Any idea why the starter cord on a petrol mower should jam, when
nothing has been caught in the mechanism? The mower was working fine,
then cut out, because it was low on oil. We filled the oil but the
cord now jams and won't pull.

I'm sure this has happened before and after a while it worked OK.

Is there some built-in fail-safe that causes this?

If possible, can you reply by email as well?

One horrible thought. If the engine stopped through lack of oil then there
is a probability that the engine has 'seized'. I hope I an wrong.
This last happened to me having put petrol, instead of petroil, in my two
stroke!! The biggest problem was that I had no-one else to blame!! A new
engine needed.
Good Luck Brian
"Monk" wrote in message
om...
Any idea why the starter cord on a petrol mower should jam, when
nothing has been caught in the mechanism? The mower was working fine,
then cut out, because it was low on oil. We filled the oil but the
cord now jams and won't pull.

I'm sure this has happened before and after a while it worked OK.

Is there some built-in fail-safe that causes this?

If possible, can you reply by email as well?

On Mon, 10 May 2004 19:03:56 +0100, "Brian"
wrote:

One horrible thought. If the engine stopped through lack of oil then there
is a probability that the engine has 'seized'. I hope I an wrong.
This last happened to me having put petrol, instead of petroil, in my two
stroke!! The biggest problem was that I had no-one else to blame!! A new
engine needed.

That was my first thought.

Rod

Weed my email address to reply
http://website.lineone.net/~rodcraddock/index.html

g'day monk,

could be a number of reasons, but first you can try some things.

check oil level make sure it isn't overfull.

take out the spark plug then pull starter see what happens, if oil has
gotten into the upper cylinder it could stop the piston travel, so
doing this you may shoot some oil out of the plug hole, this is a
simple fix just pull starter a number of time to blow as much oil out
as possible give plug a bit of a was off in some fuel then replace all
things being equal the mower should start though it could blow some
smoke for a bit.

if after taking the plug out you can't turn the motor by the starter,
tilt the mower in the case of b&s with the carby side down or the plug
end up and try turning the motor by turning the disk. if you can turn
the disk then this could also mean the starter is faulty if you can't
then you could ahve serious problems most likely a bad score in the
bore from running very low in oil.

if none of this helps take it to a mower repairer for their advice
opinion.

see how you go

len

snipped
--
happy gardening
'it works for me it could work for you,'

"in the end ya' gotta do what ya' gotta do" but consider others and the environment
http://members.optusnet.com.au/~gardenlen1/

"Monk" wrote in message
om...
Any idea why the starter cord on a petrol mower should jam, when
nothing has been caught in the mechanism? The mower was working fine,
then cut out, because it was low on oil. We filled the oil but the
cord now jams and won't pull.

I'm sure this has happened before and after a while it worked OK.

Is there some built-in fail-safe that causes this?

If possible, can you reply by email as well?

This could be a jammed recoil spring in the Recoil Starter Assembly unit.A
problem I cured on my Qualcast Suffolk Punch 43S mower.
However It may be of assistance if you let us know the make and model of
lawn
:Peter,

The oil dipstick had broken off and stuck in the oil chamber. The
whole engine had seized and, to cut a long story short, it was a sad
day in toyland .

So I bought a new McCullough (with a Briggs & Stratton engine) from
Argos and I'm back in business. I wonder, though, if someone could
explain exactly what the different oil types (30W,SF etc) mean and
which is best. Also, will some oils make the painful process of
starting via the pull cord easier?

Happy mowing to all.

i've been servicing garden machinary for a year now, and the oil that manufacturers reccomend is sae 30, different oils are different thicknesses. it still does the same and normaly wont harm your mower. just a quiery, do you still have your old mower if so do you want rid of it as i could find use for it as spares if your not too far away.