Most outdoor yard equipment uses some type of gas powered small engine. Generally, these units are reliable and will give good performance. Every once in a while, however, they won’t start.
This year, I went to fire up the trusty rototiller (Yard Machines 21A332A700) to start working on the garden and I spent quite a while pulling on that rope with nothing to show for it. It turns out, there were several problems. These are the basic trouble shooting steps:
- Check the fuel. Gas goes bad after a while, bad gas will smell funny. If the gas has sat in the tank all winter, drain it out and replace with fresh gas. Check the carburetor, most have a drain bolt on the bottom, drain about 1 tablespoon of gas out. If the unit has a fuel filter, check that too.
- Check ignition. Remove the spark plug and check for damage. Check for proper gap. The spark plug should have slightly grey/brown ash on it, that is normal. Black gunk indicates a more serious problem. If several attempts at starting were made, the spark plug should have a slight coating of gas on it and the cylinder should smell like gas. Wait about 5 minutes then ground the spark plug on the engine and pull the starter. You should see/hear the spark. If not, there is an ignition problem.
- Remove the air filter and be sure that the choke plate is closed.
- After several starting attempts, the carburetor throat should be slightly wet with gas. If not, there is a fuel problem.
- If everything looks normal (fuel and ignition okay) then the flywheel key might be bent. This could happen if the engine was stopped after hitting something. In many cases, the fly wheel key can be replaced.
With the rototiller, I found two problems, no gas and no spark. The gas problem was due to a clogged carburetor port. I took apart the carburetor and blew out all the ports with 35 PSI compressed air to make sure that no other junk was stuck in there.
The ignition problems were due to a mouse nest under the fly wheel cover. The mice chewed through the insulation on the kill wire. I tried to re-insulate the wire, but there was still no spark. I replaced the entire ignition coil. Briggs and Stratton has a good web site where one get know how and order parts directly.
I also installed a new, properly gapped spark plug. Total cost of repair, about $40.00.
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