Anyone know anything about petrol lawnmowers? It starts up ok seconds. but then dies after a few seconds. It’s not short on petrol and ir worked grand a few weeks ago.
I’ve already shoved my thumb up my hole but it didn’t help. (Not with the lawnmower anyway)
Have you tried the other thumb?
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Plugs
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Butt?
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Most likely foreign objects* in the carburettor or tank. It’ll get a little bit of fuel to run it for a while but not enough. As a last resort try turning it upside down and shake it.
This might dislodge any objects.
*Not a racist comment.
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Spark plug? Is that not just for starting it? It starts pretty well.
Check the air filter and give it a clean Juhy, generally located beside the handle. Otherwise, give it a good clean out, it might be a foreign object as the Brimmer gobshite said. Check under the blades that’s there’s not something obstructing it. Don’t have the blade too low, it’s not Junior B you’re playing. Set the blade quite high and give that a go for a while.
How old is it? Have you had it serviced recently?
It’s years old by the look of it. Not mine (rented gaff) so I don’t know when it was serviced but I doubt it was anytime recently. I just don’t want to pay to have it serviced cos I’ve enough shit things to spend money on. How do I clean air filter?
You take it out and give it a few good whacks, the same way you clean the filter on your hoover.
Have you mixed the appropriate amount of oil into the petrol as well?
No oil in the petrol at all. Should there be?
I want to re-iterate in the strongest possible terms the advice I always give to people starting out on their horticultural journey - don’t lower the blade on your mower, have it set high. If you cut grass too low, it stresses the grass and their roots, which means weeds will invade. Just cut the top off the grass, it becomes stronger with a stronger root system and pushes out the weeds.
A crucial job for winter also (I’ve just completed it here) is to scarify and fork your lawn, it’s a bastard of a job, but you won’t need to go to the gym for a while and you’ll reap the benefits in spring.
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Yes, is it a 2 or 4 stroke mower? You’ll need to get the relevant 2 or 4 stroke oil for it, general mix is 1 part oil to 20 parts petrol. Do you have an instruction manual for the mower (yes gentlemen, instruction manuals do exist and yes, when you read them, life becomes easier)?
Of course I don’t have a mower manual. I moved into a gaff in January and there was a mower in the corner of the shed older than @Fagan_ODowd. It has worked fine until now. I just you tubed cleaning an airfilter so I’ll go with that first. I may be back to you.
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Fair enough. I reckon it probably just needs a good clean and some oil.
Ta for the help.
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I’d have a look at the choke on it. Make sure the levers work all the way back to the carburetor. Also there will be a springed actuator off that that mixes the correct amount of air/fuel infeed. Make sure that spring is working and not broken, lost or bunged up. After that it’s tuning the carburetor. It’s like 5 degrees of a turn at a time if you want to try it. Also as said above a blockage on the fuel line.
Ehh it’s not necessarily a mower that requires a mix. Mine doesn’t. If you don’t know @Juhniallio Google the make and model and find out before you make a bollox of it
My mower doesn’t require a mix either.
Most don’t nowadays id say. The strimmer still does though.
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I have my mower 12 years and it never required a mix so it’s not that recent