OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Walk Behind Lawn Mower Frames Victa Lawn Mower Frames Victa Vantage with Briggs & Stratton 450

Hi,
I have a brand new Victa Vantage fitted with a Briggs and Stratton 450 148cc engine. It has a problem starting from cold, if you remove the air filter and pour a small amount of fuel down the carburettor it will start on the first or second pull. When it does start the engine speed fluctuates up and down for about 20 seconds and then settles down to a constant speed. It then idles and revs cleanly from there on but can still need one to three pulls to start again when warm.

Sounds like a fuel delivery problem. You have not said that you used the primer bulb as specified in the owner manual - if you did not prime it, this could explain all of your symptoms. If you did prime it correctly, it sounds to me as if there may be a problem with the fuel pump diaphragm (between the fuel tank and carburetor). If it is new you should be able to have the problem dealt with by your mower dealer.

Hi,
It is new and has never mowed a lawn but it is out of warranty. I recently had my Victa two stroke to the local mower shop and they couldn't fix it. I thought I would have a look myself and found it was a blocked main jet so I don't have much confidence in them. Looks like I will have to remove the carburettor and have a look at the diaphram. I have replaced one of these on a old Rover but it was a long time ago! I will let you know what I find. Thanks for your fast reply.

With the briggs motor, I would suggest unclipping the primer bulb, behing there is a little ball bearing with a rubber washer holding it in place within the carby body, if that is a little sticky it will stop your primer from working properly.

Thanks Joe, that is another example of your experience potentially saving someone quite a bit of work. I'd have gone straight to the diaphragm, betting that B&S's Chinese plant had wrinkled it when they installed it.

The chinese plant probably still has wrinkled it, they sure as hell cant cast anything worth a damn, or do up conrod bolts properly, just put another chinese briggs in the bin here,

http://outdoorpowerinfo.com/repairs/briggs_pulsa-prime_carb.asp

This is a pretty detailed bunch of photos for this carb setup.

hi, i've just bought this same mower today and i can't get the bloody thing to start. is this a common thing? is pouring a bit of fuel down the carby a bad idea or worth a bash?

thanks

I can't say it is a common thing, but there are reports of various quality issues with that engine, as you can see from this thread. Squirting a small amount of petrol through the carburetor, or into the spark plug hole, should enable the engine to start if it has spark and compression. If it keeps going, you probably have a problem with the primer bulb mechanism and you could begin by following Joe's advice above. If it starts but doesn't keep going, you may have a more serious fuel delivery problem.

The short answer is yes, priming the engine by hand is a useful part of the diagnostic procedure, but if you remove the air cleaner to put fuel into the carburetor throat, stand clear when you try to start it. One of the functions of the air cleaner is to protect people if the engine spits back through the carburetor (which sometimes happens).

thanks grumpy, fuel straight into the carburetor worked a treat.

one other thing.. the throttle control doesn't work, i have to move it manually. is there an easy way to fix it?

I don't understand your description of the throttle problem. The engine has a governor, so the control on the handlebar is a speed control: it sets the governed engine speed, and the throttle itself is opened and closed by the governor to keep the engine constantly at the speed you set, regardless of load. You may be saying that the speed control cable doesn't work - moving the lever doesn't move the governor lever at the engine end. If that happens one end of your cable is either loose, or has kinked, so moving the upper end doesn't move the bottom end. If that has happened you have to see exactly what has gone wrong, and tell us or post a picture. It is probably extremely easy to fix - just a screwdriver adjustment of the cable position and/or lubricating the cable.

It sounds as if your mower had a couple of trivial problems, which sometimes happens with new mowers and the dealer normally fixes them under warranty. Not having a warranty, if you follow Joe's advice above you will probably overcome your starting problem, and proper set-up of your speed control cable should fix that even more easily. Don't decide that the mower is garbage - these are things that are fairly routine for a lot of machines when they are brand new, but once it settles down it will probably be trouble-free for years.