Mower won't start - I tried the following

KubotainNH · Sep 29, 2016

As mentioned, fuel related. Here's a couple questions/steps to look into.
-Is the unit gravity fed or does it have a fuel pump? If gravity fed the tank is higher than the carb and when pulling the hose off the carb, gas should come out. If a fuel pump (disk thing with 3 hoses and usually between the filter and carb) then you need to test it to make sure it is working. It should pump fuel out to the carb, usually compression from the engine makes it work.
-Does the carb have a shut off solenoid under the bowl? It would be a bit thicker than a AA battery with a wire sticking out of it. They sometimes go bad and can either stay open (flood) or stick and give a stall or no start condition. You have to make sure voltage goes to it when set to start and it should click at that time.
-The carb is dirty, either replace the carb or remove the bowl and clean it out. Also a good time to check that pesky solenoid. It really is quite simple and there's youtube videos to help you along.

Here's one to try: Briggs and Stratton INTEK OHV Engine: CARBURETOR REBUILD & Repair. Riding Lawnmower LEAKING GAS FIX - YouTube

grsthegreat · Sep 29, 2016

If your using ethanol fuel, more than likely its clogged carb. Rebuilding them is pain in butt. I ended up replacing carbs on mantis , husky mower and snowblower due to ethanol fuel use.

After replacing carbs, never paying more than $30 for NEW one on ebay, ive only used non ethanol fuel. That was 3-4 years ago and ive had no other issues. The old carbs had clogged ports from deteriorating fuel lines. I also replaced fuel lines while i was at it.

zzvyb6 · Sep 29, 2016

Float could be stuck and inlet valve is in closed position. Pull off the carb float bowl and check for 'stuff' that does not belong there.

CaptFerd · Sep 30, 2016

Ive worked on a few recently around this old where I found the inside of the fuel line deteriorated to the point that gas would not flow. Located just as it comes out of the fuel tank directly above the fan on the trans. Lots of bugs and dirt in the tanks as well.

TexasDad76 · Oct 6, 2016

Well, every couple days I went out there and tried to start it. I was hoping the "Sea Foam" would eventually dissolve whatever was gunking up the carburetor.

I also sprayed "carb and choke cleaner" in the intake several times. Probably used up a 1/2 a can of that $5 stuff.

And I kept the battery charged during all this.

Anyhow, the result? Finally, on 10/5/16, I started it up and it kept running! So I put the air filter back on (and everything else) and mowed around the yard with it. I ran it until it ran out of gas, then put in MORE Sea Foam and brand-new gas (which I bought on Tuesday).

One thing I was probably doing wrong: I used to use the inline fuel cut-off to shut down the machine. Lately, I was getting lazy and letting it run only a second or two, maybe 10, after engaging the fuel cutoff. I used to let the mower burn up 100% of the gas in the carb. I'll definitely be going back to doing that. It's hard for ethanol-containing gas to gunk up the carburetor when I don't leave ANY in the carb. I need to start burning up 100% of it; letting the lack of gas shut down the mower every time.

I was getting lazy, thinking, "If I leave *just a little* in there, it will start more quickly tomorrow..." It's true I was running this mower a lot, but sometimes it was several days in between uses. I think that allowed something to get gunked up or stuck.