Outdoor Power Equipment and Small Engines - Moved from other thread...mower stalls

Cheese-

I hate to jump another guy's thread, but I have a similar problem with my Walmart lawnmower. It's a walk behind. I have no idea what the motor make is, but it claims 6.75 hp.

It ran fine most of the summer. 1 pull and off ya go. Last week, I got half-way through and yard and it just died. Yes, I do think I had just added gas to the tank. No, I'm not sure the gas is good. Anyway, I can prime it by pushing the rubber button thing about 5 times. Give it a yank and it'll run for 5 seconds.

So, I emptied the gas tank. I even changed the fuel line to one of those clear ones. I took the carb off and sprayed with carb cleaner, de-gunk stuff. The can recommended spraying some in the spark plug hole, too, so I did. Then, I reassembled it and gently pulled the string to clear out some of the de-gunk stuff (fired the plug but not enough to start it.) Then, I filled it with gas, primed it and...it lasted for about 15 seconds while it blew out all the junk. After that, it's back to only lasting 5 seconds.

If I manually hold the throttle open a tad, it runs very rough (sounds like it misses occasionally). When I let off the throttle, it dies, like it's starving for gas.

It is stored under a tarp year long.

Any ideas??:wall:

Cheese-

I hate to jump another guy's thread, but I have a similar problem with my Walmart lawnmower. It's a walk behind. I have no idea what the motor make is, but it claims 6.75 hp.

It ran fine most of the summer. 1 pull and off ya go. Last week, I got half-way through and yard and it just died. Yes, I do think I had just added gas to the tank. No, I'm not sure the gas is good. Anyway, I can prime it by pushing the rubber button thing about 5 times. Give it a yank and it'll run for 5 seconds.

So, I emptied the gas tank. I even changed the fuel line to one of those clear ones. I took the carb off and sprayed with carb cleaner, de-gunk stuff. The can recommended spraying some in the spark plug hole, too, so I did. Then, I reassembled it and gently pulled the string to clear out some of the de-gunk stuff (fired the plug but not enough to start it.) Then, I filled it with gas, primed it and...it lasted for about 15 seconds while it blew out all the junk. After that, it's back to only lasting 5 seconds.

If I manually hold the throttle open a tad, it runs very rough (sounds like it misses occasionally). When I let off the throttle, it dies, like it's starving for gas.

It is stored under a tarp year long.

Any ideas??:wall:

SOUNDS LIKE YOUR CARB GASKET MIGHT BE DAMAGED? OR YOUR CARB MIGHT NOT BE CLEANED ENOUGH, THE LITTLE VACUME HOLES NEED TO BE CLEAN ENOUGH TO BREATH FREELY. BUT IT COULD ALSO BE THE FLOAT IN SIDE THE CARB THAT IS STUCK. IM NOT AN EXPERT BUT I HAVE HAD THE SAME PROBLEM. USE A COMPRESSOR TO BLOW ALL THE LITTLE HOLES OUT. I REALLY THINK THAT WILL HELP

Sounds like you have a bowl type carb, remove the airfilter,etc so you can get to the carb, clamp off the fuel line, remove the bowl, the nut holding the bowl on is the main jet and has some holes in it close to the bottom and I believe another one up midway just above the threads, clean these holes(I use the wire from a twist tie) now blow though the holes with compressed air or brake parts cleaner. With the bowl still off release the clamped fuel line to insure good flow to the carb(should drip pretty fast). Reclamp the fuel line, reattach the bowl(careful with the gasket and float position), release the fuel line, wait while fuel fills the bowl and you should be good to go. Post back with the results and we can go from there. Have a good one. Geo

Okay, done. The little holes are free and happy. I even changed the spark plug, so this is a pretty new engine!

A new problem. It is running smoothly, but it just doesn't seem to throttle up. It ran just strong enough (very weak!) for me to get my little front yard done, but if I hit any kind of thick grass it wanted to die. If I manually move the (I don't know what it's called metal plate thingy) that is on top of the carb with the spring and wire connected to it, it throttles up fine. So, I first tightened the throttle screw, but even all the way won't get it to a happy horsepower. There's another screw, but I think it controls the mix of air and fuel???? It didn't help much.

Oh, and if I manually move it to a higher throttle, it goes into SUPER rev mode, and sticks there until I turn it off. I can't get a happy middle horsepower rating!!

ideas? (Oh, and thank you for getting me this far!)

Sounds like a spring may be missing from the governor, post the MFG, Model, Type and Code from the engine schroud and we can go from there. Have a good one. Geo

It's a Tecumseh, model LV195EA

It sounds like the governor linkage is not assembled correctly, or the governor setting has been changed. Did you loosen the governor arm and change it's position?

Or, perhaps, the arm that the governor spring attaches to somehow got moved from its position. You can bend this arm to increase or decrease spring tension and thereby increase or decrease engine RPM.

Okay, so I put the idle screw back where it originally was and moved the governor arm around a little. It helped, but not much. It idles at a slightly higher rpm, which is what I want, but when I hit any thick grass patch, it slows dramatically. I thought it was supposed to adjust rpms. Also, after it does this slowing, it regains speed, but sometimes it overcompensates and goes into full open throttle, and i have to shut it off.

??

Here is the diaghram for the throttle linkage:
http://www.small-engines.com/tecgov.html

Here is the governor arm setting:
http://www.small-engines.com/adjustgov.html

Have a good one. Geo

So, following that first link, and the top link on the page it leads to, and the picture of "fixed throttle variation". What do you think would be the result if you attached the fixed wire to the bottom hole in the pic instead of the top hole? That's what I did:wall: :wall: :wall:

Thank you! I hope to be able to give a good report tomorrow.

Also, if you tampered with the governor settings, you'll need to follow the adjustment procedure to set it back again. The governor is set from the factory, and should never be moved.

I've never touched the Governor. A friend of mine shook George Bush's hand once, though. :mask:

One last question, if you will bear with me for a little while longer. The engine is revving some, higher lower higher lower. Not much, but I think a change in the mixture would fix it. I have a "capped idle screw". I can get the plastic cap off, and I can adjust the idle screw. Just a little is all it would take. Problem is that the screw is so stinking loose that it moves on its own with the vibration of the mower. How do I "lock" it into place? I already tried slipping the cap back on, but it's still moving.

Once again, thank you!!

The idle screw should have a spring under it to keep pressure on it so it is stable, after you solve that problem, if the engine is still surging the carb is not clear an it will probably be necessary to remove it and soak it in a bath type cleaner and then blow out all holes, cracks and crevases with compressed air or brake parts cleaner. Don't get any rubber parts/gaskets in the carb cleaner. Have a good one. Geo

"I've never touched the Governor. A friend of mine shook George Bush's hand once, though.".....HA! That one made me chuckle!

The surging is still an indication of lean mixture. I can't recall for sure, but I'm thinking the screw behind the plastic cap is a jet, not the mixture adjustment. Take it out and see.