How to Fix a Self Propelled Lawn Mower

Fixing Your Self Propelled Lawn Mower

Every homeowner wants to keep your lawn healthy, green and lush all season long. Your lawn mower is an important part of maintaining your lawn's overall health and appeal. An overgrown grass in your lawn can spoil the beauty of your home and also can act as breeding ground for insects. Also, overgrown grass can attract a lot of weeds which depletes the soil fertility and prevent your grass from growing further. To prevent this from happen, you should own a lawn mower and properly keep it in good condition.

If you own a self propelled lawn mower, it will require regular repairs when it breaks down. You have two options of repairing this kind of mower. One of the ways is to take it to a professional repair person and the other one is to repair it yourself. The latter is more affordable for most of homeowners. In this article, we shall concentrate on how you can fix your self propelled lawn mower yourself without any need of taking it for servicing.

Common Issues and how to fix them

1. The mower won’t start. A mower can fail to start due to several problems. This can be a drained battery in case of electric mowers, a damaged spark plug or damaged cord in corded mowers.

How to Fix

First, disconnect the spark plug to prevent the engine from starting accidentally. Wipe it clean if you find that it’s clogged with dirt. You will need to replace it if the porcelain is cracked off the electrode is burned off. Ideally, you should replace the spark plug once annually to keep your Mower in good condition.

Your mower can fail to start when the blade control is engaged. Ensure that it’s disengaged and try restarting the mower. Another issue can be the fuel. It may have gone bad if it has stayed in the tank all the winter season without a stabilizer. Remove all of it and replace with another fuel.

In the case of electric mowers, you may want to check whether the battery is dead. If this is the case, recharge it immediately. If it can’t recharge, you will have no other choice other than replacing it. Also, check whether the extension cord is damaged. Replace it with other one and restart your mower.

Another way to fix this issue is to clean the carburetor and the air filters. Check guidance from your manual.

2. The mower is noisy due to too much vibration and the cut is poor.

How to Fix It

Check whether the blade is dirty and remove all the grass clippings from its underside. The blade may be bent or damaged. In this case, replace it. Your blade needs to be sharpened regularly to make it sharp. You should take the mower to a mechanic if the rod, connecting the blade to the motor, is also bent or damaged.

3. The mower moves too slowly and has become a push mower.

How to Fix It

Often, this is caused by a damaged or loose transmission cable. Make sure that the cable is connected firmly at both ends. If it’s damaged, you will have to replace it. This problem can also be solved by lubricating the wheels and drive wheel gears if they are clogged up with dirt or grass clippings.

General maintenance of Self Propelled Lawn Mower

By following the following tips on general maintenance, you will ensure that your lawn mower is working at peak efficiency every time you need to use it.

Tip #1

Keep your lawn mower's blade sharp. A dull blade makes an uneven cut on your lawn and may even damage your grass. In addition, a sharp blade means cutting efficiency and reducing wear and tear on your engine and other parts.

Tip #2

Ensure that the air filter is kept clean and free of dust and dirt. You can usually just shake the air filter out to remove dust and debris. If your air filter has been in use for a while and has a lot of build-up on it, you should replace it immediately. All of your lawn mower's parts work in conjunction with one another so saving money by not replacing an overly dirty air filter will only cost you more in the long run.

Tip #3

Clean the carburetor. Just like your car, your carburetor needs to be looked after. Before removing the carburetor, make sure that the fuel line has been turned off. Once you have the carburetor out, give it a good cleaning so that its floating valve is able to move freely. Then replace the carburetor and turn the fuel line back on.

Tip #4

Check your fuel. In addition to keeping the fuel tank topped up to at least halfway, you will want to replace any gas that was left over from the previous season that did not have a stabilizer added to it.

Tip #5

In addition to keeping the fuel tank topped up and in good shape, you will also want to inspect your fuel line. It is very common to switch your fuel line off at the end of the season so it is easy to forget about it. If your lawn mower is not starting, check this first.

If the engine still does not start, the gas may not be getting to the carburetor. To check this, remove the fuel hose from the carburetor to see if the fuel is flowing through. If it is, you can reconnect the two. If it is not, your fuel line may be plugged or the filter may be blocked.

Tip #6

Check the spark plug. This is one of the most basic things you can do if your lawn mower is not starting or working properly. To check this, detach the wire at the end of the plug before removing it. You will want to ensure that the spark plug is not wet or dirty

Before attempting to fix any issue with your mower, ensure that you follow these safety tips

· Always perform the repairs outdoors.
· Remove the spark plug to prevent accidentally rotating a blade and starting the engine.
· Empty the gas tank first, especially before you roll the machine over.
· Store gas in their proper containers and away from highly flammable objects.