Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Chatting => Equipment Shed => Topic started by: owein on April 05, 2010, 13:06

Title: mower wont start
Post by: owein on April 05, 2010, 13:06

Can anyone help please.
I have a champion self propelled lawnmower with a 160cc Honda engine.
I bought this new last year. It has never been a great starter but normaly after six or seven pulls gets going.
I've just got it out of the shed, filled it up and cant get even a splutter. There is a good spark though, I unscrewed the spark plug and checked.
Any suggestons greatly received.
Thanks in advance

Title: Re: mower wont start
Post by: Steven Rowe on April 05, 2010, 13:37

Buy a can of that "quick start " a little spray into the airfilter usealy gets my mower going or any other machine

Title: Re: mower wont start
Post by: richyrich7 on April 05, 2010, 13:38

Can you smell petrol on the plug ? sometimes it takes a while for the petrol to get through.

Title: Re: mower wont start
Post by: mower man on April 05, 2010, 19:40

Buy new petrol as unleaded petrol starts to go off after only 3 months
nowadays petrol does not have the additives in it like it used to. 

Title: Re: mower wont start
Post by: Gwiz on April 06, 2010, 05:35

on the carb bowl (if it's a genuine honda engine) it will have a bolt on the bottom, and a screw within a centimetre of it. The bolt is to remove the bowl, the screw is to drain out the stale petrol..............
(turn the petrol off before undoing the screw ;), and place an old rag under the bowl to catch the old fuel as it drains out) :)

If your machine is a bad starter, it probably isn't going fully onto choke, you might need to adjust that.....

Title: Re: mower wont start
Post by: Digger Tom on April 06, 2010, 12:04

 Put fresh fuel in it.

Title: Re: mower wont start
Post by: owein on April 07, 2010, 09:05

Thanks for all the replies.
I drained the carb as suggested and it is now staring, albeit reluctantly.
Will now try to adjust the choke as suggested.
Thanks again

Title: Re: mower wont start
Post by: smud6ie on April 07, 2010, 14:15

Quote from: owein on April 07, 2010, 09:05

Thanks for all the replies.
I drained the carb as suggested and it is now staring, albeit reluctantly.
Will now try to adjust the choke as suggested.
Thanks again

Adjusting the choke may be as simple as moving the position of throtle cable by slackening the clamp and pushing it either way until the choke closes.If you can see the butterfly when you remove the air filter it makes it easy to see when its closed.
smud6ie

Title: Re: mower wont start
Post by: owein on April 11, 2010, 22:12

Yep adjusting the choke was as simple as that.
Its starting like a dream now.
Wish I'd posted this at the beginning of last summer.
Thanks all again