kipsy

thinking of buying, $1800 no warranty . new coils and front tires and battery . veteran used it to mow grass, around 220 hours per season. regular oil changes, don't know much else. is this too much time on the deck and other systems to risk ?

cut the bottom off a windshield washer jug or gallon of mil and keep the cap ON. 

got snow all day today while buffalo was playing on CBS. tried to get the honda hs521 going but wouldnt start. 4-5 plunges of the ariens 824 primer and off i go. later in the day, thought id clean up another 3-6 inches with the honda. still no start. got the 1 year old never used can of seafoam spray off the storage rack and squirted some in the carb area, dont even know if it went in the hole. 3 pulls later the honda is back to life.

i have the 824, 2000 model year, with cab.  same problems with hard starting. i thought my rings were leaking, but i see the smoke happens to most people, new and old machines.  for a cold start, i put the choke ON all the way, throttle around 3/4, push the primer 3-4 times slowly and waiting 2 seconds between pushes.  then it pull starts the first time since ive followed this ritual.  i also put a new plug in, but yours is new.

did you break a shear pin ?  look for shear pins in your manual for location.