Worked on my push mower this weekend. Last week while mowing it started revving up and down. Surging. That's never good. My first thought was a fuel or spark plug issue. Changed out the spark plug. Still had the same symptoms.
Went to change out the fuel filter and realized it didn't have one. Seems the previous owner must have removed it for some reason. Never figured out why.
Started thinking. Since it had been running without a fuel filter, I figured the carburetor had to be dirty as hell. All that unfiltered fuel running through it. Carburetors for small engines are cheap. At least for my model. So instead of taking it apart and cleaning every little part, I just bought new. Got a whole tune up kit. Didn't really need all of it right now, but might as well have the parts on hand.
Installed the new carb last night and found my fuel line had a crack in it. Of course it did. So I ordered new fuel line. Got it last night. Installed everything this morning.
Runs like a charm now.
The good lady mowed this morning. No surging. No sputtering. Just a mower doing what a mower is supposed to do.
Sometimes fixing things is just a matter of working the problem. One part at a time until you find the culprit. In this case it was a missing fuel filter, a dirty carb, and a cracked fuel line all working together to make my life difficult. All fixed now.
On to the next project. And back to cleaning my garage.
Thanks for reading,
Joe
Notes:
-All content is mine unless otherwise annotated.
-Images are my own unless otherwise noted.
-Photos edited using Linux photo editor and drawing and/or iPhone SE.
-Page Dividers from The Terminal Discord.
