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what model engine is on this one

is it a briggs engine with a primer and the carburetor sitting on TOP of the gas tank?

Has there been any gas older than 30 days old in the engine at all?

greetings?

trying to find out what kind of engine you have and what kind of carbruetor is on it

is it a briggs engine with a primer and the carburetor sitting on TOP of the gas tank?

you say last spring as in it has year old gas in it?

You can not EVER use gas older than 30 days old

it turns to gum and varnish starting at 30 days old

and will clog the carburetor completely

For starters, you need fresh gas, at least 89 octane from a good store

such as shell or BP

but most likely, you will have to clean and overhall thecarburetor

Most likely you have a fuel delivery or fuel quality problem.

As engines sit or get older, fuel that is left in the carburetor can turn to gum and varnish and cause this and other problems.

Also, any gasoline that was left in a gas can for a period of more than 30 days must be discarded because it also has begun to turn to varnish.

Today's gasolines contain MTBE and alcohol. (Ethanol) They turn to "Junk and garbage" very quickly. Alcohol absorbs water. And they call it "Oxygenated fuels! It is the oxygen (and the water) that breaks down the organic compounds in the fuel and turns the gas to "Garbage" (Gum and varnish) The fuels we had just a few years ago had no alcohol in it and would store for longer periods of time before going stale.

Fuel stabilizers do almost nothing to prevent the fuel from going bad with the changes in today's fuels. The whole point of a fuel stabilizer is to form an oily film on the surface of stored gasoline whether in the tank or in a gas can. The idea was to keep oxygen away from the gasoline to prevent breakdown. Since the fuel is already oxygenated, the fuel stabilizer concept is null and void. These fuels start to degrade immediately upon the addition of the ethanol.

Do not buy gas from the "Discount" Stations. The discount stations get a reduced price on gas because they may be buying fuel that is nearly 30 days old already. You may be getting fuel that's nearly stale right from the pump when buying from a discount station. Purchase your fuel from the well-known stations such as Shell, BP, Sonoco, Phillips 66 etc.

More than 70% of all of our repairs in our small engine repair business are due to these same issues. You most likely have dirt, gum, varnish...etc in your carburetor plugging up the small passageways and jets in the carburetor.

The carburetor will need to be cleaned and overhauled as well as the rest of the fuel system.

• If you plan to do the work yourself, take pictures with your digital camera or at least make a drawing of where all the linkages, gaskets, and component parts go. Correct reassembly is critical.
• Remove the carburetor from the engine.
• Remove all of the non-metallic parts since the carburetor cleaner will cause them to be disfigured decompose and plug the carburetor as time goes on.
• Clean all parts with carburetor cleaner. You will want to SOAK the non metallic parts in a cleaner bath.
• Blow out all the small holes and passageways with compressed air.
• Use a tiny stiff wire such as is found on the twist tie on a loaf of bread or on a garbage bag to open all tiny passageways found in the carburetor such as in the screw, nut, or jet holding the bowl of the carburetor on (if it has a bowl). Make sure to look for tiny holes in the bottom and side threads of the bowl nut or nozzle a make sure they are clear with the wire.
• Wash the carburetor cleaner off of the metal parts by washing them in warm, soapy water then rinsing with clean water.
• Dry all carburetor parts by blowing it off with compressed air.
• Make sure that all the passageways are blown dry before reassembling (you do not want water back in the carburetor).
• Reassemble the carburetor using a NEW carburetor rebuild kit.
• NOTE: DO NOT TRY TO REASSEMBLE WITHOUT USING A COMPLETE CARBURETOR KIT! You will just end up having to do the job again.
• Find the Model, type and serial or code numbers off of the engine and take them to your local dealer to get the carburetor repair kit.
• ALWAYS clean the fuel tank and replace the fuel line when doing this repair or you may have to do it all over again. The inside of the fuel line disintegrates over time and these small pieces of rubber will plug up the carburetor too. Dirt and water from a dirty fuel tank will also plug up the carburetor. If this happens, you will be starting over again from the top.

In an Emergency such as a blizzard where you cannot get out to buy a carburetor kit until the plows come through, or during an emergency power outage and you need a generator running even if it runs poorly, you might try the following if your carburetor is the type that has a bowl. Sometimes this procedure works:

While the carburetor is still mounted to the engine:

• Pinch the fuel line with a pair of vice grips to stop the fuel from going to the carburetor.
• Remove the bowl nut (or nozzle from the bottom of the carburetor and let the fuel drain from the bowl.
• Carefully remove the bowl from the carburetor without letting the needle and seat and float fall out of position (if it does, no big deal, but you will have to reassemble it, which is harder with the carburetor on the unit).
• Dump all of the Gunk out of the bowl and put the bowl back into position.
• Use a tiny stiff wire such as is found on the twist tie on a loaf of bread or on a garbage bag to open all tiny holes in the screw, bowl nut, or nozzle that was holding the bowl of the carburetor on (if it has a bowl). Make sure to look for tiny holes in the bottom and side threads of the bowl nut or nozzle a make sure they are clear with the wire.
• Reassemble and see if you got lucky.

You may be able to finish the job at hand then clean and overhaul the carburetor correctly when you have more time and a new carburetor overhaul kit.

The nut that holds on the carburetor bowl has several small holes in it. Some are on the sides and one may be in the end. In order to completely clean the carburetor correctly, you Must clean these holes with a tag wire or a jet drill. (If a jet drill is used, DO NOT use a drill that is bigger than the hole or the engine will run too rich.)

If you don't feel comfortable with these kinds of repairs, or if the carburetor still doesn't work correctly after your attempt, I would suggest sending it to a profession repair shop with a reputation for having friendly, knowledgeable, experienced service technicians. It would be best to take it to someone who has an "Ultra-sonic" cleaning machine. This machine uses a very mild carburetor cleaner in concert with ultrasonic vibrations to get the very small passageways clean. This method is very effective even when traditional methods fail.

Here is where you can get an inexpensive "Ultrasonic Cleaning Machine"

http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?category=&q=ultrasonic+cleaner

There is a New Product that you can try which is guaranteed to work or your money back (per the manufacturer).

http://www.b3cfuelsolutions.com/html/mib.html

It is designed to help clean the carburetor without damaging the diaphragms and rubber parts like regular carburetor cleaner. Click on this site and it will tell you all about it. http://www.b3cfuelsolutions.com/html/mib.html

The mechanic in a bottle is NOT a conventional carburetor cleaner.

It actually breaks down the varnish into it molecular components and it completely dissolves. It DOE NOT clog up the jets as conventional carburetor cleaners do. Conventional carb cleaners just loosen the varnish and the varnish particles will go into the jets and filters and clog them up.... usually causing much more problems that was originally there. The conventional carb cleaners also will loosen the "GUMK" that has formed in the gas tanks and cause all of that gunk to go through the carburetor as well.

The Mechanic in a BOTTLE is a completely revolutionary product that will in many cases alleviate the need to tear the carburetor down and rebuilt it..... unless there is mechanical wear and tear that would require that parts be replaced.

In addition, the special formula actually is designed to soften and restore the rubber parts in the carburetor such as the needle and seats and gaskets.

Mechanic in a bottle is NOT a cure-all but it can help customer get going in many cases without them having to tear the carburetor apart. If the customer is NOT mechanically inclined, it might save them a trip to the repair shop.

Yes I was very skeptical about this product when I first was introduced to it, but the Distributor demonstrated it and we have tried it on many occasions with terrific results.

Otherwise you will have to clean and rebuild the carburetor.

Please feel free to ask follow-up questions so that we can always arrive at the correct solution. We want you to be 100% satisfied.

You should run it totally out of gas every time the mower will sit longer than 30 days

STABIL does not good at all normally

except

you can run the engine almost all the way out when getting it ready for winter

then pour some stabil in the tank directly

then the engine will run out of gas and the last thing in the carburetor will be the stabil so it does not get gummed up

this will happen if the mower is 70 days old or 2 years old or 15 years old

it is the alcohol in the gas that makes the gas un stable

gas turning to gum and varnish is similar to wine turning to vinegar and milk getting sour

in fact, you can smell the difference in all three.

99.9% sure this time.... Classic cause, classic symptoms

if you wanr to prove it

drain the old gas out

put new gas in

then take the spark plug out

and put a teaspoon of gas in the spark plug hole

then start the mower

if it runs 2 to 3 seconds

then we KNOW it is the carburetor and the Old gas

so you will have to clean the carbruetor

Or you can just trust me and do not waste the few cups of gas that you put in the tank

because you will likely have to clean the gas lines and the fuel tank too

because they will be all gumemd up too with the varnish

is there a primer?

njot going to matter, you will find out when you clean the carburetor

let me know if you need any other help once you get into it