"ransley" wrote in message
...
On Oct 6, 11:41 am, TimR wrote:
It's an old mower that was given to me. The cap says unleaded gas,
the manual says four stroke, so I didn't use premix.

Tank was dry, I put in gas, when I yank the starter cord it's like I'm
pulling against compression and gas squirts out the exhaust. Lots of
it.

Sounds like it's dead and not revivable, but any idea what exactly is
broken?

I admit, I don't know much about the insides of these things.

Yes likely float stuck and now likely the oil is likely full of gas
and soon the cilinder head. Get the gas out, if oil level is up ,
drain oil, and pull spark plug and crank it to see if gas shoots out.
You can remove the carb bowl to see if the float moves up and down.
Dont run it with gas in the oil, it wont lube. Before spending any
money, now with the plug out check to see if you get spark by holding
the plug wire 1/4" from the head with your hand and pull the starter
cord. A minor shock will tell you its getting spark, pull the starter
cord fast and hold tight.


Also, if it has a lever on the handle with a cable going to the engine, you
need to squeeze it. It's an emergency stop.

Al