0 Turn mower is repaired

I am finding it difficult to find the time to keep my website current. Life is coming in fast and I am along for the ride. The weather today is excellent and I found a few minutes to make a post about my experience fixing my lawn mower. About 2 weeks ago my lawn mower started having problems. It would run ok for a while but then it started to bog down an eventually die. At first I thought it was a resistance problem because it seemed to be fine mowing my home lawn. When I attempted to mow my land where the grass is thicker and longer, the problem really showed itself. I decided to begin troubleshooting and of course AI is my tool of choice.

AI immediately determined there was a fuel delivery problem. With confidence AI said I needed to check my fuel filter. My mower is over 5 years old so I decided rather than test the filter, I’d just replace it. It was an $8 gamble but sadly that wasn’t my problem. Next AI told me the #1 failure for my model of mower was the fuel pump. I found a parts dealer in Corsicana and I drove out there to pick up my part. I was told the part would be about $15 but in reality they charged me about $37. Still small peanuts to get my mower repaired. It was a quick process to swap out the fuel pump but sadly that also wasn’t the problem. Next AI told me it had to be the carburetor so I began tearing into that. I spent several hours working with that carburetor and took the entire thing apart only to find that the bowl and jet for this particular design was not serviceable. What? A disposable carburetor…apparently so. I purchased a new OEM part for about $250. Still small price to pay to return my mower to service. It took me about an hour or so to swap out the new carburetor but sadly, that also wasn’t my problem.

AI wanted me to go deeper into the engine suggesting that ignition coils was my problem but I stopped listening. I needed to marinate on my problem. One morning and a fresh attitude, I began my own research. I eventually stumbled on a video about a Briggs & Stratton V twin that would run for a bit, then die. In the video the creator suggested it was grass in the gas line. How does grass get into the fuel line? I decided to go ahead and take apart my fuel tank and get a closer look at the fuel pickup line. When I removed the pick up there was some debris visible in the tank. I blew out the line and a little debris came out, not much at all. But I kept looking in the tank and that is when I spotted the smoking gun. There was a leaf chunk floating around in the gas. Could that be my problem?

It’s not exactly easy to get debris out of a mower’s gas tank. There are baffles that are designed to keep fuel in the tank after an accidental spill. I had to siphon most of the gas out and then I had to manually manipulate the tank to get the rest of the gas and small debris out of the tank. The leaf and some other nasty thing that wouldn’t come out. I ended up having to use a grabber tool to fish out. With patience I was able to get the stuff out of my tank.

To my delight, that was the end of my troubleshooting ordeal. After reassembly and refilling the tank with new gas I was able to complete my mowing job. While AI didn’t directly solve my problem, it did correctly diagnose the problem as a fuel delivery problem. Perhaps if I had inspected the contents of the tank in the beginning I could have saved myself a few hundred dollars. Instead I have great experience on how to maintain a B&S V Twin motor’s fuel delivery system.