[tbonsall]

My Toro Personnal Pace mower will not stay running for more then 5 seconds and the pull cord does not wind back up as fast as it used too. Last week when I used the mower it would sputter while it ran, but it did run. I replaced the air filter thinking it might be the cause of the sputtering problem and now I can't get it to run. Does anyone have any ideas about what this could be? I don't really know much about engines, but was trying to avoid taking the mower to a repair shop.

Thanks,
Troy

 

[Brad]

Sounds like a dirty carburetor to me. This would not cause the recoil issue, but rather the starting/running problem. I would suggest some fuel line cleaner added to the gas tank and start the engine several times to circulate the cleaner into the carb. This should help clean out some of the smaller passages. You might also try fresh fuel. Let us know how this works out.