So the lawn mower doesn't turn off. Usually with the handle lever won't shut it off so for years we just move this metal plate the trottle? I assume and it shuts off. But today (mower stil going) it won't shut off.
Help. URgent.
How to Turn off a Lawn Mower That's Both Lever Won't
ilove on 04/10/2020 - 11:25
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is there another method. i don't want any shock and … how do i put it back in? it's a worry mower still going.
Use a wooden broom handle. Use either the top of the engine (if metal) or the lawn mower handle as leverage.
let me say congratulations
I’m using this method since last seven years… and can confirm the jolt is not fatal… :-)
I'm with you stuck with old faithful and after a while it gets loose and you can kick it offeasily enough… its only a small zap.
This is exactly right.
As a side note you can use a stick (like the other comment mentioned) or other non-conductive material.
When I was 17 I decided to try pulling it off with and overly large metal keyring in my pocket. This is not recommended, I can still remember the shock now.
Stall it but running it into long grass or dirt
Good idea
Turn the fuel tap off?
it's a briggs and stanton. i can't see a fuel cap/tap. it's a Victa using a briggs and stanton engine
Might be under the plastic cover although that would be unusual as most mowers have a fuel tap that’s easily accessible so you can shut off the fuel when you’re finished mowing.
Briggs and Stratton…
and yes, it will/should have a fuel tap on it somewhere. It will either be a red or yellow looking thumb turn.
Lots dont have fuel taps. Mine has no fuel taps or primer button - just throttle and pull start.
I have the same victa, What I did was easy, I just flip the mover 90 Degree, To your (Right side)
The petrol will not be able to go to the engine, and it will shut off by it self.
Not the best idea as it screws with the oil (pretty sure the manual says not to turn it for that reason).
The petrol will not be able to go to the engine, and it will shut off by it self.
Doesn't work if it has a fuel pump….
I always turn the tap off and let the mower run out of fuel. Next time 3 pumps and first go.
…just keep mowing until it runs out of petrol. offer to do your neighbours council strips if you run of of lawn at your place…
it ran out. just wondering "if" the repair bill is $200 would it be worth it to fix it or get a new one? are they better quaility old days and new one not as good quality. thinking also of getting a electric one as it's lighter.
….$400 for a new mower from bunnings. sometimes you can be lucky & score clearance
i picked up our 4stroke victa/briggs & stratton 20" with mulch function & catcher for $200 (reduced from $400)
Try finding a mechanically inclined friend? Mowers aren't very mechanically complicated and some folks enjoy working on these things.
$200????
Pal, it almost certainly just needs a throttle cable adjustment or replacement cable. Incredibly basic and cheap. No wonder we have so much landfill waste and Aussies complain about having no $$$.
Lol how much should it cost then? Labor cost is the problem here isn't it?
He's not implying it be taken somewhere.. With the wealth of knowledge available in forums or on YouTube are people really this disinterested in doing the most menial of maintenance tasks themselves.
On second thought maybe a mower isn't for OP, maybe use that cash which would have been spent on repair to fund the local gardening contractor instead.
Per below, it's the throttle cable. Bunnings sell a kit to do your own repair. About $30 from memory and not difficult
Lol at you writing a post while the mower is running I can only imagine the chaos. Go stall it over long grass. I've accidentally gone over rope or one of those super tough gardening bags. Find a screw driver and take a part the lever to see what's going on and turn it off from there maybe it's just loose or not making contact. Spark plug is no fun.
Haha my thoughts exactly, can’t wait till OP has a kitchen fire.
“Hi all I left oil unattended on the stove top which is now on fire, please post your recommendations for my critique.”
Help. URgent.Reminds me of the person that asked OzBargain what to do after drinking something potentially poisonous.
Wait, what's this?
Lol at you writing a post while the mower is running I can only imagine the chaos.
Hahahaha, there was a girl who would record her life experiences, in a journal and this last moment, we got to see her getting crushed by a monster but she was still writing the kind of pain she felt whilst being crushed and all till she died to which she stopped writing or was half way through a word or sentence….
Stop the blade by catching it in your hands.
It’s not an electric mower…
Wouldn't surprise me if op actually did that going from their posts on here.
Make sure to drink detol energy drink before attempting this
I just chopped my hand off, how do I stop the bleeding?
First you must make the ingredients for the bandages, and make the ingredients for those ingredients…
Just let it run until it runs out of fuel
I was going to say that too :)
My levers are gone too, I just push the lever down the bottom near the engine
hah, yes we do the same. until today it doesn't stop
How hilarous - I am picturing the OP knocking the lawn out and then trying to stop mower - can't and thinking 'OK how best to solve this?" And arriving somehow at putting a thread on OzB??????
Seriously - check your logic - it's scary that folks are so clueless with items they use so often. Don't mean to be narky but if you can't figure out how to stop a basic petrol mower (and the sparkplug is the correct answer for those playing at home, though you'd actually score 'best practice' marks for using the fuel tap (if fitted)) - then I hate to think of what condition the mower itself is in as I'm sure the plug, filters, oil, blades etc have never been done.
Take a few mins to familiarise yourself with your gear - you might never need it but it'll likely come in handy anyway. :-)
there no fuel tap…. the pulling out the sparkplug is dangerous.
Please explain how pulling a spark plug lead out of a running mower is dangerous?
If you can't do this you're either likely NOT a person who should be using any kind of mower or have some incredibly rare mower where the plug is in some bizarre position.
But please do explain?
Spark plug connector is covered in an insulated plastic cover. You will be fine. When motor stops, wait two seconds, then reattach said connector.
Easy peasy.
Not a diesel mechanic therefore should not drive trucks?
Not electrician therefore should not turn on lights?@bmerigan: Not a programmer or game developer so can't play games or run software.
Not an artist so can't use drawing utensils.
Not a mechanic, so can't drive a car.
Not an computer technician so can't build a computer.
Not a plumber, electrician, refrigerant tech, or and computer tech so can't build a custom liquid cooled gaming computer.
….its actually quite fun & not dangerous at all. at most you get a tiny zap!
You will only get the absolute mildest of zaps IF the lead is broken/very worn and thin. Anyone would think the OP is being told to climb the nearest powerpole and disconnect with his teeth.
Put a pair of gloves on if you feel it's so 'dangerous' - it's not.
And arriving somehow at putting a thread on OzB??????
It’s the OP … Just look at what they post non-deal wise …
The OP has been REALLY busy here.
Hahaha it's long weekend, OP has been a busy bee
Pull the spark plug off.
This reminds me of the Simpson's episode with the monorail.
+1 for disconnect spark plug, thats how I kill my mower.. if you can't do this due to fear, don't operate mower at all. Mowers far more dangerous … go buy a goat… infact goat probably too dangerous for you too…
How do I stop the goat from eating?…
Throttle it.
Pull the spark plug. You stand behind it and pull the rod between its legs.
First you're gonna need to find an obsidian altar and a nice sharp dagger…
Reminds me of this video I've seen of a concrete power trowel out of control. Should have employed their tactics like: Big stick and bucket of water.
1: You shut off its fuel.
2: You pull off the spark plug lead.Follow the cable which is connected to the broken throttle switch, and then push that flap inwards. Basically you are doing the function of the throttle cable manually. I have a Victa with a Briggs and Stratton engine.
Just to put this and your other threads into context, so we can offer a reasonable solution, how old are you?
On the top of the mower thereis a big spinning flywheel, on the side of that flywheel there is a little magnet with some electrical stuff sticking out of it
There should be a thick cable going to the spark plug from it and a thin cable that goes to where the switch for turning off the engine is. if you take that thin cable and touch it against the body of the engine (or any other metal part connected to it) the engine turns off. there is probably a fault in that cable or in the mechanism of lever you are pressing to turn off the engine that is stopping that electrical contact from being made.using the choke to turn off the mower isn't a good way of turning it off, and isn't actually guaranteed to turn the engine off.
I don't think the average mower has an electrical switch to turn it off. Throttle cable is the most common.
oh they dont? ive only dealt with the larger sized mowers, but even my small 2 strokes turn off via electrical kill switch
I've always wondered how cars turn off when you turn the key onto the off position, is this how it works? some sort of electromagnetism disruption or something?
well cars are more computer controlled, but the basic gist is yes (for petrol) it stops sending electricity to the spark plug which stops the fuel igniting so the motor stops spinning cars also have powered fuel pumps so those get turned off too
so how does the spark plug get electricity in the first place…? And how do you stop a diesel?
@Zachary: on small motors, you have magnets attached to the fly wheel, and you have a coil of wire at a specific point around that flywheel with some iron core. as the magnet passes that coil of wire that generates a small electric charge,in time with the motor rotation.
On cars you tend to have either a mechanical distributer where a spinning bit in time with the motor rotation actuates switches or for newer cars entirely electrically controlled, and it just takes battery power and passes it to some electrical circuitry that ups it from 12v to whatever voltage is needed to make a spark.Diesel's have no ignition system like petrols. you have to turn the fuel supply off.
@theya: So if you start a car with a flat battery or barely just got it it will eventually turn off if the battery cant cope with the continuous load, on those that are electrically controlled?
@Zachary: maybe. Cars have alternators that recharge the battery as the engine runs. If though the alternator isnt working the car would eventually stop working yes. but not necessarily just because of the spark plug electricity consumption, because even though they are very high voltages (10s of thousands) the current is tiny, and power is the multiplication of voltage and current. More likely the car will fail because the computer controlling things, the power steering, fuel pumps, etc… all also need electricity to operate.
@theya: ..so you just need a car that's entirely run without any electrical components whatsoever for any electrical connections to not work engine still work?
@Zachary: Hard to say depends on the car. Some of the slightly older cars now eg early 20s late 90s would be somewhat bare bones and capable of being jerry rigged to run with only partially operating electronics.
@theya: is it possible to start a car nowadays manually by welding on a ratcheting handle and then turning the crank yourself without needing a starter and a battery to do it for you?
@Zachary: yeah, if the key is in the on position you could do that. that would be no different to push starting a manual. you'd need some strong hands though or a long lever.
@Zachary: When you push start you get the car moving then engage the clutch which locks the spinning of the wheels to the spinning of the engine. This causes the engine to start to turn over which starts the engine's cycle which can then sustain itself.
The problem with an auto is there is not a direct mechanical connection between the transmission and the engine. Autos typically have a torque converter which is a fluid coupling between the engine and transmission (think 2 fans pointing at each other in a sealed case) the problem is that they are designed so as to allow the engine and transmission to spin at different speeds at low speed. So pushing the car by hand won't result in the transmission causing the engine to spin.
It gets more complicated though because there are so many varieties of autos, with all sorts of different designs but that's about the general gist of it.
@theya: oh ok, thanks….so I guess there is a good reason we all should get a manual incase the battery dies and I can just push start my car in 1st gear…assuming im strong enough to push start it the area is flat or down hill and not uphill, wait i'd need someone to be in the driver seat to control it when it starts running so it doesnt drive off when the engine starts….so need minimum two people if I cant jump start the car….
@Zachary: You generally push start into 2nd. If you’re on your own you push from the base of the A pillar (with the car in neutral and car switched to run/on), hop in, clutch in, grab 2nd, clutch out and hope you have enough momentum. And that’s providing the car doesn’t have low voltage cutoff trickery or something else that prevents it starting.
As someone who has push started and tow started vehicles too many times trust me when I say you’re better off buying a $100 jump starter, especially if you’re a city slicker and drive anything much bigger than a corolla. It’s no big deal if there’s a few fellas around and you need a tow/push start in the bush, but it’s a pain in shopping centres or other densely packed areas.
@mapax: Why 2nd and not 1st? I would think 1st would be better since you turn the engine over easier?
How would I tell if the car has a low voltage cut off trickery before even attempting it so I won't waste time bothering? What else could prevent it from starting besides being an automatic or and having an immobilizer(which all new cars have now right which should be solved anyways once you stick your key into the key hole in the on position…)?
I presume anything bigger than a corolla(Which according to wikipedia is a compact car), like a full sized car or ute would be difficult to push start because they're heavy? Or is there something else? Hmmm…
@Zachary: 1st is too low in some cars, it can cause too much bunny hopping when push starting, also when doing it solo the synchros on some cars won’t let you grab 1st in a moving vehicle.
I think I’ve only run into low voltage cut off once so can’t tell you much about it, I’d guess there’s a chance that if the battery is only just too flat to start, push starting might still work. Modern cars have all kinds of junk that could stop them from starting but the first thing that comes to mind in relation to a flat battery would be a dead alternator. There are far more things to worry about when buying a car than if you can push start it.
Mainly weight, but also maneuverability if you’re trying to push it out of a parking spot.
@mapax: What do you mean by too low? Too low of a gear ratio? Or did you meant to say too high of a gear ratio? Or this just went over my head…?
There are far more things to worry about when buying a car than if you can push start it.
Yeah, like if it's leaking anything from the engine bay…
Could always clamp the fuel line if no tap and your afraid of the spark plug lead. Whatever floats ya boat.
So the lawn mower doesn't turn off.
Lucky you!
My lawn mower always turns off after just a few minutes.
Bloody batteries!
I have a mower that turns on but won't turn off. I just put a plastic bag over the air intake next to the handle. Stops straight away and restarts easily. First time I did it I thought it might flood but never had a problem.
The thought of the mower in the yard whilst OP sits down to type this post out makes me chuckle.
Update OP? Is it still going?
Noise complaints overnight?I had a commercial-market 2-stroke flymo about 30 years ago and it revved so high and got so hot it would happily sit all day with the sparkplug lead disconnected… So I guess in a way it became a 2-stroke diesel.
Fortunately it did have a fuel cut-off though…
When I were a lad I had an old car that did this - I used to just jam on the brakes and drop the clutch to stop it. Ah, the joys of old engines.
OP should definitely get a battery mower. They're far better for people who have better things to do with their time than spend their weekends swearing at old machinery.
suspense is killing me. How did it go OP? Is it still going?
My dad used to shut off his mower by closing the throttle bit too as the the lever on the handle didn't close it, turns out a plastic cable tie had come off the cable that was applying enough pressure for it to close properly with the lever, quality design.
Is this the right forum? What next? "Help! Urgent! I have a bad case of diarrhea and had an accident at work. I'm sitting at my desk and there are still 4 hours in my shift! What should I do!?"
Simple. Just use a large screwdriver with a plastic handle and short the tip of the spark plug to the the metal of the cylinder head.
No possibility of shock as handle insulates you and if you are worried make contact with the cylinder head first with the screwdriver and then pivot to the tip of the spark plug.I had an issue like that with a Victa lawnmower. in my case it was the throttle cable not retracting completely when released because it was touching the plastic housing in the lawnmower. I had to cut off the plastic with a knife so the throttle cable moves free without touching it. Its all good now
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Put on some leather gloves and pull the spark plug lead.
Or depending on shape, put a rag over the air intake.