Petrol lawnmower issues

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deankham
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Petrol lawnmower issues

Post by deankham » August 18, 2017, 12:26 pm

Hi guys,

Bought a Chinese petrol lawnmower from Thai Watsadu about 5 months ago.

The thing was having problems starting a few weeks ago where it would start then stall after about a minute. Finally got it going again but it was reving quite high.

Anyway a few weeks on and it started but then died after about a minute. Now I can't start it at all.

I've sprayed it with WD40 and taken the spark plug out rubbed it clean and replaced it. But its not even kicking over.

Any ideas of what to check?
When I bought it the sales guy was telling me that if I don't use it twice a week I must drain the petrol. Well I've not really been doing that although I generally only use a tiny bit petrol anyway just enough to cut the lawn.

I will take it back to Thai Watsadu but really wanted to cut the grass today.

Cheers.

PS its a Euroe brand with a 5hp four stroke ovh motor.



glalt
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Re: Petrol lawnmower issues

Post by glalt » August 18, 2017, 12:41 pm

Take out the spark plug, reconnect the wire and lay it on a metal part of the engine. Pull the start cord and see if it has spark. If it has spark then it is a fuel problem. Lack of fuel can be caused by a number of things.

You could have your wife hold the plug wire for your test without removing the spark plug. Before you try that, make sure that there is nothing laying around that she can hit you with. Be ready to defend yourself.

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Wee Jimmy
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Re: Petrol lawnmower issues

Post by Wee Jimmy » August 18, 2017, 1:21 pm

Had same problem with a wee generator l bought. When you take the plug out check to see if it is wet (petrol). Pour a little petrol in the plug hole and try again.
The problem l had was that the on-off valve on the tank was a bit high inside the tank and l had to tilt the generator to one side so as to get petrol to the carb. Alternatively make sure the tank is full.

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Re: Petrol lawnmower issues

Post by fdimike » August 18, 2017, 8:25 pm

If you've been using gasohol the problem is most likely in the carburetor. The alcohol warps the delicate membranes sitting just below the carburetor. You may get by just replacing the membranes and not the carburetor. You should use ONLY gasoline (benzene) in lawn equipment.
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Stantheman
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Re: Petrol lawnmower issues

Post by Stantheman » August 18, 2017, 10:14 pm

fdimike wrote:
August 18, 2017, 8:25 pm
If you've been using gasohol the problem is most likely in the carburetor. The alcohol warps the delicate membranes sitting just below the carburetor. You may get by just replacing the membranes and not the carburetor. You should use ONLY gasoline (benzene) in lawn equipment.
fdmike might be right on the gasohol as it is a Chinese engine. Here in U.S. it is hard to find anything but gasohol at most stations. One thing I have learned is NEVER use any gasohol over 10 percent as it stalls my Briggs and Stratton engine. Also if you remove the spark plug and get a spark when cranking as a few times you should also see/smell the fuel from the spark plug hole. If you have both spark and fuel you may have a defective spark plug or one that has to big of a gap.

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Re: Petrol lawnmower issues

Post by vlad » August 18, 2017, 10:39 pm

Sounds like fuel problem check carb jets and filter if it has 1 on the fuel line somewhere.

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deankham
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Re: Petrol lawnmower issues

Post by deankham » August 18, 2017, 11:17 pm

Thanks to all for advice
I took the spark plug out again and its black. Also interested in comment about gashol. I've used petrol (91) from the little pump around the corner. No idea of quality or type of petrol???

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Hoopoe
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Re: Petrol lawnmower issues

Post by Hoopoe » August 19, 2017, 3:10 am

I have petrol strimmer's & lawm mower's , had trouble with all , a lot less problems using 95 ,also i drain all tanks after use and then run m/c's until there's no petrol left in them, also filter petrol before putting into tank , as daft as it sounds i have found minute dirt in the petrol ,

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Re: Petrol lawnmower issues

Post by fdimike » August 19, 2017, 5:34 am

If you check with any of the lawn equipment shops around town they'll tell you the same thing. Do not use gasohol (no matter what octane it is) in any type of gasoline powered lawn equipment. I know of people with 4 stroke motorbikes having the same problem with gasohol if it has a carburetor. The alcohol will warp the two thin diaphragms that sit under the carburetor which regulate the passage of air/gasoline. The only solution is to replace the two diaphragms and maybe the carburetor as well. Pure gasoline (benzene, petrol ) is available at nearly all the PTT stations around Udon. It only comes in 95 octane which will work just fine. The Thais refer to it as BENZENE.
I have a genuine head to toe Honda lawn mower here in Thailand and use only 100% gasoline in it and have never had a problem as described by the OP. I suspect the lawn equipment in the US is made to accept gasohol.
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parrot
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Re: Petrol lawnmower issues

Post by parrot » August 19, 2017, 4:06 pm

Likewise, I've got a 7 year old Honda lawnmower engine (on a non-Honda lawnmower body), a Honda weedwacker, a chainsaw, 2 hedge trimmers, and a real-deal Honda mower (6 months old)......all fed PTT benzene (only). No issues other than normal wear and tear. I don't drain my tanks during the non-cutting season....but I'll usually start each one up every month or so just for fun.

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Re: Petrol lawnmower issues

Post by FrazeeDK » August 19, 2017, 4:15 pm

gasohol ate the fuel line in my Chinese built "strimmer".. Took it to a neighborhood shop that replaced the dissolved fuel line and it runs OK.. My mower is using gasohol 91 (can't find yellow benzene too many places).. It regularly gets the plug fouled enough to cause the engine to die.. I've got several plugs so have a clean one to swap in when I'm mowing.... The Trials and Tribulations of using poorly engineered Chinese engines I reckon. On the plus side my Chines built mower (with stickers saying "Made in Germany" (utter BS) will run for several hours on a tank of gas and that's something my U.S. built old GCV160 Honda engined mower would never do.
Dave

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Re: Petrol lawnmower issues

Post by minimiglia » August 19, 2017, 6:23 pm

I never use gasahol crap in anything here,only proper Benzine 95 loads of PTT and Caltex outlets sell it

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