Outdoor Power Equipment and Small Engines - Craftsman 22" 6.75 HP Self Propelled

About a month ago I purchased a Craftsman mower in a garage sale for $75. I think it's about 5-6 years old (model #917-377380). I didn't get a manual with it. I thought I got a bargain being that it looked brand new. The guy I bought it from said it had not been used that much. I mowed with it the 1st day, no problems. Then, my husband mowed w/it a few days later and it died on him twice. I've added oil, new gas, new spark plug. Now, it's hit and miss. There are times I mow with it that it will start, run for about 1-2 minutes and then die. Then it's hard to get restarted. Then there are times that I can mow the whole yard w/o it dying. It's very frustrating and I'm trying to figure out the problem. Any suggestions?

jayhawkmanahan,

With the engine being 5 years old I would look at the carb. First you should clrean or replace the the air cleaner. It is mounted over the carb opening and most only have one or two screws holding the cover on. If after a new air filter you still have the same trouble replace or clean the fuel filter which most likely is inside the fuel tank mounted to the bottom of the carb. If after this you still have the same trouble you will need to remove the carb and give it good cleaning. Let us know how it goes... Also, check the tiny vent hole in the top of the gas tank for clogs.

God Bless,
Dave 237

Dave, thank you for your reply. I went to the Sears parts store this morning and bought a new air filter and put it on (there was a snap on cap over the filter so that was a piece of cake). While I was there, I asked about a fuel filter and they told me it didn't have one:confused:

Since I don't have a manual for it, is there some website that you can suggest about taking apart and cleaning a carb? I would hate to pay for something that we might be able to do at home. My husband is pretty good at fixing things as long as he has good directions. Again, Thanks:)

jayhawkmanahan,

This is a tecumseh engine. The carb teardown is pretty simple and straight forward.

I know of no exact step by step for your carb however, you can down load a general tecumseh service manual at:

http://www.cpdonline.com/692509.pdf

This should help with the tear down however, try one more thing before proceeding. If your carb has a bolt at the bottom of the carb; remove it and clean all the very tiny holes at the bottom. You will need to empty the gas tank before this though or you'll have a major gas leak. If you don't have the bolt then proceed with the carb cleaning.

God Bless
Dave 237

Thanks for all of your help. Assuming the carb is where I think it is (a round, metal silver piece pretty much directly under the primer bulb) there is a bolt under there. I guess we will try removing that and see where that takes us. I downloaded the manual you gave the link for so my husband can take a look at it. Again, thank you :)

For future reference for your Sears product go to :
sears.com, on the home page click on parts which is on the left side of the screen, then enter the model number and search, it will then show the product(continue) select the diagrahm of the mower now find the motor in the diagrahm, now return to the previous screen and select the parts list, now find the motor in the list ex. 64, now it will have the model # for the motor, close this screen, now enter the model # for the motor in the upper left corner,search, there will be the motor, now select parts list or diagrahm to find what you want to see. If I missed a step you can figure it out once you get into the site. Have a nice day. Geo

Thanks Geo, you guys are awesome:)