15 million prize family chat

[RaceGun59]

Thank you all, so much! You guys are the best!!!

Woohoo she's here now.
The spanking can commence.

 

[Lannie]

Sort of... Only slept a few hours and have been kind of slow getting on here today

I know THAT feeling. I hate it. MORE COFFEE!!!!!

Well, I looked up one of our "local" LOL! news stations and couldn't find anything about fires except an oil tanker truck that caught fire on the freeway near Gillette (WY) a couple days ago, a house fire in Rapid two weeks ago, and a couple of former SD firefighters who were killed in the Washington and California wildfires. So maybe it IS the smoke from one or more of those fires that's coming all the way over here. It's awful thick, though. Seems like it would be something closer, like Montana or Wyoming or something. If it is, our news outlet doesn't know anything about it.

~Lannie

 

[faeriekitsune]

My lawn has gone into starvation mode. With no rain, it hasn't grown much so I haven't needed to mow for about three weeks now. I do need to take care of the weeds though, I have some weeds that has grown to be almost 3 or 4 feet tall.

Can I come live with you?

Hubby or son will have to do ours.. I have no idea how to use the lawnmower. It is one of those industrial ride on things.

Lol. Ours is a four wheel drive self propelled walk behind. It still has issues with our yard. If I could get my hands on one of those old school spinning blade ones, it'd do great. Push it down the hill, drag it back up, repeat. A riding mower would tip over at our house!

We are the opposite.. We have had so much rain the grass is growing at a ridiculous rate.

I would say please can we have a drought but then my garden would die again. We get 4-6 inches growth in three days.

 

[Amraann]

I know THAT feeling. I hate it. MORE COFFEE!!!!!

Well, I looked up one of our "local" LOL! news stations and couldn't find anything about fires except an oil tanker truck that caught fire on the freeway near Gillette (WY) a couple days ago, a house fire in Rapid two weeks ago, and a couple of former SD firefighters who were killed in the Washington and California wildfires. So maybe it IS the smoke from one or more of those fires that's coming all the way over here. It's awful thick, though. Seems like it would be something closer, like Montana or Wyoming or something. If it is, our news outlet doesn't know anything about it.

~Lannie

Call the local fire department and ask them about the smoke. They will probably know.

 

[RaceGun59]

Our grass (acres of it) is getting pretty shaggy after our recent rains, too. Rich WOULD be out there mowing, but our mower has been on the fritz for one reason or another all summer. First the blades were chewed up. Ordered new, BETTER blades. Put those on, and the deck belt shredded. Ordered another belt (plus a spare, we no dummies), put the new belt on and IT shredded. Rich spent a day and a half underneath the thing (it's a riding mower), and finally found some little metal piece that had been bent and chewed, which was hitting the belt and shredding it. Got that bent back into place and filed smooth, and now it won't start. Just will not start. He's tried everything. There's fuel getting to the carb, and there's spark from the plug, but they're not acting in concert. I don't know if riding mowers have timing chains, but if they do, this one jumped A LOT. So all we have is the little push mower, and he's been doing his best to keep the grass around the immediate house area cut, but it's a formidable job for an old phart with a push mower. Today I'm letting the horses out. There's a bunch of beautiful, new, soft, green grass growing down in the southwest corner (it's a low spot so it gets extra water), and quite a bit of nice alfalfa, so I'm hoping the horses can help trim it back, and get a bellyful at the same time. I wish I could let them out to graze the ditches. The alfalfa is almost three feet tall out there already.

~Lannie

@Lannie

I just love to tinker so can I take a crack at the mower?
1. Did you check the spark from the wire to the end of the spark plug? You should take the plug out and see if it fire at the electrode end.. if he tilted the mower plug could be oil fouled.
2.Crank the engine over several time with the spark plug out. If it got to much gas in the cylinder(flooded) it won't fire.This will clear out the cylinder.
3. Try a new spark plug. Sometimes they will fire in free air but not under compression in the cylinder.
4. lawnmowers don't have timing chains, but the flywheel is keyed to the crankshaft. I have seen the key shear and the crankshaft stops, and the flywheel will move enough to get out of time. Timing is done by the flywheel passing the magneto and creating the spank at the time the valves are closed. usuall a engine out of time with backfire out the carb or fire out the muffler.
5. Lean real close and in a soft soothing voice threaten to take it to the junk yard. Oops, that usually works with Ford trucks.

 

[Lannie]

Call the local fire department and ask them about the smoke. They will probably know.

We don't have a local fire department (just the neighbors with trucks, and they only deal with fires they can see), so I'd have to maybe call Rapid City or somewhere in that area, and we don't have free long distance. I don't wanna know THAT bad.

~Lannie

 

[RaceGun59]

We don't have a local fire department (just the neighbors with trucks, and they only deal with fires they can see), so I'd have to maybe call Rapid City or somewhere in that area, and we don't have free long distance. I don't wanna know THAT bad.

~Lannie

 

[Lannie]

I meant "neighbors with tractors."

 

[RaceGun59]

^^^ Hopes that helps

 

[jseah]

Looks like there are quite a number of fires up in the Washington and Idaho areas?

 

[Lannie]

Oh, thank you! Wow, looks like Idaho is taking a big hit with the fires, as well as Oregon, Washington, and California. Whewee! And we're just in the "light" smoke area? Yowza.

~Lannie

 

[RaceGun59]

sounds like what will happen when we cloud up the grand canyon.

 

[Lannie]

sounds like what will happen when we cloud up the grand canyon.

PERZACKLY! LOL!

By the way, where did you find that? I see the NOAA logo on it, but how did you find that map, anyway?

~Lannie

 

[Fuzzy Thunderbear]

1. Did you check the spark from the wire to the end of the spark plug? You should take the plug out and see if it fire at the electrode end.. if he tilted the mower plug could be oil fouled.
2.Crank the engine over several time with the spark plug out. If it got to much gas in the cylinder(flooded) it won't fire.This will clear out the cylinder.
3. Try a new spark plug. Sometimes they will fire in free air but not under compression in the cylinder.
4. lawnmowers don't have timing chains, but the flywheel is keyed to the crankshaft. I have seen the key shear and the crankshaft stops, and the flywheel will move enough to get out of time. Timing is done by the flywheel passing the magneto and creating the spank at the time the valves are closed. usuall a engine out of time with backfire out the carb or fire out the muffler.
5. Lean real close and in a soft soothing voice threaten to take it to the junk yard. Oops, that usually works with Ford trucks.

Well, maybe I should respond to this directly instead of using Lannie as an interpreter.

It was running just fine, no unusual sounds or backfires or anything. Because the mower quit "as if" it just ran out of gas (and there was still half a tank), after I pushed it back to the shop, the first thing I checked was to see if the gas line was plugged or if the gas filter wasn't letting anything through. I pulled the gas line off at the carb and the gas just poured out of the hose (via gravity feed), so that wasn't the problem. Next, I took the plug out to see if it was fouled. No. I cleaned it anyway and checked the gap, then hooked it to the plug wire and grounded the threads while I cranked the engine. The plug was firing beautifully. I scratched my head for awhile and, even though I am not a small engine mechanic (this is a single cylinder B&S 500cc 4-stroke, electric start), assumed that because there is gas available to the carb and there is a good spark, either the timing is way off or nothing is getting through the carb to the cylinder. I first checked and cleaned the air filter to make sure the carb had air available, then checked the two visible screws on the side of the carb that adjust the mixture - they were still firmly at factory positions. Short of a needle valve inside being gummed up, I have no further clues. Because we are over 100 miles (one way) from any place that would carry spare parts for, or do maintenance on, this beast (Sears Craftsman - now made totally in China), I cannot easily get a carb rebuild kit (assuming I have to take it apart due to sticky needle valve or something). I bought this a little over two years ago. It lasted one year exactly and did this exact same thing. I called warranty service because it had a two-year warranty. They walked me through all the things they expect a customer to be able to do. None of it worked, so they delivered a new mower (same model, of course) and took the old one away. Now, 16 months later, this one has died (4 months after the warranty expired). I already told it that if it didn't start, I was going to shoot it and push it 's body off a cliff, but it still didn't start and I don't want to waste a good bullet. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[USMCotaku]

Can of carb cleaner, strip carb down, clean, reassemble
Sent with one hand, the other is busy vaping.

 

[Kprthevapr]

Well, maybe I should respond to this directly instead of using Lannie as an interpreter.

It was running just fine, no unusual sounds or backfires or anything. Because the mower quit "as if" it just ran out of gas (and there was still half a tank), after I pushed it back to the shop, the first thing I checked was to see if the gas line was plugged or if the gas filter wasn't letting anything through. I pulled the gas line off at the carb and the gas just poured out of the hose (via gravity feed), so that wasn't the problem. Next, I took the plug out to see if it was fouled. No. I cleaned it anyway and checked the gap, then hooked it to the plug wire and grounded the threads while I cranked the engine. The plug was firing beautifully. I scratched my head for awhile and, even though I am not a small engine mechanic (this is a single cylinder B&S 500cc 4-stroke, electric start), assumed that because there is gas available to the carb and there is a good spark, either the timing is way off or nothing is getting through the carb to the cylinder. I first checked and cleaned the air filter to make sure the carb had air available, then checked the two visible screws on the side of the carb that adjust the mixture - they were still firmly at factory positions. Short of a needle valve inside being gummed up, I have no further clues. Because we are over 100 miles (one way) from any place that would carry spare parts for, or do maintenance on, this beast (Sears Craftsman - now made totally in China), I cannot easily get a carb rebuild kit (assuming I have to take it apart due to sticky needle valve or something). I bought this a little over two years ago. It lasted one year exactly and did this exact same thing. I called warranty service because it had a two-year warranty. They walked me through all the things they expect a customer to be able to do. None of it worked, so they delivered a new mower (same model, of course) and took the old one away. Now, 16 months later, this one has died (4 months after the warranty expired). I already told it that if it didn't start, I was going to shoot it and push it 's body off a cliff, but it still didn't start and I don't want to waste a good bullet. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Is the battery dead? Loose wire from the starter, if it cranks by key?

 

[RaceGun59]

Well, maybe I should respond to this directly instead of using Lannie as an interpreter.

It was running just fine, no unusual sounds or backfires or anything. Because the mower quit "as if" it just ran out of gas (and there was still half a tank), after I pushed it back to the shop, the first thing I checked was to see if the gas line was plugged or if the gas filter wasn't letting anything through. I pulled the gas line off at the carb and the gas just poured out of the hose (via gravity feed), so that wasn't the problem. Next, I took the plug out to see if it was fouled. No. I cleaned it anyway and checked the gap, then hooked it to the plug wire and grounded the threads while I cranked the engine. The plug was firing beautifully. I scratched my head for awhile and, even though I am not a small engine mechanic (this is a single cylinder B&S 500cc 4-stroke, electric start), assumed that because there is gas available to the carb and there is a good spark, either the timing is way off or nothing is getting through the carb to the cylinder. I first checked and cleaned the air filter to make sure the carb had air available, then checked the two visible screws on the side of the carb that adjust the mixture - they were still firmly at factory positions. Short of a needle valve inside being gummed up, I have no further clues. Because we are over 100 miles (one way) from any place that would carry spare parts for, or do maintenance on, this beast (Sears Craftsman - now made totally in China), I cannot easily get a carb rebuild kit (assuming I have to take it apart due to sticky needle valve or something). I bought this a little over two years ago. It lasted one year exactly and did this exact same thing. I called warranty service because it had a two-year warranty. They walked me through all the things they expect a customer to be able to do. None of it worked, so they delivered a new mower (same model, of course) and took the old one away. Now, 16 months later, this one has died (4 months after the warranty expired). I already told it that if it didn't start, I was going to shoot it and push it 's body off a cliff, but it still didn't start and I don't want to waste a good bullet. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Ok, if it has a choke, did you look when the air cleaner was off to set if the choke plate was opn, in the vertical position? Cables have been know to break or come loose and the choke close.
You can pour just a little bit of gas directly in the carb and see if it starts and runs until that gas is used up. That will eliminate any timing issues.
With the air cleaner off does it appear all the throttle linkage is there? if something broke or fell off the system is designed to cut off fuel flow so the engine doesn't accelerate itself apart.
Don't get upset, but was it gas that came out when you had the fuel line off? My rider that set outside was get enough water in the tank after a few months that it would quit. I had to drain the gas tank and drain the bowl on the carb. older gas cans that inadvertently set outside will collect water in them too.

Only suggesting these things from experience. If man makes it, it will break. Good luck.

 

[Fuzzy Thunderbear]

Can of carb cleaner, strip carb down, clean, reassemble

If I disassemble the carb, then new gaskets must be installed and I don't have spares. That will have to wait as a last resort (like maybe I can fashion some new gaskets out of waxed cardboard)...

Is the battery dead? Loose wire from the starter, if it cranks by key?

Yes, the battery has been dead for a long time, but I always start it with a charger on START setting. Once it is running, the battery holds a charge for a few hours (i.e., it will restart that same day without the charger, but the next day I have to use the charger again). This implies the generator is functional, but the battery itself has bad cell(s). One of these days, maybe I will be able to buy a new battery, but I am sure that is not the cause of it dying.

Ok, if it has a choke, did you look when the air cleaner was off to set if the choke plate was opn, in the vertical position? Cables have been know to break or come loose and the choke close.
You can pour just a little bit of gas directly in the carb and see if it starts and runs until that gas is used up. That will eliminate any timing issues.
With the air cleaner off does it appear all the throttle linkage is there? if something broke or fell off the system is designed to cut off fuel flow so the engine doesn't accelerate itself apart.
Don't get upset, but was it gas that came out when you had the fuel line off? My rider that set outside was get enough water in the tank after a few months that it would quit. I had to drain the gas tank and drain the bowl on the carb. older gas cans that inadvertently set outside will collect water in them too.

The throttle and choke are one lever. This engine is designed to operate at full throttle all the time, so the choke is merely one step beyond full throttle. There is no pedal to step on to make it go faster (or slower). That is done via the "speed" lever, which merely adjusts the belt tension on the differential to simulate gear changes, which also causes the brake pedal to change position (clutch and brake on one pedal). There's about 8 steps from turtle to jack rabbit speeds. However, I will look to see if any linkage has come off, though somehow I doubt it. The carb is sufficiently out in the open (after opening the hood anyway) that anything dangling would have been immediately apparent. That does not mean something is not bent in a place I could not readily see. This POS mower was designed to mow "lawns." I often run it over six-food thistles. I expect way too much from my cheap tools.

The gas poured in the carb by hand, then running it until it quits will adjust timing issues??? is that because the flywheel will slip when run dry? ???

No water in the fuel. I store all my equipment that has engines and/or batteries either in the garage or in the shop and I rarely ever even use them on wet or rainy days. Also, I never leave gas caps off for longer than it takes to refuel, which is always done inside the shop. Highly unlikely that the fuel is contaminated.

I will go out and try the gas-in-carb trick and look for loose cables, then come back to this. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[RaceGun59]

@redrebel821

 

[redrebel821]

@redrebel821

Awww, how cute!!! Thanks!!!!