Clean and Gap the Spark Plug on a Briggs & Stratton E-Series Engine

Spark plugs can reveal dirty little secrets of the health of your small engine! Learning how to read your spark plug can give you great powers to understand and diagnose simple problems with how your lawn mower or other gas powered garden tools are performing.

You don't always need to change out your spark plug. Sometimes just cleaning and checking the "gap" is all that is needed to get your mower starting easier and running better.  Spark plug maintenance is easy, and cheap; and it requires few tools. 

Understand that a plug that is oily, sooty, or has some debris on the end might make your small engine hard to start, and run poorly. Also, understanding when a plug is too dirty or worn, is the time to replace. Throwing parts at a machine is not always the best idea, but spark plugs are cheap.  Here's a link to a Champion replacement plug https://amzn.to/3z5Gc40 if the OEM plug from Briggs is not in stock https://amzn.to/3pDnZGV

In a perfect world, the porcelain covering the inner electrode should be a chocolatey brown color. Even light coffee with cream colored is OK too. This means your engine is running in tip top condition. But that is often not the reality of gas powered small engines for lawn and garden use.

A plug that is black and sooty can tell you your engine is not getting enough air, Maybe a dirty or clogged air filter is causing the problems. Depending on which type of air filter you have, you might also clean or replace that. Foam air filters can be cleaned if they are not too deteriorated, but paper filter elements too dirty or saturated with oil cannot be cleaned. A dirty or clogged air filter can also cause you to flood your engine. 

An oily plug can mean your engine oil is over filled. Be sure and check your oil level when the engine is cold, and while it's sitting on flat ground. 

A plug that is wet with gasoline is a good sign that you have flooded your engine. The common solution for a flooded small engine is to hold the throttle wide open and pull the starter repeatedly to clear out the excess fuel. Since most lawn mowers don't have a throttle control, one solution is to pull the spark plug and pull the starter rapidly to help dry out the excess fuel. 

A white, or ashen plug can mean your air filter is missing altogether and this makes the engine run lean. An engine running too lean is running too hot, and most gas powered lawn and gardening tools are air cooled. A missing air filter too will allow debris into your combustion chamber and possible damage piston rings or the inside of the cylinder.

I hope these tips and tricks can empower you with oracle like skills to make your small engines run smoothly and consistently.

Please watch for new videos on Youtube at The Lawnmower Lady or follow along on Instagram at thelawnmowerlady and Twitter at the Lawnmower Lady 

Mow Happy!

Standard Disclaimer: Any links to products are likely affiliate links, and I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases (Thank You!), with no additional costs to you.

Wear your safety glasses, or you'll put your eye out. Try on some gloves. Take off that spark plug boot. Clean your room. Open the windows, those fumes are nasty. Just 'cause I do it, don't think it's the end all, be all solution. There's plenty more ideas out there, I can't take responsibility if you slice off a few fingers after watching my videos. And don't just pour that toxic stuff down the sewer or in the ditch, dispose of waste responsibly. Just be safe, OK?

Homemade Pressure Tester for 2-Stroke Carburetor

Sometimes you really don't need to spend $80-100 for a gadget when you just might have the parts laying about your garage. Here's how I made, and use a homemade pressure tester with a small inline pressure gauge: https://amzn.to/3cn4jkR and a Mityvac brake bleeder kit: https://amzn.to/3wTnB9w

There are several tests you need to make sure your 2-stroke engine is running at its best. If there are any air leaks, you risk damaging your piston and cylinder.  Some of these simple tests can help isolate any air leaks. 

The carburettor on a small two stroke engine can have several issues if fuel flow is restricted, or there are any leaks. Running too lean (too much air) or too rich (too much fuel) can cause an array of issues from clogged exhausts to melted piston rings. 

10 psi max for rotary carbs, and 7 psi for butterfly carbs is all that is needed to determine if the needle valve and the inlet seat is clean and intact. If your carb can't hold those pressures, then you will be running rich and will likely flood out your engine. 

Pressing the purge valve while still pressurized will confirm the purge valve is working if the carb holds pressure after pressing the purge bulb. Lastly the check valve should be checked to ensure it works correctly.

Other tests that are easy to perform with a pressure tester are testing fuel filters, and making sure the gas cap is venting properly.  Hopefully you can see how to easily diagnose some basic carburetor or engine issues with just some spare parts you may have laying around your shop or garage.

I hope these tips and tricks can empower you with oracle like skills to make your small engines run smoothly and consistently.

Please watch for new videos on Youtube at The Lawnmower Lady or follow along on Instagram at thelawnmowerlady and Twitter at the Lawnmower Lady 

Mow Happy!

Standard Disclaimer: Any links to products are likely affiliate links, and I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases (Thank You!), with no additional costs to you.

Wear your safety glasses, or you'll put your eye out. Try on some gloves. Take off that spark plug boot. Clean your room. Open the windows, those fumes are nasty. Just 'cause I do it, don't think it's the end all, be all solution. There's plenty more ideas out there, I can't take responsibility if you slice off a few fingers after watching my videos. And don't just pour that toxic stuff down the sewer or in the ditch, dispose of waste responsibly. Just be safe, OK?

Is your crankshaft bent?

Does the handlebar on your mower vibrate? Do your arms feel like pins and needles after you mow the grass? You might have a bent crankshaft. This happens if you accidentally hit a stump, or a big rock, or if your paved driveway sticks up above the ground level.

Your blade on your lawn mower is attached to the crankshaft with a sacrificial soft metal adapter, which is supposed to break easily if you do hit something. Sometimes however, that blade adapter will not sacrifice itself to save your crankshaft, and it becomes bent. If your crankshaft is bent only a bit, you might just suffer some bad vibrations. However if left alone, or it's bent badly, you might end up with a failed oil seal, and you eventually seize your engine up when all the oil leaks out from underneath the mower deck.

There's lots of ways to determine if your crank shaft is bent. Once your mower is on its side (remember turn your mower with the oil dipstick down), and you pulled the spark plug; you did remember to pull the spark plug, right? it's easy to turn the blade by hand. A piece of string or stiff wire can help you eyeball if the crankshaft is wobbling. I found however a relatively cheap trick to look for a bent crankshaft: 

Now, I don't expect your average DYIer or homeowner to go out and buy one of these laser gadgets just for this, but you might be able to borrow one from your friend or neighbor who has that garage full of carpentry gadgets. 

Since I made this video, the original laser gadget:  https://amzn.to/3cpeIwF  was discontinued, now it seems to be back in an updated version. I can't vouch for this one:  https://amzn.to/3x6RGCF   but it comes in at about the same price point with a small flexible tripod like this: https://amzn.to/3z9L4VE 

I hope these tips and tricks can empower you with oracle like skills to make your small engines run smoothly and consistently.

Please watch for new videos on Youtube at The Lawnmower Lady or follow along on Instagram at thelawnmowerlady and Twitter at the Lawnmower Lady 

Mow Happy!

Standard Disclaimer: Any links to products are likely affiliate links, and I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases (Thank You!), with no additional costs to you.

Wear your safety glasses, or you'll put your eye out. Try on some gloves. Take off that spark plug boot. Clean your room. Open the windows, those fumes are nasty. Just 'cause I do it, don't think it's the end all, be all solution. There's plenty more ideas out there, I can't take responsibility if you slice off a few fingers after watching my videos. And don't just pour that toxic stuff down the sewer or in the ditch, dispose of waste responsibly. Just be safe, OK?

Welcome to The Lawnmower Lady

 I actually started this endeavor many years ago. My Papa Shorty was a mechanic, and I'm pretty sure that's where I got my genetic predisposition to fix things. I remember as a child, standing in the dark musty workshop, fascinated by the tools, and empty Sir Walter Raleigh tobacco cans teeming with nuts and bolts and treasures. I could fiddle around in there for hours on end. As I grew older, I knew I was happy working with my hands.

One thing led to another, and after I had spent several years re-building antique motor scooters, you know, Vespas and Lambrettas, friends and neighbors naturally asked me for help with their lawn mowers and other small engine repairs. 15 years or so later, The Lawnmower Lady emerged.

My wish is that I can empower you: the DYIer, the Homeowner, yes, even all you Gals out there to understand and and possibly even fix your own small engines.  Even if you don't know what end of the screwdriver to hold, at the bare minimum, you can possess enough knowledge to ask the right questions when you do take your lawn equipment into another repair shop. 

The reason I feel this is so important, is we have become a throwaway society.  Many USA manufacturers have gone overseas for production. The materials and craftsmanship are far more inferior than they were even ten years ago. If you take care of that older mower, yes most parts are still available, it stays out of the landfill. That older mower will outlast most any new mower from the big box store.

Most of all, I enjoy helping others. Please watch for new videos on Youtube at The Lawnmower Lady or follow along on Instagram at thelawnmowerlady and Twitter at the Lawnmower Lady 

I hope these tips and tricks can empower you with oracle like skills to make your small engines run smoothly and consistently.

Mow Happy!

Standard Disclaimer: Any links to products are likely affiliate links, and I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases (Thank You!), with no additional costs to you.

Wear your safety glasses, or you'll put your eye out. Try on some gloves. Take off that spark plug boot. Clean your room. Open the windows, those fumes are nasty. Just 'cause I do it, don't think it's the end all, be all solution. There's plenty more ideas out there, I can't take responsibility if you slice off a few fingers after watching my videos. And don't just pour that toxic stuff down the sewer or in the ditch, dispose of waste responsibly. Just be safe, OK?