On Tuesday, November 28, 2017 at 9:47:03 PM UTC-5, Steve Kraus wrote:
Clare Snyder wrote:
Put some "top lube" in the gas - something like Marvel Mystery Oil.
Some in the oil too - I'm betting you had a stuck exhaust valve and
you want to free that up.

I cannot rule anything out at this point but I did have the head off at one
point and valves seemed okay. They cannot stick closed, right, only open?

One thing I totally forgot about was there was a time when I yanked the
cord and it just seemed to lock up. I pulled the plug wire and turned it
backwards a bit and then it was okay. Liquid locked? Yes, maybe but who
knows? Up until this morning I was thinking that was further evidence of
some serious internal mechanical issue.

It could be a combination of things. Poor carb, air leaking into the
suction, poor compression, weak spark. Faster cranking might get around
all of them. We shall see.

One thing not asked in all this is how much service has this mower seen?

Meanwhile my leaf blower is still working better than ever. Blew off
most of the yard, went through two tanks of gas now. I'm behind on leaves
this year because of waiting for the carb and all the repair drama.
But then so too are the leaves because of warm weather. I'd say we're
at least two weeks behind here in NYC area.