Manly Men of Reddit. Help! My husband, who is not handy, can’t get out push lawnmower to start.
Last Fall he ran it until it was out of gas, then added Stabil to the tank (no gas was in it). I told him to add gas as it is an additive for the gas…not meant to be in the tank alone. He didn’t do that. Because apparently what do I know…Now it’s Spring and he added gas to the tank and now it won’t start. Are we in the market for a new lawnmower?
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I don’t consider myself a manly man, but one who is cheap.
I’m not gonna pay anyone to service my truck or mower if there’s a damn YouTube video showing me how to do it myself.
Anyway, here ya go https://homeguides.sfgate.com/use-carb-cleaner-spray-lawnmower-82505.html
Stupid obvious question first: is the blade so gummed up with old dried grass that it can’t spin freely? No? Ok, with that out of the way, try starter fluid. Take off the air filter (making sure it’s reasonably free of leaves/grass first so nothing falls in the carburetor), spray starter fluid into carb intake, try to start. It might just magically work. And if you put the filter back on and it dies again, the filter likely needs to be cleaned or replaced.
If it only runs for a second, even with a clean filter–the next easy test is see if fuel is actually getting to the carburetor: if you keep trying to start it and it keeps not working, you will probably be able to smell unburnt gas (which means it’s ‘flooded’ with fuel and won’t start anyway until some of it evaporates). Look at the fuel line/filter and see if there’s any obvious crap in there. If the lines are clear and you wait for it to un-flood and it still won’t run (or even start), take the carb off the mower and hose it out with carb cleaner. Disassemble and REALLY clean it if it’s visibly crusted in old dried fuel (or old dried Sta-bil).
Then if it still doesn’t work when it’s all back together, you might as well check the spark plug, just for something to do while you wait for your husband to bring home your new lawnmower. :p
The things people will do to an electric mower…
Remove the plug. Let the lawnmower dry out overnight. Replace the plug with a new one. Remove the old gas from the lawnmower. Replace it with new gas. Try starting it. It may take a few attempts. But it should start eventually.