On May 14, 11:39*am, ritpg wrote:
I have a 6 year old White LC210 push mower which has been terrific
until now. *It has a 6.0 HP B&S Quantum engine that includes a shut
off key. *Symptoms: *mower runs for a few seconds until the prime is
burned off and then stops. *Background: *I've been using the mower
with no problem this year (so that probably rules out bad gas which I
replaced with a fresh fill anyway). *I may have changed the position
of the shut off key (but then restored it). *I have checked the plug
and air filter and don't see any problem. *I have replaced the gasket
between the carburator and air cleaner to no avail. *I removed the
carburator and did not see anything unusual. *When I changed the oil
at the beginning of the season by flipping the mower upside down
(can't get to the oil plug without out removing the engine from the
deck - my only serious problem with the design so far), some oil
leaked into the air cleaner. *I replaced the filter and have since
used the mower with no problem although there was some smoke until the
oil residue had been burned off.

The only thing that occurs to me as I sit here is that when I moved
the shut off key, I did not get it back to the correct position. *I'm
not sure what this key does. *If it stops the flow of gas, than I may
need to play with the key. *If it shuts off the spark, then I doubt
that it is the problem since I can get it to run, just not beyond
burning the prime. *Looks like I need to take a closer look at the
shut off key mechanism. *Any thoughts?

Thanks.

I'm not sure what this key does.

The key typically grounds the electrical system and prevents the plug
from firing. If you had a ground problem with the key, I don't think
the mower would run for even a few seconds because you'd never get any
spark.

At least that's the way it's worked on the 2 snowblowers that I had
that had keys - lost a key once and replaced it with a simple toggle
switch.