Sam - thanks for the tip - I hadn't checked back here in a coupla
weeks. I did look at the carb, couldn't see any crud in it but didn't
really know how to clean it (it didn't have a float, a very
strange-looking device with just a little hole with a grommet in it).
Anyway, I drained the tank and re-filled with gas and it still surged
some, but eventually smoothed out quite a bit and I was able to do
some mowing. I wonder if carb cleaner would hurt anything?
Steve

On Sat, 02 Aug 2003 02:25:17 -0400, Smilin' Sam
wrote:



"Steve" wrote in message
...
Last year I bought a Murray lawn tractor with a 21hp B&S I/C engine.
Aside from the pulley housing on one of the blades disintegrating,
it's been ok, not great (Murray reimbursed me for the repairs, but
said that this was a "one-time" thing, not to expect them to honor the
warranty every time - I'm serious!). Anyway, I've used the mower about
8-10 times to mow about 2+ acres over the past year, and last week
just as I was finishing, the engine started surging and just before it
quit, I pulled out the choke a bit and it started back up. I mowed for
another 15 minutes and eventually had to pull the choke all the way
out in order to keep the engine running. The mower doesn't run very
fast in this mode, and doesn't have a lot of power. Any ideas what
could be causing the problem? Checked the air filter and it's clean,
as is the fuel filter - Thanks for any advice


Surging is almost always the symptom for not enough fuel getting to the
engine. Remove the bowl from the carb and clean out the nut (which has
a small hole) and the tube comming down from the carb body which
usually has two holes with carb cleaner.