Gary Woods wrote in
:

"Harry D" wrote:

I think they went tits up because they didn't keep up with what the
market wanted and people were dazzled by what the japs were offering.

Similar things happened to Harley-Davidson in the U.S. Plus, quality
control had got so bad, buying one of their machines was a work in
progress:
"What does it mean when a Harley stops leaking oil?"
"It's out of oil."

You could say the same thing about a British engine.
But any handy practical person would solve it.

Baz

"Baz" wrote in message
...
"Bob Hobden" wrote in
:

"Charlie Pridham" wrote ...

I have a cheap Champion mower which has been excellent for the last 8
years, it has suddenly started to be very difficult to start.

Symptoms
It wont start at all on choke
on slow it fires but peters out before getting going
after about 15 pulls it finally goes and runs fine until I stop to
empty the grass box, then it will be reluctant to restart (although
not as bad as when cold)
On opening the throttle it revs up and down and is reluctant to
settle and it does similar if it suddenly has longer grass.

It seems to be worse if the fuel tank is not more than half full.

What I know its not
Spark plug, changed that it made no difference,
Air filter, took that off and it made no difference
Safety brake not clearing, checked that and it comes on and off as it
should.

Seems like a fuel problem but I have no manual, so is there a fuel
filter somewhere that could be partially blocked?, or could a partial
blockage in the carb produce these symptoms?

Any other low tech suggestions welcome


Revving up and down is called "hunting" and is usually down to dirt in
the carburettor which you can usually take apart to clean if you are
careful, some (Honda) have a drain plug on the bottom of the carb too.
(well ventilated area, no naked flames etc.). If there is dirt in the
carb it is also probably in the tank so an in-line petrol filter may
be the answer (from any car spares place) unless you want to drain out
the tank and remove the dirt from the petrol (it will sink to the
bottom). (an empty tank that contained petrol is a bomb so be careful)
Alternatively has it got one of those plastic/rubber petrol primer
bulbs, it may have a small hole in it so it's sucking in air. Had the
one on my old Husqvarna strimmer break up a few weeks ago and had to
get a non-original replacement on e-bay as the dealer couldn't help
me.


These things are designed to get the purchaser to but a new model. Jap
Crap
or Kraut, and anything in between!
Nobody wanted BSA(Birmingham Small Arms) or Triumph or AJS etc. products
and they went tits up because of shortsighted nationalism.
If I come across as racist so what.
I am backing Britain.(what is left of it)

Baz

As far as I know the engine, which is Briggs and Straton is made in Britain


--
Charlie, Gardening in Cornwall
Holders of National Collections of Clematis viticella
and Lapageria rosea cvs
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk

"David WE Roberts" wrote in message
...

"Charlie Pridham" wrote in message
...
I have a cheap Champion mower which has been excellent for the last 8
years, it has suddenly started to be very difficult to start.

Symptoms
It wont start at all on choke
on slow it fires but peters out before getting going
after about 15 pulls it finally goes and runs fine until I stop to empty
the grass box, then it will be reluctant to restart (although not as bad
as when cold)
On opening the throttle it revs up and down and is reluctant to settle
and it does similar if it suddenly has longer grass.

It seems to be worse if the fuel tank is not more than half full.

What I know its not
Spark plug, changed that it made no difference,
Air filter, took that off and it made no difference
Safety brake not clearing, checked that and it comes on and off as it
should.

Seems like a fuel problem but I have no manual, so is there a fuel filter
somewhere that could be partially blocked?, or could a partial blockage
in the carb produce these symptoms?

Any other low tech suggestions welcome


My Harry lawn mower had this (or similar) problem a while back.
The throttle regulation seems to be done by magic and various springs and
levers.
I took the cover over the carb. area off and sprayed everything with loads
of WD40 and this seemed to cure the problem.

HTH

Dave R
--

Lots of very helpful suggestions from several of you, I will report back on
any progress next week when I next need the mower so the urge to fix it will
be the strongest!

Many thanks


--
Charlie, Gardening in Cornwall
Holders of National Collections of Clematis viticella
and Lapageria rosea cvs
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk

On Mon, 4 Jul 2011 18:51:36 +0100, "'Mike'"
wrote:


Unions do more harm than anything :-((

more than anything except the harm caused by a bullying,
confrontational manager who drove his little company into the ground,
couldn't compete in the market and then tried to blame Thatcher.

You always go for the women don't you.
Why are you so frightened of them?

"Qwight" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 4 Jul 2011 18:51:36 +0100, "'Mike'"
wrote:


Unions do more harm than anything :-((

more than anything except the harm caused by a bullying,
confrontational manager who drove his little company into the ground,
couldn't compete in the market and then tried to blame Thatcher.

You always go for the women don't you.
Why are you so frightened of them?


:-((

Oh dear here we go again.

You are of course quite entitled to your opinions. Pity they are so wrong.

Kindest possible regards

Mike

NEXT CONTRIBUTOR PLEASE

--

....................................

Don't take life too seriously, you'll never get out alive.

....................................

On Mon, 4 Jul 2011 20:51:22 +0100, Charlie Pridham wrote:

As far as I know the engine, which is Briggs and Straton is made in
Britain

Briggs & Straton are a US firm... I don't think they have ever had a
factory over here.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On 2011-07-04 20:55:18 +0100, "Charlie Pridham"
said:


"David WE Roberts" wrote in message
...

"Charlie Pridham" wrote in message
...
I have a cheap Champion mower which has been excellent for the last 8
years, it has suddenly started to be very difficult to start.

Symptoms
It wont start at all on choke
on slow it fires but peters out before getting going
after about 15 pulls it finally goes and runs fine until I stop to
empty the grass box, then it will be reluctant to restart (although not
as bad as when cold)
On opening the throttle it revs up and down and is reluctant to settle
and it does similar if it suddenly has longer grass.

It seems to be worse if the fuel tank is not more than half full.

What I know its not
Spark plug, changed that it made no difference,
Air filter, took that off and it made no difference
Safety brake not clearing, checked that and it comes on and off as it should.

Seems like a fuel problem but I have no manual, so is there a fuel
filter somewhere that could be partially blocked?, or could a partial
blockage in the carb produce these symptoms?

Any other low tech suggestions welcome


My Harry lawn mower had this (or similar) problem a while back.
The throttle regulation seems to be done by magic and various springs
and levers.
I took the cover over the carb. area off and sprayed everything with
loads of WD40 and this seemed to cure the problem.

HTH

Dave R
--

Lots of very helpful suggestions from several of you, I will report
back on any progress next week when I next need the mower so the urge
to fix it will be the strongest!

Many thanks

FWIW, my ride-on (Briggs & Stratton 15.5hp engine) came back from a
service last month with *precisely* the symptoms you describe. Couldn't
blame the service shop as the mower ran fine on a full tank and only
started to flutter and eventually die after 40 minutes' use.

Turns out he had similar complaints from other customers for whom he
had fitted a new fuel filter from a faulty batch.

"Stan The Man" wrote in message
...
On 2011-07-04 20:55:18 +0100, "Charlie Pridham"
said:


"David WE Roberts" wrote in message
...

"Charlie Pridham" wrote in message
...
I have a cheap Champion mower which has been excellent for the last 8
years, it has suddenly started to be very difficult to start.

Symptoms
It wont start at all on choke
on slow it fires but peters out before getting going
after about 15 pulls it finally goes and runs fine until I stop to
empty the grass box, then it will be reluctant to restart (although not
as bad as when cold)
On opening the throttle it revs up and down and is reluctant to settle
and it does similar if it suddenly has longer grass.

It seems to be worse if the fuel tank is not more than half full.

What I know its not
Spark plug, changed that it made no difference,
Air filter, took that off and it made no difference
Safety brake not clearing, checked that and it comes on and off as it
should.

Seems like a fuel problem but I have no manual, so is there a fuel
filter somewhere that could be partially blocked?, or could a partial
blockage in the carb produce these symptoms?

Any other low tech suggestions welcome


My Harry lawn mower had this (or similar) problem a while back.
The throttle regulation seems to be done by magic and various springs
and levers.
I took the cover over the carb. area off and sprayed everything with
loads of WD40 and this seemed to cure the problem.

HTH

Dave R
--

Lots of very helpful suggestions from several of you, I will report back
on any progress next week when I next need the mower so the urge to fix
it will be the strongest!

Many thanks

FWIW, my ride-on (Briggs & Stratton 15.5hp engine) came back from a
service last month with *precisely* the symptoms you describe. Couldn't
blame the service shop as the mower ran fine on a full tank and only
started to flutter and eventually die after 40 minutes' use.

Turns out he had similar complaints from other customers for whom he had
fitted a new fuel filter from a faulty batch.

I am not sure where the fuel filter is so I certainly haven't changed it!
but its certainly worth looking at a fuel restriction problem before
dismantling the carb, my skills with engines are such that I always seem to
have bits left over on reassembly!!

--
Charlie, Gardening in Cornwall
Holders of National Collections of Clematis viticella
and Lapageria rosea cvs
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk

"Dave Liquorice" wrote in message
ll.co.uk...
On Mon, 4 Jul 2011 20:51:22 +0100, Charlie Pridham wrote:

As far as I know the engine, which is Briggs and Straton is made in
Britain

Briggs & Straton are a US firm... I don't think they have ever had a
factory over here.

--
Cheers
Dave.

Well there you go, I had no idea. but I confess I bought the mower in the
first place because it was cheap not because it was British, and its
predecessor a nice Honda had fallen to bits in just 2 seasons and went to
scrap with a perfect engine, so I had decided that paying more was no
better.


--
Charlie, Gardening in Cornwall
Holders of National Collections of Clematis viticella
and Lapageria rosea cvs
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk

"Martin" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 5 Jul 2011 00:09:01 +0100, Stan The Man wrote:

On 2011-07-04 20:55:18 +0100, "Charlie Pridham"
said:


"David WE Roberts" wrote in message
...


The hole in the filler cap is blocked?
--

Martin

Interesting suggestion, will take a quick look before being more drastic!


--
Charlie, Gardening in Cornwall
Holders of National Collections of Clematis viticella
and Lapageria rosea cvs
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk

Charlie,

If it is a Briggs and Stratton engine (like mine) it is almost certainly the
same problems that I had last year.

1) - primer bulb had perished and did not prime the carb properly. There may
have been air leak too.

2) - the carb is mounted via a rubber gasket which has a number of functions
including a sort of flapper valve (non-return valve I suppose). Mine was
aged and ineffective.

The whole thing comes apart with 3 or 4 screws and by noting the sequence
and laying things out in the order that you remove them it is easy enough to
strip it down, clean it and reassemble with the new gasket and primer. I
think that will sort ti for you.

http://www.briggsbits.co.uk/ will get you the bits you need. (At prices
that even I found reasonable)


Alan

"Alan (BigAl)" wrote in message
...
Charlie,

If it is a Briggs and Stratton engine (like mine) it is almost certainly
the same problems that I had last year.

1) - primer bulb had perished and did not prime the carb properly. There
may have been air leak too.

2) - the carb is mounted via a rubber gasket which has a number of
functions including a sort of flapper valve (non-return valve I suppose).
Mine was aged and ineffective.

The whole thing comes apart with 3 or 4 screws and by noting the sequence
and laying things out in the order that you remove them it is easy enough
to strip it down, clean it and reassemble with the new gasket and primer.
I think that will sort ti for you.

http://www.briggsbits.co.uk/ will get you the bits you need. (At prices
that even I found reasonable)


Alan
What a good site, brilliant thanks.

Not the primer bulb as the engine doesn't have one, but perished rubber
sounds quite likely, If the rain holds off I am going to take a look this
morning.


--
Charlie, Gardening in Cornwall
Holders of National Collections of Clematis viticella
and Lapageria rosea cvs
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk

"Martin" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 05 Jul 2011 23:58:02 +0200, Martin wrote:

On Tue, 5 Jul 2011 10:05:31 +0100, "Charlie Pridham"
wrote:


"Martin" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 5 Jul 2011 00:09:01 +0100, Stan The Man wrote:

On 2011-07-04 20:55:18 +0100, "Charlie Pridham"
said:


"David WE Roberts" wrote in message
...


The hole in the filler cap is blocked?

Interesting suggestion, will take a quick look before being more drastic!

I hope I am right :-)

You could also try changing the sparking plug.
--

Martin

Tried that already but it has no effect so I don't think its that. pretty
sure its to do with the fuel system


--
Charlie, Gardening in Cornwall
Holders of National Collections of Clematis viticella
and Lapageria rosea cvs
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk

On 07/06/2011 10:20 AM, Charlie Pridham wrote:
Tried that already but it has no effect so I don't think its that.
pretty sure its to do with the fuel system

A trick I learned from a guy who works on these engines is to spray
"Brake Parts cleaner" into the open carb. This runs through and burns
out small bits that are clogging. Worked a treat for me when I had a
carburetor that was "pumping," that is revving, then almost stalling,
revving etc. Also good for starting recalcitrant engines.

-E