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I have a Toro Personal Pace mower that has generally been reliable. For reference, it's a constant rpm motor with no throttle adjustment by the operator. A couple of weeks ago it started running really rough on a cold start. It started fine but then would stumble, recover, stumble, recover, and repeat that process for a couple of minutes until it warmed up, then it would finally come up to full speed, smooth out, and run fine. I've done the obvious like clean the air filter, inspect and clean the throttle linkages, and blow out the fan housing. I haven't checked or changed the spark plug yet though and I'm wondering if that might be the source of the problem. Any ideas?
John
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(08-17-2020, 11:36 AM)jteneyck Wrote: I have a Toro Personal Pace mower that has generally been reliable. For reference, it's a constant rpm motor with no throttle adjustment by the operator. A couple of weeks ago it started running really rough on a cold start. It started fine but then would stumble, recover, stumble, recover, and repeat that process for a couple of minutes until it warmed up, then it would finally come up to full speed, smooth out, and run fine. I've done the obvious like clean the air filter, inspect and clean the throttle linkages, and blow out the fan housing. I haven't checked or changed the spark plug yet though and I'm wondering if that might be the source of the problem. Any ideas?
John
Water in fuel ? Or dirt in fuel or carburetor. Ethanol in the gas can absorb water in the air and settle to bottom of gas can or float bowl on carb. Roly
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On my Honda mower, cleaning the air filter did not fix that problem. I had to replace it. It then ran fine.
Also in our area they run 20% ethanol in the gasoline. I've been told that after 30 days the gas is no good as it absorbs too much water. Try fresh gasoline.
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I should have mentioned that I removed the air filter and it ran the same way; no improvement during a cold start. I use ethanol free gas in all my small engines so it's not likely water. But I haven't drained the tank and carb bowl so I can't say that with certainty.
Cooler, AFAIK there are 3 ethanol containing gasolines, E10, E15, and E85. In NYS, I think E10 is the only ethanol option. The amount of ethanol is shown on a label on each pump, so you can verify what it is you are putting in your tank.
John
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(08-17-2020, 01:59 PM)jteneyck Wrote: I should have mentioned that I removed the air filter and it ran the same way; no improvement during a cold start. I use ethanol free gas in all my small engines so it's not likely water. But I haven't drained the tank and carb bowl so I can't say that with certainty.
Cooler, AFAIK there are 3 ethanol containing gasolines, E10, E15, and E85. In NYS, I think E10 is the only ethanol option. The amount of ethanol is shown on a label on each pump, so you can verify what it is you are putting in your tank.
John
Drain the carb bowl first, carefully to see if it has water or dirt in it. Does it have a fuel filter on it to check ? Roly
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Most constant speed mower engines I'm familiar with have a little spring loaded "vane" that the fan moves to throttle up and down with the load. You might check to see that's not sticking. Assuming yours has one.
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(08-17-2020, 03:42 PM)farmerj111 Wrote: Most constant speed mower engines I'm familiar with have a little spring loaded "vane" that the fan moves to throttle up and down with the load. You might check to see that's not sticking. Assuming yours has one.
I thought that was the problem and worked to make sure that vane can move freely and it seemed better for awhile, but I didn't really fix it. I'll have to look at it again more closely. Thanks.
John
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(08-17-2020, 11:36 AM)jteneyck Wrote: I have a Toro Personal Pace mower that has generally been reliable. For reference, it's a constant rpm motor with no throttle adjustment by the operator. A couple of weeks ago it started running really rough on a cold start. It started fine but then would stumble, recover, stumble, recover, and repeat that process for a couple of minutes until it warmed up, then it would finally come up to full speed, smooth out, and run fine. I've done the obvious like clean the air filter, inspect and clean the throttle linkages, and blow out the fan housing. I haven't checked or changed the spark plug yet though and I'm wondering if that might be the source of the problem. Any ideas?
John
On my old Toro PP I had to regularly take the air filter off and blow air up through the little plastic flap. Probably every third or fouth use. Just removing/cleaning the air filter didn't help. Not had that problem with the new one.
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(08-17-2020, 05:11 PM)KC Wrote: On my old Toro PP I had to regularly take the air filter off and blow air up through the little plastic flap. Probably every third or fouth use. Just removing/cleaning the air filter didn't help. Not had that problem with the new one.
I'll have to take a look at that. Thanks.
John
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my toro mower had the same issue it was water in the fuel. I had to take it apart and clean out the carb
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