OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Engines Questions On Briggs & Stratton Engines Briggs and Stratton Mower is very hard to start

Does not start easily. Have cleaned the carby and air filter. Changed oil too.

What I have noticed is when I use a screw driver to move the black piece to left (as shown with red marking in attached pic) it starts with few goes. This is the black piece on which the governor assembly rests.

One more problem is when it starts it seems to rev a lot.

Can the experts let me know how to resolve both these problems?

Thanks

Hi cdhiren, firstly does the primer work? can you see it squirt fuel in?. The revving problem will be cable adjustment that is causing your problem , you have to set the end of the cable so the arm with the spring on it is in the closed position, with the handelbar lever control in the stop position

Make sure throttle and governor moves freely.

As for hard starting as NormK said check that the primer is working. There is also the off chance with this being a side valve that valve clearance has closed up to a point that starting is now difficult due to a valve not closing in a timely matter.

Thanks guys. The primer seems to squirt very few drops of fuel. Not sure if that is enough? I might replace the primer with the spare new one I bought a while back and give it another go.
@ revving - it does stop fine when the throttle is in stop position. The throttle cable is a bit hard to operate but the governor assembly is smooth once the cable is unplugged.

Easy to see if the primer is working ok, tip a teaspoon of petrol into the carby and if it starts straight up you can assume the primer isn't putting in enough fuel. I always pull the cable off and hang it up and dribble oil down through it.Just because it stops when the throttle is in the stop position doesn't mean a lot, it is what happens where the cable is atatched to the side of the cowling, you have to get that set correctly as well

Thanks NormK. Will try adding teasoon petrol directly to the carby and see how it goes.

teaspoon tip did the trick. changed the primer and mower starts in first two pulls. thanks guys
will be working on the @ revving this weekend. does anyone have any tips or videos to share which can help me fix the rev problem?