Need some help Original Message Jan 25, 2011 12:24 pm
During the off season I tend to my lawn and garden equipment. I have a 1987 JD SX75 rear engine riding mower. I just changed the oil, spark plug, air filter, gas filter, etc; checked belts, sharpened the blade and did general lubrication. So after giving it all of this tender loving care...it won't start. It will run for a few seconds if I give it a shot of ether so I have spark. I noticed that the fuel filter is dry. Yes there is gas in the tank and the fuel line valve is open. Just can't get feul to start flowing. There is no primer with this engine...just a choke. It's a 9hp Kawasaki. Does the fuel line have to be manually primed. I thought of pouring a little gas right in the spark plug but the plug socket is horizontal and very difficult to access. In fact everything about this engine is difficult to access.
Don't blow into the wind, and don't eat yellow snow. WOOF!
Location: Saskatchewan
Joined: Dec 13, 2010
Points: 253
Re: Need some help Reply #5 Jan 25, 2011 5:41 pm
If the fuel filter is on right but not getting gas then there has to be a stoppage between it and the tank. If the shutoff valve is metallic, it may have corroded and stopped up - I have seen this happen for some types of steel valves (why in heaven's name did they EVER use STEEL for a shutoff valve??). Also, there may be a screen inside the tank at the outlet on the bottom - this may also be plugged with crud.
Location: Maryland
Joined: Feb 9, 2010
Points: 143
Re: Need some help Reply #6 Jan 25, 2011 6:19 pm
I have an old craftsman with enough "junk" in the tank that the fuel inlet in the bottom of the gas tank gets clogged with all the sediment so I basically take the gas line off the filter, and "blow" hard enough to clear the inlet once a year. Don't swallow gas during this procedure, it is not the tastiest thing you'll ever drink
