My 2004 Craftsman push mower started dying under load last month, so I was stuck deciding between a $40 carburetor rebuild or dropping $300 on a cheap electric model from Lowes. I figured I'd try the rebuild first since I already had the tools (and a Saturday to kill), and honestly after two hours of cleaning jets and adjusting the float it's running better than it has in years. Has anyone else had luck extending the life of their gas mower or is electric just the smarter move now?
Figured it'd be a weekend job, maybe 8 hours tops. Ended up fighting a seized bolt on the harmonic balancer for three hours alone. Anyone else run into a bolt that just refused to budge?
I was driving home from a late shift near Columbus, Ohio, when my old Ford just died going 65 mph. Coasted to the shoulder and popped the hood with a flashlight, found the distributor cap cracked in half from heat cycles. Ended up stuffing it with electrical tape and got another 30 miles to a rest stop before I could call a buddy. Anyone else ever limp a truck home with field-fix parts?
I saw a big difference on my '86 F150 after I took the carb apart and cleaned it by hand. Before that I'd just spray cleaner down the throat while it was running and it seemed to help for like a day. Then it would start idling rough again. Over about 3 weeks of doing that I noticed the gaskets started swelling and I got a vacuum leak. Now I'm wondering if the short term fix is worth the longer term headache. Any of you guys seen this go sideways too or am I just unlucky?
I keep seeing posts in here where folks slap a new plug in straight out of the box without checking the gap. I did that once on my old Farmall tractor from 1958 and it ran like garbage for two weeks until I finally checked it. The gap was off by almost 0.015 inches from what the manual called for. After I fixed it with a wire gauge and a gentle tap on the concrete floor, the thing started on the first crank. Why does everybody think new parts are always set perfect from the factory? I've found gaps off on plugs from three different brands just this year alone. Has anyone else had a plug cause weird misfires just because the gap was wrong?
My old Craftsman mower threw its blade on Thursday while I was cutting the back field. Heard a nasty clang and saw the blade fly into the fence about 20 feet away. Lucky nobody was standing there. I had tightened that bolt last season but forgot to recheck it after winter. Anybody else had a blade come loose on them like that?
I was digging through my dad's old shop manual last weekend and found a note about the valve gap on my Briggs engine. Turns out it needs to be 0.006 inches for the intake and 0.008 for the exhaust, which I never knew was a thing. I set them right with a feeler gauge from Harbor Freight and the thing started on the first pull. Anybody else stumble on some tiny spec like that that solved a big headache?
Used to drop $40 every time a lawnmower started running rough. Figured new parts were the safe bet. Then last fall I had a Craftsman that wouldn't idle and I was out of money. Tore the carb down, soaked it in $3 worth of Berryman's for 2 hours, and it ran better than new. Now I just do that with everything. Saves me probably $150 a year. Anyone else ditch the rebuild kits?