I have been trying to get this old Rover going and I am sure I did have it running when I first brought it home. However, I got around to having a look at it after a couple of weeks and could not get it to start. Spark and compression were fine and if I squirted some fuel into it, it would run until the prime ran out. I looked into the fuel tank and it had enough fuel for testing so I thought carburettor. I cleaned the carby but same thing. Changed the carby and same thing. It finally dawned on me to check the fuel. It looks like water. I wish I had just had the brains to test that first instead of all the rigmarole I went through.
I think it originally started because the carburettor initially must have had better fuel than what was in the tank which had become contaminated with water. That's the theory anyway.
Yep, always look at the fuel first, any mower you get that has sat for any period will have stale fuel. When the person you get a mower from says they have put fresh fuel in this translates to, I put some good fuel in with the rotten fuel so now it's only half rotten or they used fuel from the can in the shed which has sat for longer than the mower. Always drain the old and put fuel in You know is ok. If it has spark and compression it has to be a fuel issue.
Yes I try to look into fuel tank, see what is on the bottom, and drain it into a big pickle jar with a syphon.....if it's bad drain carb. This one needed a tuneup as it wasn't getting full revs or cutting properly. Sorted out the blade plate....... Fiddled with the springs on the B&S 375, got it revving a bit better. Topped up the old, cleaned the air filter.. They only wanted a $25 service and that's what they got. cheers speedy
........................Keep your blades sharp......................
That sounds like some the customer I get every once a while. Wanting diamonds but only willing to pay for lumps of coal. I just send them down the road to a local patcher. I am all the time getting his mishaps to straighten out.