UPDATE: small engine/riding mower is being donated to Habitat. I want grass cut, not me/mechanic

[UTUSN]

Last edited Sat Aug 6, 2016, 11:26 AM - Edit history (2)

(Changed the thread title for UPDATE, in post #10/below. Original title of thread: "It's that time again, tech help inappropriately in Lounge (the best): small engine/riding mower" )

Can't post the pic here because it required Adobe Flash, which led to a separate problem but that's another thing. So the thing can be seen in this link: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Murray-24-Rear-Engine-Riding-Mower/29558093?action=product_interest&action_type=title&item_id=29558093&placement_id=irs-106-t1&strategy=PWVAV&visitor_id&category=&client_guid=a32f372c-86d8-4f36-97ba-c8f097252774&customer_id_enc&config_id=106&parent_item_id=49532829&parent_anchor_item_id=49532829&guid=660d9085-8976-46a6-b43d-776fa0f9dbe9&bucket_id=irsbucketdefault&beacon_version=1.0.1&findingMethod=p13n

So I thought this would be the answer to OldAge+PushGasMower, but it ain't. The thing is over 300 pounds, gets clogged underneath, is overpowering. But the main problem is my lack of basic mechanical knowledge.

But to skip the navel gazing: The problem at hand is that there has been no need to cut dead grass for the past six months and it has sat, yes with gas in the tank. The first month I dutifully started it up every few days, then I lost interest in that.

So last week I tried it and it fires but doesn't start. Called the MTD 800# & they fished around a bit but sort of said the gas being old might be the problem. (Skip skip skip details and activities.)

A neighbor who retired from an auto dealer in the Supply Dept tried the syphon deal and got some of the gas out but not all. He, and the 800#, and the local warranty tech all GUESS at more ADVANCED GUESSES -- spark plug, battery, whatever - that are beyond me. I'm likely to end up donating this danged thing to Habitat to sell.

A friend (lady, NOT A DANGED MECHANIC) suggested what sounds to me something that makes SENSE: Using a turkey baster to get the gas out. My plan is to get fresh gas once I get the gas out. If this doesn't work, it's Habitat donation time TOMORROW!1 Here I go to the baster. Later.

[Ptah]

1. This just in: Gasoline melts plastic baster!

Film at eleven.

[UTUSN]

2. Whoa!1 Well, the interaction of plastic and gas is over with and was very brief.

For the record, it succeeded in sucking up about a teaspoon's worth of gas, which is now just wetting the floor (not inches deep) of the tank. But along the way I was told that even if it's all out of the tank, it's still in the innards of the (carbureter? wherever that is).

Note: I'm taking the "Gasoline melts plastic baster!" seriously. Tell me whether we're playing.


********* Double whoa!1 O.K., so I Googled and found out we're not playing, that gas melts plastic. Well, the contact was less than a minute and just some dipping. No deformed plastic to a visual check and the baster is now in the Recycling. What next, contaminated Recycling?!1

[Ptah]

3. I think that you've got enough gas out to try with fresh fuel.

Beyond that, I'm glad you're donating it rather than junking it.

And yes, gasoline will melt many plastics.

[UTUSN]

4. Thanks

[OxQQme]

5. I was a repair tech in a lawn mower/chainsaw dealer

for 20 years.
Here's what to try: go to an auto parts store and buy a syringe out of the battery section.
Big red bulb with a tube. Like a turkey baster on steroids.Use that to suck the gas out of the tank.
Yes, there will be stale gas in the carburetor too. Maybe it has gummed up internally and you're screwed.
But try this anyway. Re-fill the tank with NON-ETHANOL gasoline. Very important! Search it out in your locale.
If you can't find a gas station that sells NON-ETHANOL, it's available in most home repair big box stores and auto parts stores, although it's usually in smaller containers than gallon size.
Remove the air filter (it's location is in the owner's manual) and with a fresh can of WD-40, spray some right down into the carb while cranking the starter.
This may require a second person to spray depending on how much of a contortionist you are.
DO NOT USE SPRAY STARTER FLUID.
That stuff is made for much larger engine wit beefier internal components.
In our shop we used plain gas in a squirt bottle to do this.
If the problem with the engine is related to stale gas then the engine will start using this method.
It will die after using the first or second spray. Maybe more.
But the engine will suck the stale gas out while it's trying to run, and will eventually re-fill the carb bowl with the fresh gas and continue running on it's own.
A QUICK closing and re-opening of the choke will help suck the old gas up and out.
Unless there are other problems.
Don't forget to re-install the air filter before you use the mower.

Ethanol is horrible! Sucks moisture right out of the air and turns into an acid which, if left in too long, will plug up the fuel jets and nozzles in the carb, which then would require a carb removal/dis-assembly to clean them.

If you have other powered yard maintenance equipment that needs an oil mixed with the gas, use the canned 92 octane, 50:1 pre-mix, which is also sold in those same places.

Oh yeah. Did I mention ETHANOL SUCKS!

[UTUSN]

7. Thank you *VERY* much! My Lounge requests probably irritate some, but I keep doing them because

I know that Lounge is crammed with all the posters in this thread with top notch knowledge.

[UTUSN]

9. Where I'm at

* Battery baster - CHECK. But it didn't pick up even a drop. As I said, the floor of the tank is wet, but not inches or an inch's worth. The dude there said just to (unscrew some screw under the carbureter?) and look whether it's gummed up.

* Non-ethanol gas - non-check. Google for my area showed one gasoline brand outlet and when I got there, was told there is no non-ethanol anywhere except the big box stores in small containers.

At the big box place and there were cans the size the size of aerosol laundry starch cans, but of course not aerosol, just giving the size. But the three kinds were for 2 cycle, 4 cycle, (I have no idea what this mower is), and Other. The manager seemed to know what he was talking about and said the Other was just non-ethanol withOUT oil mixed in. However, he suggested I take something named Start and go get regular, but Premium, gasoline, put the gas+Start in the tank and let sit for a couple of hours, then try starting it. If that doesn't work, then take the air filter out (we're getting past my competency level) and try starting.


The Start instructions didn't say to wait two hours, so tried starting and it didn't go, so now waiting two hours. After this, am moving into the Donation Zone.

[ChickenGuru]

6. Sea Foam.

Go get some Sea Foam. It'll save your mower.
You have probably clogged the jets in the carb with varnish from the gas.
This stuff will remove the varnish and help keep the carb clean.

[UTUSN]

8. Thanks, will look for it.

[UTUSN]

10. O.K., so the thing goes to Habitat next week. I want grass cut, not me tinkering

Cutting the grass is something I want to do and get over and get to other things. I do not have the slightest desire to pursue a new career or hobby in learning to be a mechanic. So I went through a limited version of the advice our good peeps gave me above, and this morning I turned the key and *nope*!1 I then went so far as to remove the air filter to try once more, and *nope*!1

So that's that. There was a possibility of getting a neighbor with know-how to get it going, but this is just a worthless pursuit: Is this all going to be repeated X times per year?

By the bye, my first step before even posting here was to call the 800# and they referred me to their local warranty-service outlet near me. The local dudes said that I would have to get this 300+ pound dead weight over to them (again, bothering neighbors for a pick-up truck and heavy lifting), or else, they said, paying "an arm and a leg" for the service place to transport.

Nobody will buy this for half of what I paid for it or any percent less. I'm really sure that somebody who knows what they're doing could get it running in nothing flat.

Emiliano ZAPATA, a revolutionary leader in Mexico, had a slogan, "The land belongs to those who work it." That is, not to the rich, non-working landowners. So, in this case, somebody who knows what they're doing is going to get a bargain buying this machine that is under a year old and been used 3 times, but they deserve it because they know how to maintain it and are inclined to do it. I'm not.