[jason835]

Let me first state.....I'm not much of a small engine repairman, but I can follow directions well.....

I have a lawn mower with a Tecumseh LEV100. I'm having some problems with it right now. Here's what happened.

I'm mowing the lawn near some brush, mower stops, the gas is almost gone, so I figure it's that, I put gas in it, try to start it, it won't start. I pull on that thing forever, no luck. The next day, I replaced the spark plug, pull and pull, no luck. Upon further inspection, I found a twig holding obstructing something. I don't know forsure what it is, maybe the choke? Anyway, I remove the twig, and pull. No luck keeping it going. But, when I prime it, and pull, it WILL fire for about 3-5 seconds. Not really sure what the deal is here. I know it won't be too darn expensive to take it in to repair it, but if I can save that little bit, I'd like to.

Anyway, if you have any ideas, or things for me to try, please let me know.

Thanks!
Jason

 

[snoman]

jason
It sounds to me like you had some dirt or debris inside your tank and when you ran out of fuel, it sucked it into the carb. Since you say that it will run for a few seconds when you prime it but won't run normally then something may have blocked the inlet needle and is not allowing fuel to enter the float bowl. What I would do is remove the bowl to see if there is an obstruction there. Once the bowl is removed, you will be able to see if fuel is being allowed through the inlet needle by lowering and raising the float. Raising the float shuts off the fuel flow and lowering the bowl allows fuel in. Make sure you put the bowl back on the same way you take it off so you will still have the full pivoting of the float.
Hope this helps.

snoman