I guess this wire opens and closed one of the plates in the chamber),
and then turn the starter, but now the battery was almost going to die ( this battery is the brand new one I bought a couple of days ago)...
and engine not started, so I move my car next to LA145 and did battery jumper and eventually engine started!!! WOW!!
so, I asked my wife to remove the jumper cable and I cut lawn this evening....

Steve, I am totally baffled now. I'm not sure of any connections on the "left-hand wire bar." Can you post a photo? Was it on the left when you are standing in front of the mower or when you sitting in the seat? Most electrical connections I've seen are on the right side of the machine down under the area where the PTO switch is located.

As far as the battery. . . I put a new battery from Tractor Supply into my LA145 last year. It worked fine all year and this spring until I let my grandson put the mower away. He somehow shut off the key and then turned it back to the headlight position. We didn't notice because I disconnected the headlight since I never use it. So, the ignition was on and sat for over a week. When I went to start the mower, it did nothing more than click-click-click. I got my battery charger and set it on High Charge Rate. It was charging at 20 amps for about a minute and I hit the start switch. The mower fired right off and I removed the charger. After mowing for about 1 hour I stopped the engine to let my grandson finish. The battery ran the starter just fine and he finished mowing. The total time running was about 2 hours. Just this week, I went to the mower to start it up and the battery was still charged and worked fine. It looks like the TSC battery is gonna be okay and was charged plenty after 2 hours of mowing. BTW: I was upset at my grandson for a second when I found the key in the wrong position, but I thought twice about all the dumb things I'd done as a kid and the anger went away. I just showed him what he had done and told him not to worry because he didn't know and didn't mean to hurt anything.

Oh yes. . . If the battery terminals are dirty a jumper battery may make good contact and start the mower. Then, when you go to start with the battery, it will just click. If that's what happens after mowing, check the terminals for tightness and cleanliness.

 

[stevelee8949]

Steve, I am totally baffled now. I'm not sure of any connections on the "left-hand wire bar." Can you post a photo? Was it on the left when you are standing in front of the mower or when you sitting in the seat? Most electrical connections I've seen are on the right side of the machine down under the area where the PTO switch is located.

As far as the battery. . . I put a new battery from Tractor Supply into my LA145 last year. It worked fine all year and this spring until I let my grandson put the mower away. He somehow shut off the key and then turned it back to the headlight position. We didn't notice because I disconnected the headlight since I never use it. So, the ignition was on and sat for over a week. When I went to start the mower, it did nothing more than click-click-click. I got my battery charger and set it on High Charge Rate. It was charging at 20 amps for about a minute and I hit the start switch. The mower fired right off and I removed the charger. After mowing for about 1 hour I stopped the engine to let my grandson finish. The battery ran the starter just fine and he finished mowing. The total time running was about 2 hours. Just this week, I went to the mower to start it up and the battery was still charged and worked fine. It looks like the TSC battery is gonna be okay and was charged plenty after 2 hours of mowing. BTW: I was upset at my grandson for a second when I found the key in the wrong position, but I thought twice about all the dumb things I'd done as a kid and the anger went away. I just showed him what he had done and told him not to worry because he didn't know and didn't mean to hurt anything.

Oh yes. . . If the battery terminals are dirty a jumper battery may make good contact and start the mower. Then, when you go to start with the battery, it will just click. If that's what happens after mowing, check the terminals for tightness and cleanliness.

I wish I take a picture of it and post here, but I don't have camera now, so I try to explain again, ( sorry for my poor English, I am an immigrant)

Anyway,

it is on the left when I am standing in front of the mower.
left-lower corner, under carb.
it connects to another steel bar(plate, 3~4inch length), hinged at the middle and can move up and down by the another lever which connects to wire...
Then, this wire(more like stick bar made of metal) opens and closes the thing(plate, shaped like two mountains) inside of carb.

BTW,
I went to autozone this morning and bought battery discharger:
Schumacher/1 Amp trickle battery charger (MC-1) | Battery Charger | AutoZone.com

it's a Schumacher/1 amp trickle battery charger, hope this works...

Thanks,

ps, OH! one thing I found out during cutting lawn yesterday evening, engine oils popped out from oil insert tude(black plastic thing where we add oil) due to the yellow cap loose, spinning and opened by itself, I tried to close it but failed, so some of oil fell(drizzle) down to my right foot shoes(toe area) and made it slippery when I press the accelerator pedal...I will cover it(cap) up with some vinyl and cramp it...

 

[Garybake]

( sorry for my poor English, I am an immigrant)

Other than Native Americans we all were.

Sounds like the choke plate and without that it would be hard to start in cooler weather. With a car jump it would spin fast enough (long enough) to run.
(White plastic connector on choke rod???)
Look like this?
Gary

 

[stevelee8949]

Other than Native Americans we all were.

Sounds like the choke plate and without that it would be hard to start in cooler weather. With a car jump it would spin fast enough (long enough) to run.
(White plastic connector on choke rod???)
Look like this?
Gary

Gary,
Right ON!
two mountains and rod ( I should have said ROD)
yes, white plasric thing is #6 in your attachment.

BTW, do you think the battery charger which I bought will work? Would it be ok to leave the connection 24 hours? or should be less than 12hrs?
Thanks,

ps.) I returned the air floor pump( normally for bike) which I bought yesterday to wallmart today since I don't need it, actually I didn't use air pump. I just check the hose and carb entrance tube and they were open so didn't use the pump.

 

[Garybake]

The charger ia a 1 amp charger and 24 hrs is great. It will not overcharge your battery by boiling off the liquid.
So is the part broken or is it hooked up now? I will be online the rest of the evenning.
If broken we can make sure you get the right part and number because you need the choke to get it to start and after it starts it can be slowly opened.
Gary

 

[jinman]

Sorry Steve, I've been away all day and just now see your description. I think Gary has you on the right track. I think you said wire and mean cable. There is the choke cable and the fuel cable both controlled by the levers to the left of the steering wheel. I was thinking electrical and that's why I was so confused. As far as I know, the only electrical connection on the carburetor is the one going to the fuel cutoff solenoid on the bottom of the float bowl. Your comments make perfect sense in relation to the choke. As a matter of fact, I've found that if I shut the mower down and let it sit for 10 minutes or so, I may have to use the choke some to get it started again. It seems that the fuel system is set very lean and needs the choke to start.

I agree with all comments on the charger. It should be the perfect charger for a 24 hour recharge.

 

[stevelee8949]

:licking:

The charger ia a 1 amp charger and 24 hrs is great. It will not overcharge your battery by boiling off the liquid.
So is the part broken or is it hooked up now? I will be online the rest of the evenning.
If broken we can make sure you get the right part and number because you need the choke to get it to start and after it starts it can be slowly opened.
Gary

Gary,
No broken, just I did mistakenly connect wrong and then I found out what was wrong, and corrected it, my mistake was put the rod simply in the middle of white plastic holder, but it(the end of rod) should be put into the center hole of plastic thing....

I will test LA145 maybe sunday after charge done tomorrow night...
I will let you know what happens...
Thanks and have a nice day...

 

[stevelee8949]

Sorry Steve, I've been away all day and just now see your description. I think Gary has you on the right track. I think you said wire and mean cable. There is the choke cable and the fuel cable both controlled by the levers to the left of the steering wheel. I was thinking electrical and that's why I was so confused. As far as I know, the only electrical connection on the carburetor is the one going to the fuel cutoff solenoid on the bottom of the float bowl. Your comments make perfect sense in relation to the choke. As a matter of fact, I've found that if I shut the mower down and let it sit for 10 minutes or so, I may have to use the choke some to get it started again. It seems that the fuel system is set very lean and needs the choke to start.

I agree with all comments on the charger. It should be the perfect charger for a 24 hour recharge.

Jim,
I bought the new battery which I have now, from ACE hardware(local h/w store) and I called him today and asked about my situation regarding battery, then he kindly said he can charge my battery overnight if I bring it to his store...I didn't go yet, but it's so kind...
I think in this world, more GOOD people than bad person...
enjoy your weekend~~

 

[TxJack]

I think I'm having the same problem. Mine would crank, but it just seemed like it wasn't getting fuel. My fuel filter was the original so I thought I'd start there as maybe it was clogged. Went to Lowe's where I bought the lawn tractor and picked up the John Deere brand fuel filter, which was about $6 more than the Briggs....paying for that green paint! The original that came with the mower was a Briggs, I think, but there wasn't really one that looked like a perfect match to the one I took off. The LA145 was listed on the back of the John Deere filter package so I knew it would definitely work.

I replaced it and it just still seemed to not be getting any fuel to the motor. I looked down at the new filter and noticed that NO fuel was being sucked into it. I then sat there and sprayed carb cleaner into the carb "mouth" until it finally turned over. That is when some fuel finally went into the new filter. I am by no means a mechanic so maybe one of you can explain why it wouldn't suck the fuel once I turned the key. Isn't that what the fuel pump is supposed to do when you turn on the key? Do you think my fuel pump might be going out?

I bet stevelee and I are having the same problem. The nice new fuel filter is clear so I can see what is going on. It doesn't fill up much with fuel either. Is that what it is supposed to do? I was able to mow and it seemed to run fine. Only got half the yard done so the true test will be tomorrow to see if it will work again.

The troubles did begin some time back with it getting harder and harder to start and bouts of sputtering. Also lots of blue/white smoke when it finally would start.

Wondering if it might also be that plastic pin that yall have said needs to be replaced with a brass one?