Bolens mower trouble


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Old 09-20-18, 08:20 PM
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Bolens mower trouble

I have Bolens riding mower (seems like an early 2000's model), it has a Briggs and Stratton 15.5 horsepower engine on it. We did a little bit of work on the carb when we got it and it worked fine, we replaced the air filter, we bought a new bulb gasket and sealed it up because it had a leak. The mower ran perfectly for 2 months. I then decided to go out there and take some compressed air to clean it up a little, I sprayed it with a little water to get some tough muck off of it. I regret both of these actions as now it's completely messed up.
I went out to mow today and it was dead, I, of course, left the key on. I got it running and ran it for a little bit to charge the battery up, I went up and down the street. However, I noticed that the engine did not like going any higher than 4th gear and it started to bog down and ultimately die if I didn't push the clutch back in, I also noticed that It instantly died when I turned the blades on. The mower also did not like going up hills etc. Now, this sounds like the seat switch, that's what I thought of first, but why was it bogging and dying on me when I was riding up and down the street? Another thing that I believe disproves the seat switch is it doesn't want to go straight to full throttle, this also causes it to die. (Edit: It does however run fine when you do get to full throttle, and it also runs fine on low throttle)


I've came to the conclusion that it's somehow the carb. I emptied the bowl, not much debris might've had a little bit of water in it. So I'm contemplating tonight if I want to take apart the carb and clean it. Any ideas or things I might've missed? I really don't want to take apart the carb.
 
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Old 09-20-18, 09:29 PM
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Did you try it after emptying the bowl? If it had a little bit of water in it, that's all it takes to mess it up.
 
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Old 09-21-18, 02:37 AM
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My novice brain would conclude that the Governor Linkage is crudded up and impeded from moving freely to open the Throttle while under power.
 
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Old 09-21-18, 10:53 AM
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I feel ashamed. I checked the governor linkage. Seemed fine. I started it, and it ran fine. Cleaning the bowl did the trick.

Maybe becoming a mechanic shouldn't be my thing after all, haha. Thanks for the help. and have a nice day.
 
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Old 09-21-18, 06:38 PM
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Nothing to be ashamed about, you went to the problem area and fixed it without even knowing and when you were in doubt, you asked folks who know for advice. That's just exactly how it should work!

If only so many of my customers who try to fix their own stuff would do the same. I can't tell you how many times I've gone to a mower for what would be a simple and inexpensive repair but it ends up being hundreds of dollars because in their attempt to fix it, they broke other parts, replaced un-needed parts, and created a mess. I have one in a few days to look at, the customer put the battery in backwards and burnt the wiring harness and possibly the stator, coil, and other parts.
 
 

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