Lawn mower not starting after cord fix

[Paul123]

Hi,

Looking for some advice, I'm a complete amateur at this sort of stuff. I have a fairly old rover push lawn mower, not sure of model name but it's a briggs Stratton engine. It was in storage for a few years but was recently brought out, serviced and was running perfect. Today the pull cord broke off the handle and the cord disappeared inside the starter. So I removed the covers around the starter and was able to pull the cord out and re attach to the handle, and then reassembled everything. But it wouldn't start. The engine is turning over fine and has plenty of fuel but won't start. I let it sit for 20 minutes incase it was flooded, no luck.

So it went from running perfect to won't start in the space of 10 mins. Any ideas what the issue could be?

Thanks!

[Mick]

Hi Paul, and welcome to TGMF.

I can only at this point assume you might have trapped the HT lead when refitting the cowling, or maybe the cowling is touching the stop wire if it has one on the side of the engine.

Some images of what you have would be handy if you can. 

[Paul123]

Thanks for the reply Mick. I had another look at it and the HT lead seems fine, it wasn't touched. I'm not sure where a stop wire would be? I have attached a few pictures, hope that helps:

Removed few bolts on black cover and moved to the side:
IMG_4948 2.HEIC

Another few bolts and this came off which had the starter in it:
IMG_4951 2.HEIC 

Front of mower with ht lead
IMG_4958 2.HEIC

IMG_4956.HEIC

Still not sure why it won't start, sounds like it's either not getting a spark or not getting fuel. Not sure how I would have damaged spark or fuel components by taking the starter coil off?

Thanks for your help

[Mick]

Ok, just to be clear I only mentioned the HT lead and stop wire because it was running ok prior to you sorting the recoil starter out.  The stop switch in your case is clipped to the underside of the control bracket, you can see the little wire coming off the underside of the ignition coil and heading towards it. 

It does look like it's been standing outside, so make sure the throttle shaft is actually moving and not seized or got stuck in the closed position, and make sure the choke is flipping on and off correctly. 

It is possible the coil has died, they do this sometimes. Someone has also fitted a suppressor cap on the end of the ht lead those can also break down, as can the plug itself.   It's a tricky one without actually going through the various bits and checking them to be honest.

[Rach]

Still not sure why it won't start, sounds like it's either not getting a spark

Have you not checked to see if it has a spark?
If you have the starter attached, you can do it by removing the spark plug, attaching the HT lead to the spark plug, then if you have a pair of pliers with rubber handles, use them to gently grip the suppressor cap and hold the spark plug against one of bolts that surrounds the spark plug hole - while someone or you - gently pulls the starter cord, you should see a spark near the electrode.