I was working on one of these today and it just wouldn't start. bit of starter fluid and it fired instantly. Choke was fully closed. What I ended up doing was plug one of the holes in the choke butterfly, no difference. Plugged the second one and it now starts easily. I think I will now plug the holes now with some casting cement
Something to watch out for with these engines is when they are like you mention Norm , the compression can be low, if the comp is low even if you get them to start well cold they can be very difficult to start hot if it's a compression issue.
I've had a lot of mowers that do the same thing ,start on starter fluid easily but harder to start without starter fluid ,most of them I throw them out as when I test the compression pressure with the comp tester on a hose the comp is under 50 psi, you loose around 15 psi with the comp tester having a hose on it. When I use these mowers to cut grass they lack a little power and stall a little easier in long grass ,then when the motor is hot and stalls in long grass they are a pain to start again ,some times taking a lot of goes on the starter to get going again ,so this is why I don't bother fixing these mower engines if under 50 psi (65psi with the stumpy comp tester),.
If you haven't tested the comp pressure or tested the mower when it's hot cutting grass it may be too worn out. I have one now that is the same as your one to start and I won't be fixing it as the comp is under 50psi.
The last few years it hasn't been worth fixing mowers to sell ,there is an abundance of mowers advertised online ,you virtually need to delete your mower ad and re-advertise it every day otherwise the listing gets too many pages away from a search.
When looking on gumtree the mowers that were advertised 3 days ago are 10 pages away from a search.Most sellers just relist them every few days and it would still take me over a month to sell a cheap refurbished mower.
I like the ad that says don't bother contacting me if you don't have 2 stroke experience.
I also got sick of the people buying 2 stroke mowers from me that didn't have a clue so I just stopped selling them, one guy kept coming back for spark plugs because he kept breaking them off when he cut along his rock wall ,not sure why he couldn't just buy a new spark plug at a shop or fix the rock wall.
I'll have to get rid of a few trailer loads too, I haven't sold scrap metal for ages now ,last time it was 45 cents a kg but I think it's going to be around 35 cents now.
Hi Max, Yesterday afternoon I had a Maori bloke bring in a Stihl whipper snipper, he wanted me to tune it. I had a look at the fuel and it was completely clear. I started questioning him about who put the fuel in and he said he did, but he got the fuel from his brother. After that he just kept mumbling and telling me there was oil in it but maybe he didn't put enough in and being very evasive. I said I couldn't understand what he was saying and then he stormed off saying he was going to take it back to where he got it from
We certainly have a lot more fuel related problems here in Aus when we stopped using leaded fuel .
Australia's fuel is among the dirtiest in the world and we're not doing anything about it.
Australia is one of only six countries in the OECD not to have any vehicle-emissions standards. Our fuel quality is also among the worst in the group, with a maximum of 150 parts per million (ppm) of sulphur for 91 octane regular unleaded, and up to 50 ppm for our 95 and 98 premium unleaded
My neighbour wanted his newish Honda whipper snipper fixed so I put a new carby on it and cleaned out the tank and filter ,then 12 months later brings it back and the primer won't prime ,I just took the fuel lines off and blew compressed air down into the carby fuel lines to clear a blockage and it worked like new again.
I can relate to that Max, yesterday I pulled the carbies off my Honda because it wasn't running on number 4. Cleaned number 4 carby out, put them back on and still not running on number 4. Pulled the bowl of it and a lot of rubbish in it. pulled the jets cleaned them, put it back together and it fired up. Couldn't understand where the rubbish had come from because I am using my fuel bottle. Anyway today I started it up and not running on number 1. Can't understand it but there must have been something in the fuel bottle, only thing I can think of.
I never had so many fuel blockages when I left super fuel in old engine carbies and fuel tanks.
As we know unleaded only has a shelf life of 3 to 6 months before it starts to degrade but degrades quicker depending on how it's stored.
Sounds like your fuel may have gone off ,as we know just leaving air in a bottle of fuel can cause quicker oxidation ,This process can lead to the formation of gums and varnishes that can clog fuel filters ,carbies and injectors.If you get a little moisture in a fuel container it can expedite this process.
Yes Max, Fuel problems have certainly escalated since the old leaded fuel was removed from sale. Just means my ultrasonic cleaner gets a good workout all the time. Putting the Chonda carbies through it means I can usually get the main jet out, no hope if I don't put them through the bath first
