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farmboy1_gw

Craftsman/B&S Mower Died, Won't Restart

farmboy1
10 years ago

I have an older Craftsman Mower with a B&S engine, model # 917-387400.

I was cutting the grass yesterday with it on a 90 degree day. the grass was pretty thick, so periodically, when the mower started to chug, I'd lift it up and the cut grass would blow out from under the body and it would speed up again.

At one point, it started to chug, and I lifted it up, and it just died quickly even though I had lifted it up. No smoke, flame, oil spitting or anything exciting. It wouldn't restart.

Checking it out, I noticed that I could spin the blade pretty easily by hand, and removing the spark plug I confirmed with my finger over the hole that there was no compression. I used a wooden dowel to confirm that the piston was going up and down.

Before I tear into it (I'm used to car and motorcycle engines), I'm wondering if there's something simple I should check, a "compression lock" or something else?

I'd rather fix this if it's cheap/easy enough as most all the mowers I see for sale are the self-propelled variety, which I don't want.

Thanks guys!

vince

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