mower stalls only when i pull it backwards?

17 years ago

mower stalls *only when i pull it backwards*?

why would my mower stall *only when i pull it backwards*?

plain old B&S 4 cycle

it has plenty of gas

spark plug is tight, wire is on correctly

i do not have a 'deadman switch'

throttle is fixed - no governor

if you pull backwards slowly enough, it won;t stall

the faster you jerk it back , the more the speed dips

whatever it;s doing, it does it IMMEDIATELY when you pull it

runs fine otherwise

starts ok

also if it;s going forward and stops fast, like run into a tree or something with the front [not the blade]

what the ?

wle.

Featured Answer

fordtech

17 years ago

It is akin to back in the day when cars had carburetors and when you made a turn it would die, but run fine going straight down the road. Very low fuel level in the float bowl or a lot of water and sediment and little fuel. Take it apart and clean the needle and seat real good and the whole carburetor for that matter and reset the float level and see how she runs then. It could have too much water or contaminates in the float bowl so that the actual amount of fuel in there is too little or the water/sediment in the bowl is causing the eratic operation when you pull backward.

If my answer sounds confusing, well I just worked another long day in the heatwave so I may be too exhausted to make sense... :P

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Comments (6)

tomplum
17 years ago
Are you saying the governor is not functional at all- or that the unit just has no throttle cable? It may need some fuel system cleaning & carb service, but it should also have a working governor. Engine #s would be nice...
lbpod
17 years ago
My Lawnboy 10301 stumbles 'ever so slightly' when I
pull it back quickly or bump it into something solid,
like a tree. I always attributed it to the fuel
sloshing in the carb bowl and the engine gets a slight
fuel starvation at the needle and seat. But it is not
that bad that I would spend a lot of time trying to
solve the problem. But yours is stalling.........
Let us know if you solve this mystery.
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roadbike
17 years ago
There is a lot missing from your message.

Does the mower power or drive the wheels? If so the drive mechanism may not be releasing.

If this is simply an engine mounted on a frame with 4 wheels, then I suspect something loose. If it had a deadman switch that was removed then you should look closely at where the grounding switch was for a loose wire.

Jerking back really hard could cause the float to close momentarily as mentioned. If that's occuring then the float may need to be reset.

If the governor was removed then you would have real problems getting it started and keeping it running. Are you sure it is missing?
1saxman
17 years ago
Is the gas tank bolted under the carb or does it have a rubber fuel line to the carb?
baymee
17 years ago
Even if the float closed off the needle and seat, there is still plenty of fuel in the bowl that it wouldn't stall immediately.