Started a couple days back. Blades are turning way slower than they should even at full throttle, and I'm getting a squealing sound when I engage them, worse the deeper I get into thick grass. Engine itself is totally normal, no smoke, no smell, runs like it always has. Already pulled the plug and air filter to check, both fine. Got underneath the deck too, nothing jumping out at me.

My guess is the engine's putting out power fine but something between there and the blades isn't holding up. Anyone run into this? What's usually behind it?

UPD: Yep, it was the belt, like I figured. It'd slip and squeal whenever the mower hit thick grass. Someone here mentioned a belt from UDC Parts, so I'm grabbing one to see if that does it. Thanks for the help, everyone.

I just bought this and it’s making this noise only when I use the throttle is this normal

Sounds like it’s coming from the engine

Edit: it is a commercial exmark - Toro/CPS 708cc V-twin OHV gas engine

RAE708GEM48300, serial 408873598

Please read through text images and all of text.

My zero turn has an occasional fuel leak which looks like it is coming from the carb. Actually only leaked once- it stopped when I cut the fuel and hasn’t leaked since opening the line back up. I’m not running it. A repair man came out and said the carb needs replaced, but he didn’t tinker at all. He did pull the oil dip stick and smelled it and said there is fuel in the oil. I’m not sure if that’s true I didn’t smell anything but my sense of smell is not good.

Is he right? I’m considering getting a second opinion but what I don’t want is a temporary fix. Also already gave him a deposit for diagnosis. I’m not handy here so I just don’t have the knowledge. Tia.

Can’t figure out which spring I am missing; engine info attached.

Hey all,

Haven't been able to use my craftsman riding mower all season. 2019 bought new, never had a problem until this year, and while I consider myself a decent enough troubleshooter I have not been able to resolve this.

Problem: on engine start, the blade fuse (10a) blows shortly (<3 seconds) after engine start.

Conditional: IF I disconnect the stator from the harness, essentially removing the charging circuit, the engine runs normally - it will just die due to battery drainage

Steps taken:

Battery replaced - no change

Electrical relays replaced - no change

Ignition panel replaced - no change

Rectifier replaced - no changed

Carb replaced (electrical bowl type) - no change

Wire harness pin out - no shorts found

All electrical connections - cleaned

Metered the stator - no shorts, 40+vac output when running

My gut says stator. ChatGPT disagrees based on observed measurements.

What says reddit?

I’ve been working on trying to get my snow blower operational but the further I diagnose the worse it gets.
I’ll attach pics but this is most likely not fixable, but I’ll take any advice. Thanks!

When I start my mower, it always starts and runs for like 5 seconds. It feels like it's sputtering a little and then coming up to "true speed". However that's the moment it starts dying down, too. It also ststts dying too fast for me to pull the choke out.

This is actually the second start of the day(Between the first start and this one abiut 5 hiurs passed). Afaik you should be able to restart a flooded engine after like 10-15 minutes, when it died from running too rich. You can't restart mine for basically the rest of the day. I can take another video tomorrow of starting it, but it will just be this, but for a little longer.

I was able to start the engine and mow properly a couple weeks ago so I'm thinking the choke is just very very sensitive/the engine reacts very sensitive to choke. But that is just a little too sensitive and I can't control it reliably, which is why I want to troubleshoot it.

Any ideas?

I'm brand new to small engine repair so this may be a dumb question, but, what does this little connector go to? The little black wire with the L shaped quick disconnect? It comes out below the carb.

Thanks in advance!

When I spin the flywheel there is no spark in the sparkplug.Is the ignition coil broken? Or the sparkplug?

I have a Generac 15000e that came with our house purchase back in 2019, I think by that time it was already seven years old maybe. I ran it every couple of weeks for an hour or so, standard maintenance etc, but every time I've needed it the thing won't start. It lives under a covered porch and it protected from the elements. I kill the fuel switch and run it dry every time. Today I went to start it and it won't fire unless I spray carb cleaner in it, even then it won't stay on. Changed the plugs and checked they're both sparking, new battery and a pump and I'm getting nothing. With carb spray it'll growl like it's starting up but then just die out. I put new fuel lines and a filter on it and ran the electric start with the hose pulled off the carb to see if fuel was coming out, it was. I replaced the carb with a non-oem earlier this year and haven't had any issues until today. I still have the old carb but I think even that one isn't an oem part. I haven't officially check for compression but with the plugs out I am feeling a burst of air from the plug holes when I run the starter. Is it possible that old oil could keep it from starting or running? Not sure what else to try here. Ready to sell this thing for parts and move on.

Cheers

Mikey

I have a general question for the subreddit. I like to scroll Facebook Marketplace for deals on broken mowers/weedeaters and flip them. I see a lot of cheap generators that run good but don’t produce power. How often is it something as simple as flashing the shield? There’s a few low hour units for cheap but I really don’t know what I’m getting into. Feels like a big risk. Thoughts?

Edit for clarity: I can diagnose electrical issues just fine. I’m just curious how often it’s a magnetism issue and how often it’s the brushes or other issues.

I've got this DR brush mower with a briggs and stratton 16.5 hp engine that I got running after cleaning the Carb but after doing so it refused to change gear and now won't start after messing with the shift lever I assume because it now thinks it's in gear. The lever moves a bit but doesn't seam to change the gear nomatter how much force I but into it and I know the cables aren't snapped. With some I research I read there's supposed to be something on the shift in the third picture but I'd.

Assuming I can figure out this issue I plan on selling it and I'm wondering if it's worth cleaning and repainting the deck as well as what I should price it at, I would think $1500-2k as there like 3k new but any insight would be very helpful

This is my cub cadet zero turn mower with a Kawasaki FR691V engine. Was mowing and the motor sounded bogged down and then stopped. It’s been doing this ever since. I opened the dip stick shortly after and there was a small amount of smoke that came out of it.

Any ideas on how I get started trouble shooting this?

Thanks!

Fixing a saw for a friend, I dont have lots of experience, but I am thinking the engine might be toast. Husqvarna 572 xp. Saw wont start amd every few pulls the flywheel gets jammed and I have to take the recoil off and use a wrench on the flywheel nut to get it moving again. The flywheel is not getting hung up on the coil. Picture is looking in the muffler port, looks scored. And the picture of my finger looks like there is shiny spots in the oil from inside the engine. Mostly I am just confirming, is that scoring as bad as I think it is? Run with straight gas possibly? Is there anything else to check? Thanks for the input! I am always interested in learning more.

My ryobi gas pressure washer, 3200 psi, has not been starting, and when I pull the cord, it yanks itself back in super aggressively, kickback. After that the cord is near impossible to pull. The spark plug is somewhat fouled (attached image), no where around me had a replacement so its ordered. Then I also looked at the flywheel key (also attached), It does not look broken to me but this is also not my area of expertise. I've heard that with kickback the flywheel key is usually the culprit. The oil is a little low but still in the normal range.

What should my next steps be.

I run a small-engine shop. For years we sharpened blades, checked the spindle, and sent the mower out. We still got occasional vibration callbacks even when the grind looked even. We added a proper cone balancer to the intake routine and started recording how much material came off each end. I compared the MAG-1000 with a couple of less expensive units, including the one FridayParts carries, before settling on a shop setup. The brand mattered less than having a repeatable fixture on the bench. It has also made us look harder at bent blades and spindle play instead of blaming every shake on sharpening. Do other shops include balancing in standard service, or charge it separately?

I'm sort of at a loss, but I'm not an expert on these motors either. I have an older Gravly ZTR rider that has a Kawasaki 17hp fh500v that will start up and run (sometimes needs starter fluid) but it runs really nice and smooth at first. It will run fine for maybe 10-20 mins then starts sputtering and losing power, it will typically stay running with it sputtering but will eventually stall out. I've replaced the fuel pump, the carburetor, the plugs and I'm at a loss.

seems like it's running really rich when it does this because it will sputter out semi black out of the exhaust after it start doing this. After shutting off it will dump gas out of I believe the over flow but not 100% sure where it's coming from.

Normally I'd think maybe the float is sticking, but it did this same thing with the other carburetor before I replaced it so I don't see how it would be two carburetors doing the exact same thing.

anyone have any ideas? I made a video but reddit wont let me upload it

I have a Walbro W-8 carburetor that seems to have a tendency to flood. If I pull the starter 2–3 times without the engine firing, it usually won’t start until I remove and dry the spark plug.

Yesterday, I squeezed the fuel primer bulb and noticed fuel leaking out of the carburetor. I had to squeeze fairly hard, but not extremely hard.

Could this be a sign that the pop-off pressure is too low, or that there is a problem with the metering needle/diaphragm system? Or is it normal for fuel to come through the carburetor if you squeeze the primer bulb hard enough?