My lawn mower pull-rope gets stuck and the blade won't turn.?
Question:I was running my mower -- it's a self-propelled push mower -- when it suddenly stalled. When I tried to restart it the pull-rope kept getting stuck, like it was locked up. I then noticed I was completely out of oil (my bad!). I was hoping it was a simple matter of no oil, but adding more oil did not resolve anything.
I am able to pull out the pull-rope out using a technique where I pull until it locks, then release a little, then pull again, release a little, etc. It recoils just fine, but the blade does not turn at all. I can't even turn the blade by hand -- it seems badly locked up.
Does anyone have any ideas I can try, or must I take it into the shop?
Answers:
GP,,,probability is very high that the motor has suffered serious damage of the fatal sort.
From what you describe about the No Oil thing,,
it sounds bad.
However,,,there IS one faint glimmer of hope.
Lawnmowers have an actual BRAKE on the Engine.
It's purpose is to Stop the Blade very rapidly when Throttle is Released or engine is turned Off.
Rather than letting the engine Spin Down gradually to Stopped,,,as engines normally do.
It also prevents the engine from being Started without the Throttle being Held,,,,,so little kids cannot start the mower "accidentally".
Plus,,it Helps prevent Engine from accidentally Starting ITSELF.
Yes INDEED,,they can and DO Self-Start from actions like a person Turning the Blade to get it unclogged of sticks,rope,wire,,garden hoses,,,etc.
The Engine Brake is what's called "Fail ON",,or "NORMAL ON"..meaning it's mechanisn holds the brake APPLIED Normally.
Operator must perform a Function to DISENGAGE the Brake.
It's Opposite of our Car's foot brake for example.
They are Normal OFF,,,,disengaged,,,,and we must do a function to Enage the brake.
When a Mower's Engine Brake is applied,,,
It Feels EXACTLY like What You are describing.
Which is virtually Identical to a Seized,Damaged,Locked-up Engine.
I dont wanna create any False Hope,,,,
But your description of being able to Intermittently Turn the engine by "Pull>Release>Pull>Release"...
That Condition is FAR more Typical of a Engaged,Self-Energizing Engine Brake,,,
than it is of a actual Damaged,Locked Up engine.
The Brake gets TIGHTER as you try to turn against it.
Release the load ,,and it'll relax it's Self-Energizing Bite a Little.
Enough to Turn a little Farther,,and start the Bite Cycle all over again.
A Seized Engine is USUALLY either Stuck Solid,,,
Or the Majority of the Critical Damage Locking the Engine is only a Narrow range of the engine's Rotation.
So it Might Feel Heavy and Gritty/Crunchy/Abrasive while Turning it,,,and It WILL have "Bad Spots,,and Not so bad Areas.
But once you are able to break it free and Turn it at all,,,
It will Continue to Turn,,,,no matter How Ugly it feels.
Then,,the More you Turn it,,,the LESS the Effort becomes.
Oil gets smeared around,,all the scored,mutilated metal-to-metal contact areas get increasingly scraped away...etc.
Result is that each rotation TYPICALLY shows a Decrease in amount of effort need to turn the engine.
A Locked Up engine,,,once Freed-up to turn,,,,
Does NOT get "WORSE" by turning the engine while it's shut down.
It get's "Better".
NO WAY does it "fix the damage".
I'm speaking STRICTLY in terms of the apparent Effort needed to turn the engine.
So,,,as Faint a Hope as your case may be,,,after having run it with No Oil,,,,
"On Paper",,and to hear how it's acting...
A Engine Brake Prob IS a Possibility.
.........
Simple to Check.
Except I dont know exactly what type/Brand mower & engine you have.
And Frankly, I do Not know every type of mechanism used on the variety of engines these days.
Generally Speaking,,,,
(And Specifically Briggs & Stratton Type)
From the Throttle Cable,,,
follow the cable down to the engine where it connects to the Linkage.
In that Area,,,you should see 2 Coil Springs.
1)a Small Coil Spring.
Its fine wire,,and inch or so long,,tight wound,,,and about the diameter of a ball-point pen refill.
2) A Much Larger,heavier wire Coil Spring
A couple inches long,,,maybe 3/8" diameter,,with a curved hook on each end.
Those 2 should be the Only coil springs in the area of the Throttle Linkage.
(**Throttle is that Goofy Bar you must hold down to start and run most Mowers)
Operate the Throttle while viewing those Springs.
They are each connected to Levers which should move in-sync with Throttle Movement.
Ignore the Small spring,,,Focus on the Large one.
If the Large Spring Does indeed move with Throttle motion,,,
Disconnect it.
Careful,,it's a rather tuff spring.
Once disconnected,,,Try to turn Engine with rope starter.
See if it has freed -up.
If by some Lucky Miracle it Has allowed engine to turn Freely,,,The Problem is a "Bad" Throttle Cable.
Reason why----
That Spring is Dual Function.
1) It's the Throttle Return Spring.
When Disconnect You will notice that Throttle Mechanism has lost it Springy Return action,,and become very light to pull.
2) Most Pertainent to THIS deal,,,,
It Functions as The ENGINE BRAKE ACTIVATOR spring.
The Pull of that spring does the same job as your Foot does on the brake pedal in your car.
It provides the Brake Apply Pressure to the little brake lever.
One end is attatched to a stationary anchor point.
Other end is attactched to the Engine Brake Lever.
It's Installed Stretched,Under Tension to always Pull on the Brake .
When you Pull the Throttle,,,,you're pulling AGAINST that spring.
Thus Counter-acting it's pull on the Brake,,,which Releases engine Brake.
The THROTTLE CABLE's culpability in all this action is,,
They are CRAP,,they start Life as Crap and go Downhill from there .
The Cable "Stretches",,,,,it's Dimensions change.
There is NO adjustment to compensate /remove the extra Slack which is introduced by that dimensional change.
Consider that if it became SLACK-ENOUGH,,,
It would cease to even BUDGE the Brake Release.
So the cable wears into a Too-Long,,Too-Slack condition,,,
and that results it the mechanism "bottoming -out" in it's travel
Before it's been able to Pull the Brake Release Far enough.
So Brake remains applied,,,,and engine feels Very Much "Locked Up" when trying to start it.
* No False Hope Intended
* The above details/possibilities may NOT apply to Your specific Mower
* I may simply be wrong.
But,,Cheap and Easy to look for that spring.
And IF Found,,,just as cheap and easy to disconnect it and test the result.
***Do NOT try to START ENGINE with the Spring Disconnected,,,,,,,,just see if engines turns over freely.
Man,,,DONT turn lawnmowers engines by using the blade unless Spark Plug is OUT of the engine.
Odds of a mishap are astronomical.
But the Consequences can be DEVASTATING.
Just NOT something to gamble on,,,not worth the Downside Risk.
Very similar type of extreme consequences as "Losing " at Russian Roulette .
I'm serious as can be about that.
Fingers and hands take way too long to grow back.
Lose a thumb,,,and you've lost vast majority of the hand's utility.
If You happen to Luck Out,,and it is a brake prob.
The Real Fix is simply Replace Throttle Cable.
Fairly Easy and straighforward to do.
Any "Trick" to the job is ,,,Disconnect that Heavy Spring>Remove Old Cable,Install New Cable> Then Reconnect Spring.
And theres some lil' latch tabs/barbs on the cable-end which need to be squeezed together with pliers,,,to release the cable from it's anchor bracket.
Last word:
Mowers consume Oil at unpredictable,inconsistent rates.
One mowing,,,may use None,,,next mowing it may use quite a bit.
Minor Inconvenience to Check the Oil
EVERYTIME you start the mower.
Might save you a $200~300~400 Mower for the small effort.
Good Luck with it
sounds to me like you seized the engine by running it without oil. it's toast!! time for a new lawn mower
This is just a suggestion, because this happened to me once.
Turn off the lawn mower,and tip it over and see if the blades are all caked up with mud and dirt. If so, put on your gloves and remove all the caked on mud, grass and dirt from under and around the blades. Then see if the blades move freely by you spinning them manually.
Then try pulling the string to see if that works. Pulling off all that caked on debris may unlock it and free it from being stuck.
If you have tried everything, you may have to take it to a lawn mower shop to have it looked at. They may have to replace the string. Always make sure there is oil in it. You could burn out the motor and possibly cause the motor to freeze up.
Good luck!
You really need to take this machine to a shop. Sounds like it seized up. If so there will be serious internal damage. Expect to have to buy a new engine. Overhauling engines that small usually costs more than replacing it.
I had the exact same problem this week--I got through mowing about 2/3 of the lawn and the pull-rope got stuck when I went to start it up for the last time. I wasted a good 45 minutes of daylight playing around with the rope and the flywheel with no luck. I went to empty out the bag before putting it away and giving up for the night, and I realized there were two HUGE clumps of grass jamming up the ends of the blades underneath the mower. Once the clumps were gone, it started up again with no problem whatsoever.
Just be VERY careful when removing the grass from the blades. Take out the spark plug beforehand if you can, or if nothing else, use a stick or something else to just kind of knock the grass loose instead of using your hands to remove the clumps.
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