Toro Recycler Will Not Start 

OMG. I’m 72 and my mower just quit working I like to mow my huge lawn to get exercise. I looked up how to fix it. Found you and followed you exactly. I’ve never done this before. It took me a few days because I had to get plug and gapper, and some tools. Well long story short. I fired it up and it runs like new. I’m a woman from the 50s so I used to work on my 61 ford falcon. It was cheaper glad I could remember enough to get this going again. Thanks for your concise directions. I’m going to try to fix my daughter’s mower as well. Lol

I do small engine mechanics for people in my town, whenever i fixed a mower, the customer would want to try it out. Most customers cut my front lawn for free hahahaha, they get carried away on testing their mower and mow my whole front lawn 👍

My neighbor was throwing away this exact same mower! It ran, but sputtered. Same thing, cleaned the carb and it started right up. Really great machine with tons of power.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FROM UKRAINE, YOUR VIDEO HELPED ME TODAY!!! AND I BOW TO YOU AND ALL THE AMERICAN PEOPLE FOR HELPING AND SUPPORTING UKRAINE TO CHOOSE OUR INDEPENDENCE AND FREEDOM!!! MAY GOD SAFEGUARD AND BLESS AMERICA !!!

Just wanted to say thank you. I find your videos informative - as you give good explaination. and show on a carb rebuild - cleaning the jets and passage ways. something some folks do not tell us. I helped on car engine rebuilds as a teeager - so this brings back memories. and I can diagnose most problems - but to diagnose the more strange 'lawnmower specific issues ( such as the system to open the choke ) - I have learned. and to see how to do more than just change the sparkplug and blade. I could not do more. Unfortunately - I am battery powered now. but enjoy watching these as it takes me back to my car days. I am in the game - even on the side lines. thank yuou.

I have a TORO recycler and it stopped running after 1 year !!! It was the cheap plastic carburetor !!!! Some say re-build - but for $25, I bought a replacement and BOOM it's working !!!

Awesome! Thanks-you mine was sputtering like it wasn't getting enough gas. Took the bowl off and lots of fine grit. cleaned that and the jet and it runs like a top!

Your friend must have disconnected that spring. It's hard to see how that would have come off, otherwise. Back when I worked, I straightened up many a friend's "mechanic job". Well done, sir.

Your how to video saved the day and money for me. TY!

Thanks for your video. My mower sat for four years and after watching your video, I was able to fix it.😊

That was an easy fix. Water is an enemy to gas. Thank you very much for the video. 😀❤🇨🇦

As a time served mechanic, I enjoy your calm methodical approach. Keep up the great videos. Best wishes from the U.K.

It's amazing how little it takes to keep an engine from running. Good catches on the problems James, and thanks again for sharing your videos with us. God bless. Rev. D.

Wow.... our wouldn't start did what you showed and even got the same little white Glob you got, now runs fine!!!Thanks much!😊

Thanks for posting this- it helped me out with my toro and saved a bunch more time

I have the same lawn mower and just recently it stop working after doing the half of the house. So i checked the filter and spark plug and it started right away. But I like your video because I now know how to check fuel. Great video

A short on a Tuesday! We'll take it and glad it was a nice easy fix in this one, Jim.

Well done, nice vid. I like the calm, smooth pace. And appreciate the brevity, and even the quiet too!

Great camera angle and lighting. I enjoyed this video and learned a lot . Thank you!

One of the very best things that I learned to do to prevent a carbureator from clogging up, is to use 1/4 a cup of 100% Acetone and place into the equipment's gas tank, and then fill it up with gas. The Acetone cleans the Carbureator while you are mowing. I do this twice a season and found that it works very well, and with no damage to the internal parts. It also grrs rid of excess engine carbon. I learned this from a man who has repaired small engines for over 45 years.

You explain everything so well. 👍

thanks for sharing your knowledge. you make the world a better place.

Absolutely a great video that saved day for me. Thanks for taking the time to help a lot of people.

Thanks to you and others on here for the videos! I fixed a Troy Bilt and a Toro this year just by replacing the carburetor with new inexpensive carbs off of Amazon. Easy fix and a lot cheaper than buying a new mower! Even if I only get another year out of it, that’s a good return on a 15 dollar carburetor!

Thank you for posting this James. I had the same problem on mine. It would start on starting fluid then die. I took the main jet out of the carb and and hit it with carb cleaner, put it back in and it's running like a champ.

I love the TORO sticker on the engine: “Guaranteed to start” 😂 It will start, but the question is when

I have a B&S Quantum engine GTS5 5.5hp on my 21" Toro 20463 model, Yr. 1995. Still running Strong!

Hi, Thanks for the Great information and Demo of how to solve the problem. I had a friend that gave me the same mower and the carburator filter plug was clogged.

Cheaper products every year. My son bought a house to flip recently. A 2019 Toro Recycler was in the garage. Looks like it was never used. Starts then stops. So yeah, I'll take the carb off and clean the tubes and bowl ! That top shroud cover has 2 screws and under the Front a hook that holds it in place. You have to remove the screws at the back then gently push bac and tilt up on the front to get it off. I learned that from another RU-vidr! Thanks for the info!

You are the master of small engines. I used to buy petrol lawmowers from an auction site that sold customer returns. I used to buy 10 at a time. Out of those I would get 6 working with very little effort. One was always fucked with a knackered engine. I used this one to fix the other 2 or 3. Sold them for 5x what I paid for them. I love fixing stuff like this.

Thanks for the video, I am working on a similar Toro Recycler that has not run in 8 years. Hope it is as simple as it looks.

Don't take much to stop fuel and water is one of them good find on the water in the carb bowl and the clogged jet @James Condon

Just purchased it it's brand new I love it ,self propelled and dam nice 👌 275$ great price too

What I've noticed on these style of gas caps on these engines, debris gathers underneath cap. I have two of them & my son had one & he give it to me because of clogged carb. I wipe off the under side of cap before screwing it back on to keep debris from falling in the gas tank. I don't know if the tank has a screen in it or not but if it does it's not doing it's job very well. Since I've been cleaning off the underside of cap when fueling, about 3yrs now, I've had no more issues.

Great video. My neighbor has this mower and it will not start.I hope this will work for him. Thank u

I like Troy Bilt mowers Too. I fixed one of these " Curbside Find"! 🎵🎵Self propelled too !

Bought 1 just like this for 20$ ... would only run for a second and die. .. I bought It from a buddy of mine . He destroyed the carb trying to get mower running amongst losing the linkages for governor. Ended up just swapping the kohler out with a honda gcv160 that I had . Has to be my favorite self propelled mower I've ever used since the john deer 14sb I had a lifetime ago.

NIce fix, lots of carbs get that jelly from ethanol gas. Thanks for a great video.

Thank you so much for this video. I was able to get the mower started myself. Woo hoo!

before I took the mower apart I would have checked the safety gas cut off cable. Second I would have used the primer and increased the number of "pumps" to see if that will help start it . My 20 year old Toro requires 6 to 8 pumps t start it. My plugs usually last 3 or 4 seasons. Love me some WD40 as a starting fluid by way of removing the spark plug and shooting it into the cylinder. Very nice vid you have increased my understanding of Toro.

Nice work on that lawn mower James, an easy and simple fix!

Getting ready to work on one exactly like this. Thanks

I had this exact same engine that wouldn’t start yesterday. I cleaned the carb which already looked clean and it started right up. Doesn’t take much to clog up that carb.

Thank for this video I'm working on a Troy built tb280es with this issue no spring.

Easy fix, in good condition for it’s age

Like the way you check every possible cause of non start including spark plug gap👍🏻

James, love the way you explain exactly what you are thinking when you troubleshot. I noticed you are missing the third mounting bolt for the air box housing. You can clearly see the hole when you are putting it back on. I personally have two Quantum engines, one with the auto-choke system and one with the primer and they have slightly different mounting brackets behind the air box where that third bolt should thread in to. The two bolts that secure the air box to the carb housing will hold the air box securely, and that missing bolt is more important for a primer system as it helps to keep a good seal from the bulb to the carb. IMO, in your case (auto-choke) it is not needed, but the obvious issue is that hole is on the back side of the housing and will draw debris directly into the carb. Not sure if it’s a miss at the factory, or maybe your friend dissembled it and didn’t replace the mounting bracket that should be behind that empty hole (might explain the disconnected governor spring), or perhaps Briggs makes an air box housing with just two mounting bolts and the air box on that engine is not the original? Either way that empty hole should be sealed somehow.

Acronym I was taught when gasoline engine won’t start: FAST. Fuel, Air, Spark, Timing. This one fuel due to clogged jet. I noticed no O ring on bowl. I guess if float, needle, seat working should not be an issue but don’t most carburetors have an O ring between bowl and body of carb? Nice job on these videos. Thanks

As always, excellent! Thank-you!

Nice to mix things up a bit with a great Wednesday surprise. You must have hit the Staples 'Easy" button for this one. 👍👍👍😂😂😂 . Nice job.

yeahhhhhhhhhhhh !! when someone tries to explain things to me i never seem to understand them . i am a dummy . But thanks to youtube videos i can see exactly the entire process . thank you for making this video . God Bless you . signed , the Dummy 😁😁🤪

As much as I enjoy the longer videos this was fun to watch. It showed people how important it is to check the basics which is important in any diagnostic jo

You should always check the spark plug. The spark tester only cares about a ground. The spark plug could be shorted. Which can be checked with an ohm metter. Spark plug should read infinity.

Wow that’s a beautiful lawnmower I wish I could afford to buy one of those

Excellent video! I replaced the carburetor & bowl assembly and spark plug, still nothing. Your video showed me other options before I discard the mower. Thanks.

Nice troubleshooting video @James Condon

When you know you know, good video James, only trouble now is I think its Thursday.

How many of these problems could be solved by using non-ethanol gas and draining the tank & bowl before storage?

Thanks for sharing James 👍

Great video even though it required not a lot of repair. Should be a fantastic mower for someone. Thanks for the video.

I am willing to call james one of the big small engine repair youtube channels. Like steves small engine saloon or donyboy or kens small enginr.

Nice mower and a great job! I wonder if he’s got bad gas in the storage tank or if something else happened to the one you brought to him. I sold a nice Toro mower to a guy last year after giving it a full service. When he got it home he started mowing his lawn then it ran out of gas, after he filled it back up it never ran again. I thought, “oh, obviously bad gas”. Nope…the ignition coil went open. I never saw it coming LOL!

Great content. I just got a used Toro and am checking out some maintenance ideas. Appreciate your time and info!

I have an older version of this mower, but once the engine warms up, it wont restart after emptying the bag. I've checked the butterfly and it is open when this happens, but it wont restart for about 15 to 20 minutes. Thoughts ?

Good job James 👍🏼👍🏼

I'm enjoying your videos Jim. They're very informative. I didn't realize that you could "wrench" like this. Great to see you and the gang as always this past weekend. I just subscribed, so we keep that algorithm going.

Thank you , very well explained

I had one of these, bought new in 2015. Guaranteed to start 1st or 2nd pull.. yeah right. Constantly would die when mowing, would have to let it sit to get it to start again. Had the carb replaced under warranty, had to pull it apart and clean it out spring of 2016 (was stored over the winter with no gas in it). Still would never run right if it did start. Gave up and got an Ego battery mower. Still going strong 5 years on.

I got troubles. One muffler bolt on my 2004 super recycler stripped out so I tried to drill it and the whole corner of the aluminum on the jug broke away. The only thing I can think to do is clean it well, buy JB weld for high temps, fill it in and let it dry well, then carefully drill a hole in the right place and tap it for a helicoil. It's either that or change the jug. Got the High temp JB weld on order for tomorrow. Going to give it a try. I think it might work. I got the right size helicoil. Wish these had the kind of muffler that screws in the muffler hole.

Thanks for this video!

Well done

That gooey stuff is from the ethanol from sitting

Wow! Excellent!

Take off the filter cover and filter put carb cleaner in the carb hole if it starts then dies it's a gas issue and carb but you do have spark. Dump the gas and unscrew the carb bolt like he did and put fresh gas. If it does the same thing starts and dies you have to give it a carb cleaning and a lawnmower mechanic has to do that.

Weird how the governor spring was disconnected like that. I don't see much Toros over here, maybe one during a season. In all my years with small engines, I've seen one Toro Recycler. I've heard very good things about them though.

Thanks. Very helpful.

The right way of tipping a lawnmower over is from the front end also when working on your blade detach the spark plug boot you don't want it to start

i think that your friend will do a face-palm when he sees how easy the fix was. i also think that he'll subscribe to your channel. I think a quick talk about keeping gas cans sealed would be helpful since putting fresh fuel in a can full of condensation doesn't help troubleshooting.

Thanks for the great job very good explanations and good tips and tricks .appreciate 🇩🇰🙏👍

Mine is similar. new carburetor, new ignition coil or armature, fresh gas, new spark plug and still doesn't want to run! I also add fuel additive - seafoam and stabilizer to the fuel.

Hi James short class today mate a nice easy fix mower in good nic too

Lucky you an easy fix....!

My daughter has one of those , says guarantee start and no oil change required 😅 Funny stuff , I change the oil so it probably voided warrente.

Nice mower James - and that Quantum - well B&S should bring it back 😃

What would cause an extreme lean condition on a troy built similar to this? Carb has been cleaned...and even replaced. Engine will not run at all without the choke on full. Runs great with the choke. Soon as I leave the choke open a tiny bit it starts misfiring and wants to die. Seems like a fuel issue but both the original carb and a brand new one act the same. I did find they had the oil way overfilled...I corrected that bit wondering if it damaged something. They also had hit something and bent the blade... but replaced that and replaced the upper flywheel key anyway even though it wasn't sheared. Just seems odd...it runs perfectly and smoothly with choke on full but leans out and wants to die when opening it. Carb gaskets look fine as well... thought maybe a vacuum leak between the head and Carb but they seem fine too. Kind of stumped.

I bet that spring was only attached to one of the ears on the bracket and vibrated off after a few mows.

Mowing season? Here we have to mow every week in Queensland. All trees keep their leaves too.

The old million dollar bolt-jet.

Just bought a toro from HD 3 weeks ago. Would not start yesterday. Returning the POS tomorrow. My 16 yr old Honda still starts first pull but the axle broke.

great show so thank you have fun

I just fixed a Toro Super Recycler, 2013 model, the same way you did this lawnmower in the video, but I still need to use starter fluid or carb cleaner in the carb throat cavity to start it up after it's been sitting for over a day or so. It starts up every time and runs normally after spraying in the carb throat and I can stop and start it as many times as I want once it has started that first time with the starter fluid. I have no idea why it constantly needs starter fluid in the throat after it's been sitting for over a day? Any ideas?

that didn't even test your skill...lol, may have tested mine though... thanks for the video!

nice for a change.

what amazed me is the governor spring why would someone disconnect it.

Ty James looks like you didn’t add the third bolt in the air box

The likely culprit here is those gas cans with the stupid valved filler necks. The necks collect debris while sitting. Then when you invert the can to fill the mower it dumps the debris into the fuel tank. People need to replace the filler necks with plain screw-on caps, and use funnels with screen filters.

Magnific

So I have the same exact mower. But to get it to run, I had to take the top spring on the carb off. I can't explain why that is since the top spring is essential.

That bolt is only part of the main jet there's also a jet up the center of the carburetor just like your generators that screws out with a screwdriver that has many many little tiny holes in it sometimes they'll run by cleaning that and putting it back together sometimes you have to pull the jet out like you do on your generator carburetors

I can't count now the number of people I've seen who store their gas cans on the floor in their garages with no container caps on. Seems to me this would encourage the ethanol in the gas to absorb all the water from the air, rain, snow and every other way it can.