with last year's gas in it, then can't figure out why it won't start.

I guess I shouldn't bitch, they pay me to drain all the water out of it and clean the carb, but damn...Stupid is rampant.

Daughter couldn't get her old one to start (and it's REALLY old and had the shit beat out of it...) so she went and bought a new one. Which also wouldn't start.

Per my usual procedure, the first thing I did was pull the plug to check for spark. Gap was bridged with what looked like Never Seize. Cleaned that, had spark, still no start.

Apparently, she'd put "gas" in it from a can that sat out in the snow all winter...

Sigh.

My Dad owned some rental properties when I was a kid and in the summer it was my job to cut the grass...He was able to have a lawnmower at each property so I could ride my bike all courtesy of the town dump...He would pick up stuff people would trash thinking they were broken/not worth fixing and a plug, some points and fresh gas was usually all it took to get them running. As added value I learned to fix/rebuild a Briggs and Stratton at a pretty young age

I have a neighbor that is on his 3rd riding mower in 12 years . That's a lot of money . This latest one has been stored in the garage . The previous one stayed out in the weather year round . It lasted about three years . Crazy .

Best thing for your lawnmower is to use non-ethanol gasoline. That ethanol eats carburetors for breakfast.

after he retired , my brother started picking stuff off the curb.

two string trimmers , a hedge clipper and a
mower all started working after 90 minutes of cleaning

quote:

Originally posted by 229DAK:
Best thing for your lawnmower is to use non-ethanol gasoline. That ethanol eats carburetors for breakfast.

That goes for all lawn equipment. I used to have to replace the fuel lines in my string trimmer and blower every 3ish years. After switching to non-ethanol gas for my mower and premix, the latest lines have lasted 5+ years so far.

quote:

Originally posted by 229DAK:
Best thing for your lawnmower is to use non-ethanol gasoline. That ethanol eats carburetors for breakfast.

Absolutely!
I left a 1/4 tank full in my mower last winter and it fired right up after sitting for four months on the first pull. I try to use non-ethanol in my vehicles too if I'm around my usual stations that have it available.

Have been known to go out of my way to find the NON_ethenol fuel. after repairing the weedeater several times and rebuilding carb on the riding mower. Have not used the ethenol fuel in over 4 years and no problems to date. ........now I know my winter climates are not as cold and long lasting as some of you but do nothing to winterize my stuff except maybe a touch of Stabil or Seafoam....................drill sgt.

Its what you get for voting wrong. The idiots in the EPA mandated it because will slow down global warming. Except it hasn't. Its all politics, and we're on the wrong side.

After winter this year, an older friend of mine called me and asked for help.
I went over to his house. He had bought a brand new JD garden tractor. It would not start. He said they delivered it and it started to get it off the trailer. But when he tried to start it NO.

I asked if he put gas in it and he said yeah, the tank was almost empty.
I went home and got my homemade electric fuel transfer unit. I pulled some fuel out and told him it looked and smelled like diesel fuel.
I emptied the tank and he poured some other gas in. Still would not start. He with my trailer took it back. He still had his Cub tractor which would not start. We drained that fuel out and took off his fuel line and drained that. We removed the plug and eventually it started.
I told him the GREEN PUMP handle is for diesel.

quote:

Originally posted by rburg:
Its what you get for voting wrong. The idiots in the EPA mandated it because will slow down global warming. Except it hasn't. Its all politics, and we're on the wrong side.

How should we be voting? The EPA was created by a Republican president. Ethanol in fuel has been supported by every Republican administration and Republican controlled Congress. Show me who to vote for to eliminate ethanol in my fuel and I will.

I honestly don't know how voting can stop the stuff because it stays during every Democratic president and congress as well. How can a handful of Midwest corn states have this much influence over both parties? Hell if they want to subsidize corn at least do it for food.