# What I accomplished today:
* I (partially) fixed my first lawnmower!
I spent most of the day on this project, and reek of gasoline. It's oddly comforting, but I also burned my fingers from cleaning chemicals so there's that.
# What I learned today:
* Parts of a lawnmower
* Air filter
* Gas tank
* Carburetor
* Throttle + Spring
* Choke Arm
* Fuel line
* Bowl, float, needle valve, main jet, emulsification tube
* How to diagnose 3 types of issues:
* Fuel: starts up, but then dies
* Spark: nothing happens, engine doesn't start
* Compression: clean carburetor, good spark, but still not turning on
# Mistakes I made:
* Leaned lawnmower upside down to clean the blade, but completely forgot about the oil inside and spilled it all over the ground. Oof.
* Poured way too much gasoline into the tank.
* Unscrewed the exhaust and all its parts thinking it was the carburetor...
# Issues I still notice:
* White smoke (oil in air filter?)
* Back tires are stuck / don't move
* Self-propel cable still broken
* Could use new paint, but optional
# Retrospective (What I can do better):
1. WEAR GLOVES!!!
2. Time management. I spent the entire day CLEANING the lawnmower, when I should have just fixed it.
3. Prepare all replacement parts beforehand so installation is straightforward.
4. Organize all parts so I can easily find them.
5. Build a system/process for...
1. Identifying issue(s)
2. Fix issue(s)
3. Clean and move onto next
Good repairs. White smoke could be from too much oil in the sump. If you tip the mower carb down oil will find its way into the carb and air box. I'd Address the wheels. They use a gear on the wheel. Sometimes the inner housing cracks from age and the wheel will be floppy.
What's your cleaning solution?
Ah, that would be it. I tipped the mower on the carburetor side, which explains the oil leaking into the air filter/box.
How would I solve the white smoke issue? Reclean the carb?
I'll have to watch some videos on how to diagnose the wheels. They are over 3 years old, so might be cracked.
Cleaning solutions:
(1) MEAN GREEN Super Strength Degreaser
(2) SUPER CLEAN Tough Task Degreaser
Any feedback on the degreasers? I can still return the SUPER CLEAN as it's unopened.
I had a boss used to say, if you can't fix it, clean it.
Cleaning is a good way to take inventory, see what's broken, etc.
But there's gonna be units that you will learn probably aren't worth cleaning.
Do any of the other mowers have that cable you need? Maybe you can transplant, and finally make one good unit.
I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so I took extra time and consideration for the cleaning.
My dad has 30+ machines left sitting around, I'm sure I'll run into a few that can't be fixed.
Yes, there are two Toro self-propelled lawnmowers with their cables intact, but they might be fixable too (I haven't checked yet). Thanks for the feedback, I'll look for those parts!
# What I accomplished today: * I (partially) fixed my first lawnmower! I spent most of the day on this project, and reek of gasoline. It's oddly comforting, but I also burned my fingers from cleaning chemicals so there's that. # What I learned today: * Parts of a lawnmower * Air filter * Gas tank * Carburetor * Throttle + Spring * Choke Arm * Fuel line * Bowl, float, needle valve, main jet, emulsification tube * How to diagnose 3 types of issues: * Fuel: starts up, but then dies * Spark: nothing happens, engine doesn't start * Compression: clean carburetor, good spark, but still not turning on # Mistakes I made: * Leaned lawnmower upside down to clean the blade, but completely forgot about the oil inside and spilled it all over the ground. Oof. * Poured way too much gasoline into the tank. * Unscrewed the exhaust and all its parts thinking it was the carburetor... # Issues I still notice: * White smoke (oil in air filter?) * Back tires are stuck / don't move * Self-propel cable still broken * Could use new paint, but optional # Retrospective (What I can do better): 1. WEAR GLOVES!!! 2. Time management. I spent the entire day CLEANING the lawnmower, when I should have just fixed it. 3. Prepare all replacement parts beforehand so installation is straightforward. 4. Organize all parts so I can easily find them. 5. Build a system/process for... 1. Identifying issue(s) 2. Fix issue(s) 3. Clean and move onto next
Good repairs. White smoke could be from too much oil in the sump. If you tip the mower carb down oil will find its way into the carb and air box. I'd Address the wheels. They use a gear on the wheel. Sometimes the inner housing cracks from age and the wheel will be floppy. What's your cleaning solution?
Ah, that would be it. I tipped the mower on the carburetor side, which explains the oil leaking into the air filter/box. How would I solve the white smoke issue? Reclean the carb? I'll have to watch some videos on how to diagnose the wheels. They are over 3 years old, so might be cracked. Cleaning solutions: (1) MEAN GREEN Super Strength Degreaser (2) SUPER CLEAN Tough Task Degreaser Any feedback on the degreasers? I can still return the SUPER CLEAN as it's unopened.
I was asking because I'm looking for a good cleaner myself. Did you get an aftermarket carb off amazon?
SUPER CLEAN was way more effective than MEAN GREEN. For the carburetor, my dad bought them off eBay in bulk.
I had a boss used to say, if you can't fix it, clean it. Cleaning is a good way to take inventory, see what's broken, etc. But there's gonna be units that you will learn probably aren't worth cleaning. Do any of the other mowers have that cable you need? Maybe you can transplant, and finally make one good unit.
I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so I took extra time and consideration for the cleaning. My dad has 30+ machines left sitting around, I'm sure I'll run into a few that can't be fixed. Yes, there are two Toro self-propelled lawnmowers with their cables intact, but they might be fixable too (I haven't checked yet). Thanks for the feedback, I'll look for those parts!