while cruising some back roads, we came across this free mower on the side of the road with a sign stating it does not run. lets go through every thing it takes to bring a lawn mower back to good running condition.
This man continually puts out excellent videos. No crazy thumbnails, no mentions of subscribing and liking. All he does is ask how it's going and then commences to show us how to fix stuff.
Thanks Mustie for continuing to offer these instructional small engine videos. I have learned so much over the years from you (and continue to). Not only have you’ve saved me money but have given me great satisfaction in fixing my equipment.
I also solved my most complicated issues with my truck , after watching the video of his Toyota truck had a sudden misfire code and as soon as he described the possibility of what it might be , instantly I knew that he had solved this for me . I'm still impressed .
@@marcryvon Say whaaaaaat? I love mowing grass because it's so satisfying! I built a striper roller for my mower so that it makes really strong, bold lines/stripes/rows when cutting. I just used a section of ABS (you can use PVC but I though black ABS was more handsome) with 2 "test plug" end caps to make the roller's cylinder. I bought about 50 pounds of lead bullet casting ingots and melted them down into cylindrical hockey pucks by melting them slowly with my acetylene TurboTorch and dripping them into old cat food/tuna cans which were just a bit smaller than the ID of the ABS pipe. I cut the pipe to be as wide as the width of the mower from the outer side of each wheel. The test plugs cap off the ends from inside and are flush with the end, so the roller sits flat and level from edge to edge of the mower flattening the entire patch of grass that the mower touches so it's a solid and uniform stripe. I used CA glue to put one cap on, then I put the new round lead ingots in one by one, filling the gap around them with sand and dimpling the center of the ingot deeply with a punch to expand it into place a bit before I put the next ingot on top. I should mention that I measured the length of the roller so that the last ingot was cast to size for a perfect fit as the last one. Then I put the other cap on with CA glue too. I fabbed up the roller's arms by cutting and bending a few thin pieces of flat galvanized steel stock so that they could be slipped onto the wheel axle behind the wheel and then reach backward and attach to the roller in the center of the cap. I drilled the first arm hole to match the axle diameter tightly but with clearance to let it rotate and swing freely up and down to match the grass height. To attach the arms' other end to the roller, I just found the center of the circle by measuring and then drilled a hole down into the first 1 or 2 pucks. Then I used a coarse thread lag bolt (which I had drilled the arm hole to fit tightly for clearance but not much slop) to hold the arm in place. I laminated 3-4 of the thin steel stock together to form one arm. It was easier doing it that way to make the precise bends necessary. I laminated the arms with JB Weld. Then I put it all together, and it works absolutely fantastic! I see many others use sand or water as their ballast, but my mower is pretty small so that wouldn't be hardly any weight at all and the grass wouldn't be flattened much. The lead is dense as hell and the little 2.5" ABS is like, 50 pounds. It works great on our thick, beefy Bermuda grass that is kept short. Striping works much better on cool season lawn like fescue and rye that can be cut longer like 3-4" and is a delicate blade. The stripes are so satisfying to see with my nice and healthy dark green lawn. It's the best on the street but I put a lot of work into it to maintain that. It's truly a labor of love and de-stresses me. I like it. Most could not care less about the lawn. 😸😸😸 If you have OCD about neatness and symmetry then bold, straight, and sharp lawn stripes are heavenly to create and look at later.
You should put a hidden mark on it somewhere. Then in a couple years after the next owner has neglected it and put it on the curb with a free sign, you'll know it's the same one.
Morning gents! It’s amazing what’s on the side of the road there. That would be 50 bucks not running here. CUT THOSE DAMN TIE WRAPS! That is such a pet peeve of mine.
A year ago I opened a small engine shop with a friend of mine. Learned a lot from you, Mustie, and you're a big part of why I opened my shop. I agree, most shops charge more than a push mower is worth for something like this. I don't. Not going to say the price, because I don't want this to be construed as an ad or a cheap plug. However, I've found I make more money charging cheap money for carburetor cleaning because people walk away when you tell them it's $100 and up but bite when it's a reasonable 2 digit number. Plus, I can clean that plastic carb and fuel tank in 15 minutes, so people are super happy when I can do it while they wait instead of having to come back. They tell their friends "This guy got my mower running in 15 minutes" and a bunch of people come out of the woodwork. It just makes sense to be reasonable and you'll make it up in volume.
I wonder how many homeowners have been inspired by your excellent videos, and saved themselves money by doing their own basic maintenance on their garden equipment. As always your videos are very entertaining and a joy to watch, thank you.
The true indicator that there are a lot of viewers, will be when Mustie goes for a drive for miles and miles and finds no free stuff to pick up and fix.
I literally found the same one the other day on the side of the road. All that was wrong was the recoil for the pull start. So I sprayed some penetrating oil, gave it a few rips and worked just fine. Cleaned the plug, carburetor and filter, changed the oil and it ran like a champ. Threw it back in the car and took it back to the guy and he was just shocked I fixed it. Told me to just keep it or sell it since he just bought a new one. My friend down the street needed a mower so I gave it to him. These videos always inspire me. Keep making them and I’ll keep learning from them 🤘🏼
I’ve cleaned the carbs and repaired hundreds of mowers and small engines as a repair tech at Home Depot and I still enjoy watching Mustie work on mowers on Sunday morning. Learned a lot watching the channel.
Worked in a small engine repair place in high school. I've never bought a lawnmower! Every one comes form the side of the road. I do exactly what you just did and they all run great. Deck rot is the same here in Ontario. That's what kills them.
@@monkeybarmonkeyman Huh, didn't know they had gone to a plastic (or plastic like) deck on some models. Think they used to have either aluminum or maybe even magnesium decks several years ago. Looks like their lower end stuff is still steel though.
I wonder if spraying the underside of the deck with Rhino Liner to seal it would prevent the paint from being removed and prevent the bare metal from rusting. Almost like a coat of armor. I know that as an auto tech, I've seen hard undercoating fail after a while and then it traps water beneath it making the rust even worse. However, truck bed liner is extraordinarily tough shit because of what it's designed to see daily. It's designed to have gravel dumped on it, furniture slid in and out against it, etc. Once it gets a thin coating of grass pulp, it would smooth out the pebbly surface. I wonder if putting a layer of sprayed polyurethane over the Rhino Liner would help smooth it out and add even another layer of durable protection to it. Or maybe go the other way around... Cerakote or polyurethane the underside and then put Rhino Liner on top of that. 🤔 Maybe Rhino Liner and a thick application of sprayed Plasti-Dip on top of it? I'm not sure. I'm in AZ. Most of us have no idea what a grass lawn even is. It's startling to native born people when they travel. 🙀 "WHAT IS THAT GREEN STUFF TAKING OVER THE YARD?!?!" Lol 😸 Some people do have Bermuda or St. Augustine grass lawns here though. The deck washer works pretty good most of the time and then one can just prop the mower up tilted over on a few bricks or 2x4s to dry out in the sun. Laying it over on the side and using a jet garden hose, or better yet a pressure washer, easily blows all the fresh grass off to keep the deck clean. Of course we have no salted roads here so our cars never rust either! My last car was a 1984 diesel Mercedes that had no rust on the underside whatsoever. The paint was gone, the suspension rubber was rock hard and split apart, and the interior plastics were brittle as glass, but the metal itself looked mint. 💪😸
Now get to work on the double cab and bring a carcass bus over to gut the parts and wiring for. The cab....and take the white mopar out too......sheeesh. tooooo many toys, mustie!!!
16:22 this is the story of every one of my lawn mowers, 10 years, zero service. but since I'm a Mustie fan now that has changed, all machines are neatly serviced in a diy way. lawn mower, trimmer, chainsaw, all have everything neatly lubricated and sharpened haha. thanks for the super informative videos!
I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the lessons you have taught me , not only about small engines but the way to view problems. I used to be ok until something went wrong, then i would be ineffective because of anger, your videos calm me down and make me realize , there are going to be snafus, that's life, how you deal with them determine who you are. Not only with mowers, with life. Thanks !
He's methodical, I reckon that is a big part of it- Does it spin Y/N? If no, start there. Does it have spark Y/N? If no, fix that. Is it getting fuel Y/N and so on, each issue handled in turn. Great practice, I reckon!
Like Max says, logical flowchart troubleshooting is the key. Engines need fuel, air, compression, and ignition as the very basics. You need the right amount of fuel, delivered to the cylinder at the right time. You need the right amount of air, delivered to the cylinder at the right time, and the ability to easily expel the exhaust when the burning is complete. You need ignition occuring at the right time, with it powerful enough to actually cause the fuel:air charge to burn vigorously. Finally, you need the ability to compress that charge at the proper amount. Compression is usually easy to guess just by pulling the string or listening to the starter motor's rapid struggles to fight the compression stroke each time it happens. A 4 stroke will have resistance when pulled, and a small 2 stroke weed whacker or chainsaw or blower should be able to be lifted up and held by the string without falling down the entire length of it. A reasonable amount of compression will make it impossible to hold your thumb over the sparkplug hole the entire time while rotating the engine. If there's no compression, you find out why. It could be failed rings and scored cylinder, blown head gasket, burnt or pitted valve seats, excessive or insufficient valve lash, broken or worn or fallen rocker arms, bent or broken or worn pushrods, failed or worn lifter, broken or worn camshaft lobes, incorrect camshaft lobe clocking (plastic cam lobes can slip on their metal shaft and be out of time), incorrect cam gear teeth/degree alignment, stripped plastic cam gear teeth, or a faulty compression release system. Then IMO spark is the next easiest to verify. A lightbulb type spark tester is best for lawn mowers but if you can hold the plug and spin the engine quickly with each hand you can see the spark up close by just holding the plug body to a block or head surface to ground it. The spark has to be strong and consistent. If it's not present or it's weak, examine the ignition system. A weak spark at atmospheric pressure won't be able to ionize and jump the very dense air at all in a compressed fuel:air charge. Remove and inspect the sparkplug to make sure the center and ground electrodes are present, clean, and gapped correctly. Check the plug wire for degradation or breaks, check the stop mechanism to make sure the coil isn't being grounded by a bad stop switch or chaffed wires or a sloppy deadman's lever cable/linkage, check if there's a low oil cutoff safety switch that grounds the coil, check the ignition coil for shorts or opens, check the gap between coil and flywheel for proper distance and corrosion or rubbing damage, check the points and condenser for corrosion and gap and timing and good test values, you will find something eventually. If spark is good, fuel and air are next. After checking the compression and valve train, a dirty air filter or obstructed intake or stuck choke linkage or plate/faulty automatic choke mechanism or faulty governor that holds the throttle plate shut all the time are really it for air issues. For fuel, It's pretty simple with carbs. They are often just dirty internally at the jets or needle seat, full of water and corrosion and stale fuel, improperly adjusted, have sloppy linkages, have a dirty filter or filter screen, or they have a float that has developed a pinhole and is full of fuel which floods the engine or a stuck needle that doesn't fill the bowl. A massage in an ultrasonic cleaner's chemical bath should cure it, otherwise just replace the carb. Jets and passages can be cleared with pipe cleaners, thin wires, torch tip cleaners, or micro drill bits. If the compression is good, the timing and valve (and compression release) operation is correct, spark is present and strong, the carb is new or clean and properly adjusted/functioning, and the intake is not obstructed by a filthy air filter or nest or other things, spark timing and exhaust are left. A clogged exhaust due to fouled spark arrestor screens, fouled exhaust manifold/port, collapsed muffler, or animal nest is easily determined. Spark timing can be out of whack due to a squished or totally sheared flywheel key from hitting a hard object because that moves the magnet and retards timing several degrees away. The coil can be misadjusted too which would advance or retard ignition. If those 2 things are ok, consider the possibility that the key is a very hard replacement from an ignorant previous repair, and the crankshaft itself is twisted which has retarded the spark timing. That's a fatal failure due to financial reasons, usually. An offset key could potentially fix that, but make sure the crank isn't bent radially as well from that hard object hit. If it twisted the crank rotationally into plastic deformation, it may have bent it radially too. I think I covered most if not all possible causes of a simple outdoor equipment engine not running. If you check all of those things and it still doesn't run, consider calling up your local witch doctor and sprinkling a bit of your or your child's baptismal holy water on it. 🤷🏻♂️
My Dad knew almost nothing about internal combustion engines. I have learned much on my own over the years, but have learned quite a bit from you in your approach to "Will it run " videos. Kudos and Cheers!
Only bought one new mower. A Sears 20" self-prepelled power reel mower. Changed the oil, cleaned the plug, & air cleaner, adjusted & sharpened the blade every year. Every 5 yrs new oil, air cleaner, plug, & drive belt. Stopped running 22yrs later. Original points & condenser finally wore out.I had moved to Florida & had a rock yard now. So I gave it to fix-it-up & resell guy. New parts & wheels & back in service. $100. Still works. 1980 - 2022 >>>.
Next mower you do put hydraulics on the wheels to make it a low rider . Then you can be " Mowin' Dirty " . I know it's a bad pun but just smile already ! Have a great day everybody ! Thanks Mustie for the great work !
One tip that I found somewhere else on RU-vid, it's possible for the choke lever to touch the side plate that the carb mounts between and jam the choke in the open position. This will cause a no choke condition the next time you go to start the engine. Cure, form the side plate a little away from the choke lever or file or grind a little off of the end of the choke lever so that it doesn't touch the side plate. That tip solved my problem.
The worst mower of all for jammed carb linkage and such has to be a Honda engine mower. Instead of studs to slip the carburetor over, you have to use bolts that traverse through all kinds of plates,and maybe 5 or six gaskets the carb,and even the fuel filter housing. Subsistute a stud for the 6mm bolt and it's way gooder. Don't know the length, but I suspect the horizontal Honda engines and clones have studs that will work. If you know which Mustie video dealt with a Honda engine, please link it
So glad I found an aluminum deck mulching mower about thirty years ago. No rust problems. I just bought four new steel wheels with ball bearings. I’ll get 20 more years out of it ! N.E.OH Bob
I've found after a lot of testing that painting the bottom of the deck with a coat of aluminium paint does wonders. Just remove the loose rust and all the dirt and clippings. Then, just brush on a coat of paint and watch it soak into the rust and crevices. Spraying doesn't work very well. I have several mowers that I acquired used that had been rusted through in places. I never repaired the holes just painted the deck. I haven't had to buy a new one in over thirty years and seldom have to repaint them. It also seems to prevent grass from sticking to the bottom of the deck too.
I sanded (wire wheel) my deck down to bare metal about 7 years ago when it first started rusting - sprayed it with a nice thick coating of spray on flex-seal rubberized paint. 7 years later and it's still great - the only thing better might have been some actual bed-liner paint. Nothing sticks to it at all and i hose it off underneath every time I get it out to mow - might be another option for folks - I think it doubled the life of my mower (its almost 20 years now - Yardworks Model from Canadian Tire).
@@blowupbob1 In the UK I have used a paint called 'Hammerite', originally available by mail order only. It seemed that the grass clippings didn't stick as much as with the original finish. There is a modern product with the same name but I cannot vouch for its performance.
Another Sunday morning with Mustie and Coffee. These videos are so educational and I too have learned so much from them. Thank you for your time and effort. Oh it was so good seeing your old VW Truck on the road agaon.
To test for a spark, use a neodynium magnet on an iron grounded part and stick the sparkplug on the magnet. It won't move and you'll have a great view for the camera. If it changes your life, say Pierre told you this trick. Please 🙏 I love your channel so much...
I look forward to these shows and watch them every Sunday. Thank you for a great channel with useful information it has helped me on more than one occasion!
Another great Mustie1 repair video. Like so many others, I to have learned a lot from watching Mustie1 at work, the videos are fun and educational. (Nice catch on the plug wire).
I love it! After all these years of watching M1, I see now that it is almost like a medical show: The "patient" gets put on the table and the "Doctor" does an assessment prior to any (but most likely) surgery. Sometimes it turns into an autopsy, but we all learn as M1 sometimes does. I look forward to M1 all week to start my Sunday!
Steve’s Small Engine Saloon RU-vid channel has a nice video on servicing these plastic carburetors. Common issue is main jet hole to small. Enlarging a bit really helps. Central white component does come out. Use small flat blade screwdriver in between cartridge and side wall and gently pry up. Be sure screwdriver in far enough not to damage o ring at top of cartridge. Also pay attention to orientation of cartridge as you remove it, for reinstalling after cleaning.
All righ, All right, All Right a cup O coffee and a Mustie Vid to watch what a way to start a week! And its good to see him driving Krusty missed him! Greetings to all and abroad!
Thanks Mustie, the 'teacher' in you certainly comes through clearly and makes your content both interesting and very informative. I especially support your continual emphasis on safety. With the current fuel prices is it worth discussing disposal procedures or whether it is feasible to reuse contaminated fuels? The reel mower would be an interesting presentation, I am of an age where that type of mower (the manual version) was the only option - one with a motor would have been a real prize. Please keep the content coming, I look forward to your next presentation.
I would absolutely love to see a Reel Mower restore. I just started cutting my lawn with a manual one…what a difference in cut quality. I really want to get a gas one.
The cut is superior because a reel mower cuts the grass with a shearing action. Plus being on two wheels instead of four, it follows the contour of the ground better, so you get a more even cut.
I first came to this channel because of a small engine problem right at the start of COVID lockdowns but I’ve been a regular viewer ever since. I like the fact that the videos aren’t topic-specific but rather discrete projects. That means that’s there’s lots of repetition- which is the best way to learn. But, actually, those channels that do topic by topic invariably run out of steam eventually. Whereas I can envisage me watching your channel every week for as long as you choose to do it. There’s plenty of variety. It’s really good to see one video that just pulls it all together on the mower front. As you say, it’s really only 35 minutes of work but having the whole thing laid out in a logical order by an accessible presenter is great. You really do have a gift for teaching.
Hi from the uk! Great video as always musty! The best thing I’ve found for protecting mower decks is fibreglass mould release wax. A good car polish wax will work as well if you can’t get hold of any, just requires a couple of extra layers and a bit more elbow grease.
Good show as always, down here in the gulf coast, we have quite a few places to purchase non alcohol gas, my car gets better mileage it seems. there is a huge amount of boats here so i guess that explains the amount of stations that sell non alcohol gas. also a friend of mine was a motorcycle mechanic for many years specializing on HD's he said NEVER NEVER use unleaded low octane fuel in ANY motorcycle or Small engine.
Yes, would love to see you restore and set up a cylinder cut mower. Much more engineering and precision than a spinny bladed grass chopper. If you don't want sharp edges on your cable ties cut a bit of the body off with the tab so it's flat and even. Nowt dickish about that.
That is a standard 'MTD' mower. MTD was acquired by Briggs & Stratton/Stanley a few years ago. I have the exact same mower under the Snapper brand that I bought from Walmart about 4 years ago. A bit off topic but I live fairly close to where TROY BILT started. The original factory was in Troy NY. They were noted for their rototillers which were very heavily made. Growing up we had the 8 horsepower 'Horse' model which was built like a tank.
@@cletusspucklerstablejeaniu1059 Those old TROY BILT machines were built to last forever. There are some in this aera that are still running from thr 60's.
gottt it.... & scene.... I'm pleased that I always watch your offerings to the end. Long time subscriber.... & long time meddler of horseless implements. Big thumbs up to all that you do for us slobs!! Thank you, Darren
Love watching these. I feel like I could do one myself ! My neighbor is having a garage sale. About 4 old lawnmowers, an old roto tiller he wanted $40 for, some new and old tools. He had two air cleaners like you pulled off this lawnmower. Problem around here is most of the stuff is old. One lawnmower said “Bobcat” on it. He also had a gas weed whacker. He also had a bunch of rusted tool boxes. Question : what do you think of all the new electric stuff? Lots of zero turns and snow blowers are being added to the push mowers. Saxman
@@davidcoudriet8439 lol i stopped there to see if he had any musical instruments and it was just stuff he collected throughout the years. He had mobile 5w30 oil there at $4 a bottle. Mustie doesn’t pay anything close to that. It was a town wide garage sale.
Fantastic instructional video on lawn mowers! If only the big companies would hire you to do videos for them but then you would find less of them sitting on the side of the road🤔😜😳‼️
You're mistaken on your ethanol in gas thing. E85 is 85% alcohol. What's been mandated is E15 which is 15% alcohol. We were using E10. IMO, most of the hysteria over alcohol in gas is way over stated. But, I know I'm in the minority. Great content, as always.
I have had to repair numerous small engines, due to alcohol. It deteriorates the fuel lines,until they just fall apart. I have worked on forty year old mowers, prior to the introduction of alcohol, and never saw a fuel line disintegrate once.
@@robertheinkel6225 The rubber today is garbage. That's what deteriorates lines. The E10 or E15 is fine as long as it's fresh. Let it sit and it will clog carbs solid.
The least expensive push mower at Walmart (Hyper Tough), that is MTD re-branded for Walmart, is $255 plus tax. The self a propelled mowers are about $100 bucks more. This Troy Bilt self-propelled mower tuned up and everything working 100% will sell for $120 and up all day.
They are consider throw away mowers; they are so cheaply built that it’s not worth having someone to service it when it is more cost effective to just buy another one.
Question for ya, Darren; I've always had issue with 'auto-throttles' because they cold start full throttle and then after you're done - and the engine's hot - BOOM - off. I like to start a cold engine and after choke, put that to idle asap and let 'warm up.' Likewise, after using and the engine's hot, I like to idle down to cool down, then kill it. Aren't these 'hard' on these small motors? Every Craftsman I have; tractors, tiller, push mower, power washer - all have throttles except my 2-stage walk behind blower. I would cringe on full throttle cold starts - especially when starting for the 1st time of the season - so I noticed there's actually a throttle slot - very similar to that of my tiller, so I looked up a throttle on Amazon and for $30, I bought one and it even had all the mounts for it. It now works as I wanted it. Your input is appreciated! Thanks!
I fool around with pushers. I use an eyeglass size screwdriver to open carbs., & pop out inside jets. I put w.d.40 on jets to help slide together. Iv'e learned a lot from all you Guy's vids. Old Retired Guy.
Americans mow lawns at a sensible height; many Kiwis like to scalp their grass patch - dust, small stones and powered dog turds flying! I like the relaxed, personable knack you have of making it seem as though you are addressing a gallery of onlookers in your shop. 🙂
He should put a 2 cycle motor - like his Yamaha 175 - in that thing!! I also wish he would have put that Gold Wing engine in that mini truck he (miraculously!) got running!
At the beginning when you were talking about what it would cost to get things fixed you are not kidding. My neighbor friends and family have all told me that if it wasn't for me fixing their equipment they would have just bought something new. We used to have a place that was around when I was a kid. My dad used to take care of stuff to this place. They did a good job and it did not cost an arm and a leg. As soon as the owner passed away his kids tried running it but none of them wanted to work so they closed up and sold everything off. After that they're really wasn't much around and the people that are are absolutely insane on their cost. I personally have been going back and forth on if I just wanted to do a business on the side. It's just hard for me to ask people for money especially if it does not cost me anything but kind to fix something. As always I enjoyed the video and of course I gave you a thumbs up and I've already been a subscriber for years so I got that covered also.
When you emptied the gas tank and towards the end jiggled it 14:24 I immediately had to run to the bathroom, brouhaha🤣 Thanks for the great videos. John here, from the back-roads of Northeastern Tennessee.
I like that you didn't edit the plug wire off, we laughed with you! Man that 175 Yamaha bought back some old memories... that is the same bike, color and all that my Dad bought me for a 1st bike...
Another great video. I especially like the Yamaha 175 at the end, I had the same bike throughout High School, most reliable transportation I’ve ever had. Miles of trails and fun. Thanks again.
I always cleaned under the deck of my mower, changed the oil and ran the fuel tank dry, checked and/or replaced the spark plug before putting it away for the winter, just replaced it in 2020. Same mower I used from the age of 9 for mowing lawns in the neighborhood. I'm 72 now so 60 years of service for half an hour each year to prep it for storage. My grandfather bought it for me because I was using a push mower before that (no motor) so the kid with the power mower got all the business. Used the money saved to buy my first car.
