mower problems

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chad8

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wife says the mower wouldn't start. It is a 7 hp self propelled 21 inch craftsman 2003. I got it to run ,but only slow speeds. The governor would not kick up the speed. I had to shorten the governor spring to get higher speeds.
I bought this mower 3 years ago for $25 at a garage sale . It always starts and runs well ,but had a small miss. Today while I was tinkering I took out the spark plug which was very hard to get out and almost impossible to get back in. It only went half way in. . I have been using a rc12yc for 3 years.I switched to a shorter thread lm-17 i had lying around and the miss is gone.which plug is right and what would cause the governor to fail this way?
 
Wife says the mower wouldn't start!!!!! You are one lucky man. I would buy her a brand new fancy lawn mower . The problem may be the same as related to the spark plug problem.
 
she likes to mow for exercise. Don't worry, I do all the trimming. After 24 years of marriage we all figure it out. I do almost all the cooking. She does laundry and we split the cleaning . That's why we have been together 30 years.
Yes , i am lucky.

Back to the mower. It runs great again .I can't see where carb cleaning would help. When i manually turn the throttle , it works fine. I just wanted to know what would knock out the governor.
 
Originally Posted By: chad8
she likes to mow for exercise. Don't worry, I do all the trimming. After 24 years of marriage we all figure it out. I do almost all the cooking. She does laundry and we split the cleaning . That's why we have been together 30 years.
Yes , i am lucky.


I've been married for 35 years.
When I read your comment (above), it sounded a lot like our arrangement other than, I do all the mowing, trimming and pruning in the summer and clear snow in the winter. I do most of the cooking/dishes and help with cleaning the house. Don't do laundry.

Man, sounds like I might be "luckier" than you!
 
The rc12yc is the correct plug. It's probably the original plug and welded itself in. Put some penetrating oil on the threads of the spark plug hole and gently work the correct plug back and forth.
 
Originally Posted By: boraticus
Originally Posted By: chad8
she likes to mow for exercise. Don't worry, I do all the trimming. After 24 years of marriage we all figure it out. I do almost all the cooking. She does laundry and we split the cleaning . That's why we have been together 30 years.
Yes , i am lucky.


I've been married for 35 years.
When I read your comment (above), it sounded a lot like our arrangement other than, I do all the mowing, trimming and pruning in the summer and clear snow in the winter. I do most of the cooking/dishes and help with cleaning the house. Don't do laundry.

Man, sounds like I might be "luckier" than you!


Man you married guys have an odd definition of "lucky", esp you Boraticus, what does she do?....Wait, don't answer that.
 
i just re-gapped the old plug and fired it back up again . I had to work it back in with penetrating oil and it is still very tight . It will not go all the way in ,but is close. The mower runs fine ,but i am still mystified about the governor. I will know more tomorrow when we mow up the leaves. I will see if it misses like it used to and if the speeds are steady. It is running faster since i shortened the spring.
 
Come on,man. Be a sport and get a new plug. I never "check" a plug;when I pull a plug, a new plug is going back in.
 
My wife just mowed the whole lawn. The mower runs better and faster than it ever did. No more miss.It might have been the plug gap or the spring was not letting the engine run fast enough. I sanded the electrode and cleaned the plug. The plug gap was .030+ and the recommended gap is .020 I am still not sure about the governor spring.
As far as changing plugs. I have been working on engines since 1972 and I rarely find a bad (dead) spark plug on any engine. Yes there have been many burned center tips , fouled ones , and worn plugs ,but most were still usable. A good cleaning will rescue most of them at least for a few more years.
I will get a new plug before spring ,but this was a last cut just to mulch some leaves.
 
Spark plugs are the least utilized and most unnecessarily changed component on small engines. I've got plugs over twenty years old in machines that start first pull, go all day and never miss a beat. If the plug works, why change it? I know it's inexpensive but, to throw it out while it's working fine makes no sense. It's like buying yourself a bottle of soda, putting it in the fridge for a couple of day then throwing it in the garbage. Why????
 
Originally Posted By: boraticus
Spark plugs are the least utilized and most unnecessarily changed component on small engines. I've got plugs over twenty years old in machines that start first pull, go all day and never miss a beat. If the plug works, why change it? I know it's inexpensive but, to throw it out while it's working fine makes no sense. It's like buying yourself a bottle of soda, putting it in the fridge for a couple of day then throwing it in the garbage. Why????


Depends on the amount of hours and also fuel has changed since the E-10 has arrived. It may not be the cause years ago or you may not have enough hour usage with the E-10 fuel. It's the first thing I look for when something doesn't make sense as why a good spark isn't kicking the engine over. I'll pull the plugs out and clean the residue which I believe is the result of the E-10 fuel.

Also it's basic maintenance after so many hours of usage plugs are pulled for cleaning. It's a good practice no different from cleaning out the foam air filter and overall maintenance.

You should take that extra hour after so many hours of usage to keep your equipment clean. It makes a difference in the long run...just speaking from experience.
 
I did have an 'easy start' plug (Champion) that worked fine for two years. Year three it would foul and I couldn't start the engine. Cleaned it; it worked for two or three runs then foul again.
Replaced with a regular plug and hasn't missed a beat yet.
 
On 4 strokes plugs last years and years. In 2 strokes as soon as performance starts to fall a new plug goes in before else.
 
I have somewhere between 30 to 40 engines, which use a total of 80 or more spark plugs. In over 40 years of using many various machines, i had one spark plug fail. It was on a Tecumseh two stroke engine used on a power ice auger. It was a [censored] Champion plug which i replaced with a NGK 25 years ago. Still running fine to this day. If there are signs that the plug is failing, replace it by all means. On the other hand, if the engine is running fine, there's no need to change the plugs. Clean them up occasionally but that's it. I have a 1996 Toyota V6 engine with 70000 km. on it running original plugs. Truck starts well, runs great and doesn't burn any more fuel than new.
 
I notice improved,smoother running every time I change plugs. I think a smoother running engine will last longer. I change them about once per year.
 
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