Lawnmower, bad gas, how do I fix my lawmower ?

Question

This is the lawnmower nightmare. I put some dirty gas in it and it cost me $140 in all to get it fixed so I left the gas can (plastic) open and empty to air out but I guess some cobwebs or ?? got in it so I went to get more gas and then put it in my newly fixed $140 lawnmower and I think I put dirty gas in again. It runs sometimes and the engine kind of lopes along. What can I do besides get smarter :0 sorry, female here, not clear thinking , but what happens, does it clog something or something I can clean out ? Please don't slam me my life is a struggle as it is . AND I'M ON A VERY FIXED BUDGET SO THIS IS REALLY AN ISSUE AND HAVE NO MAN TO FIX IT. AND CAN'T AFFORD A MAN :)

Answer 1

LOL - i like the cant afford a man bit .
Do you have some basic tools? You can fix it yourself.
Heres what y do:
Take some pictures of the carburator( the gastank /fuel lines run into it) , usually on the left side of the motor ( looking from behind it) to help assembly by showing where linkages/cables are.
Start to remove in order ( and lay out in order) the parts, remove the carburator ( held on with a couple bolts).
Lay out on a large flat surface, two clean shop towels ( not kitchen towels as theyll get ruined) - and a couple for wiping.
Buy some spray carburator cleaner or from NAPA autoparts a carb cleaner bath to soak them.
Again, in order start removing parts from the carb assy- the only parts that can be left in are the throttle/choke plates ( round swinging 'valves' inside carb)
Piece by piece- thouroughly clean the carb, and all the small pinholes inside. Lay out in order on the clean towel.
Inspect each part, make sure nothings damaged, if they are you can get replacement parts ( youd need the motor brand, and numbers stamped in the flywheel shroud or on a tag somewhere on the motor). Take the old parts with you to match them up.
Cleanly and carefully reassemble the carb in order. Youll come across two adjustable screws - one on the carb top/side( this is the air mix screw) and one in the float bowl ( round part on bottom of carb - this is the fuel mix screw) - gently turn these all the way in, then turn them out 1 1/2 turns ( this is an inital setting to start the motor).
Continue by re attaching the carb/linkages back on the motor, leaving the aircleaner off , for now ( sits atop the carb). Make sure the old gas is removed, put fresh new gas in it.
Try and start the motor, it should start. Adjust the fuel mix screw out till the motor stumbles, then back in till smooths out. The air mix screw should be fine as is.
Attach the aircleaner assy and it should be good to go.
Let me know if you have any problems.
Kidd

Answer 2

Bad Gas In Lawnmower

Answer 3

Just replace the gas. You probably didnt hurt anything.
You just need some fresh gas and some starting fluid.

You just need to remove the bad gas, and flush it out of the carburator bowel. Sounds like the engine is still running even with the bad gas, so you are in good shape.

If you can get the mower running with good gas, then you have fixed it. That simple. So you dont need to folllow all of the instructions posted by me or other posters. just dump the bad gas, add good gas, and start the mower, and let it burn through the bad gas left in the carburator.

By the way, gasoline is a mixture is different length carbon chain hydrocarbons. Each has a different boiling point, so some evaporate at lower temperatures than others.
The good stuff ( heptane, hexane, octane etc) evaporate easily if you leave the lid off of the gas can leaving the thicker kerosene like molecules. So you left the lid off, and let out all of the good stuff leaving the thick kerosene like stuff behind. But your mower needs high octane fuel to run properly.
Also if you leave the gasoline in your mower over the winter season, the same thing will happen, it will turn to jelly inside your carburator.

So at the end of every season, be sure to run the mower until it is out of gas before you store it.
Then no problems in the spring. This is also a good time to change the oil, just before storage for the winter.


- - - - - -
Ok, here is the long version....
You will need a fire extinguisher, a can of starter fluid, perhaps a funnel, some paper towels or cloth rags, and maybe some motor oil 1 quart 10W30. If you decide to change the oil, you will need a few quarts.
( you dont need to change oil due to bad gas).

Be careful, due to the risk of fire. So get an extinguisher near by just in case.

Do this outside ! Well ventelated area, keep the kids back, exposed gasoline and blades are dangerous.

Find a large pan, like a cat litter pan.
Pull the spark plug wire off of the spark plug, and tape it back, so it cant touch. This is to prevent the mower starting, while it is upside down.

Find the air filter for the carburator. It is a small metal box just above the carburator. The lid is usually held on by one large screw. Remove the large screw ( should be easy), and remove the "sponge like" air filter.

Remove the gas cap, and flip the mower onto its side (upside-down) to dump out the gas onto the pan.
Rock it back and forth and allow all of the gas to drain out.
It it hard to get all of the gas out this way, due to the shape of the gas tank, doesnt allow all of the gas to pour out when upside down.

Flip it back up, and add some more fresh gas( dont fill it, you are going to pour it out anyway).
Pull the starting cord a bunch of times as if starting. The mower shouldnt try to start, because you removed the spark plug.
Be sure that you are no where near that pan of gasoline just incase.
Then repeat a few times until you are pouring out fresh gas from the tank. Be sure to pull the cord a bunch of times while some fresh gas is in the tank to flush the old gas out of the carburator.

After you have done that at least a few times and have some fresh gas in the tank, close the mower gas tank lid.

Move the mower away from the gas pan, and can of good gasoline, so you can try to start the mower.

Re-attach the spark plug.

At any autoparts store, "Autozone" "O'reillys", probably Wallmart etc buy a can of "Starting Fluid ( spray)". This should be cheap, just a few bucks. You will probably need this. Very helpful.


At this point you should check the motor oil for the mower.
Always a good idea, and some may have drained out while the mower was up-side down.

There is usually a small dip stick, which can be removed by turning a small metal lid the size of a quarter, counter clock wise. Remove the dip stick, and wipe it off.

Re-insert, then remove, and check the dip stick guage.
If needed, add a small amount of oil using a funnel, and re-measure.
Be sure you have enough, but not too much. The oil should look like honey. If it is a little dark, that is ok, but if it is black, you should drain and replace the oil.
(Adding bad gas does not affect the color of your oil, so replacing the oil is a different issue unaffected by your choice of gas, so generally, you can skip this step.)
You can dump it out with the lid off, just like the gas. ( if you added gas, of course it will dump out as well, so if you plan to replace the oil, do it when the gas tank is empty).

Ok at this point, you should have oil, and some fresh gas, spark plug wire attached. The carburator air filter is still off, and you can see down into the carburator.

There is usually a rubber priming button on the side of the carburator, about the size of a half dollar. Press this button three times, pausing between each stroke.
Get the starter fluid, and spray directly into the carburator opening for a few seconds, then "quickly" try to start the mower. The fluid evaporates rapidly, so dont take too long.

The mower should try to start, but may be fowled with oil, and bad gas from the carburator. Press the rubber plunger only once, and spray more starting fluid into the carburator.
Try again.
Continue the attempt but dont press the plunger, just spray start fluid, and continue to try.

If the spark plug is working, the mower will start. Let it run for a bit to burn off the bad gas from the carburator bowel.
If it stalls, just keep restarting it with start fluid until it runs smoothly.


The starting fluid should work like magic, if you want to take a short cut, just quickly dump the old gas once, replace with good fresh gas, and spray start fluid directly into the air filter.


May the force be with you....

Answer 4

Swallow your pride (tastes terrible doesn't it) and walk next door. Ask the guy there for help. If he can't help he knows someone who can. If you try to fix it yourself while under-the-gun you'll mess it up and end up spending money you don't need to be spending. Let the grass grow for a while and the neighbors will be EAGER to assist.

We're all in this together y'know - this thing called life. Let the neighbors help. You may make a new friend.

Answer 5

Remove the gas tank, [it has a filter in it, ] turn it upside down to empty it, blow thru the gas line , [where it comes from the tank] place it back on mower, fill with gas, [hint use a coffee filter to strain the gas from your can, ]