# Ether for hard-to-start Troy Bilt tiller?



## IowaLez (Mar 6, 2006)

I'm a small woman. Brought my TB Jr Horse tiller home from the lawnmower repair shop. They had it running a week ago. It's the pull-start kind of beast. I just can't get it to start, even tho it wants to. Has fresh gas in it, and they cleaned it all up, put new tires on it. I had the choke all the way closed, engine lever set to the start position wheels disengaged, tines raised and not engaged. 5-6 pulls didn't do it and I know it should only take one or two.

My son said spray a little starter fluid in the air filter and that should do it. Is that correct?

I'm going to have to go 11 miles to town tomorrow to get it. Didn't think to have them show me how to start it before we loaded it into my truck.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Starter fluid eather is a good way to get a new engine. If you must then trickle a couple drops of gasoline down the throat of the carb.

Maybe you should try it with the choke set for a pull or two then disengauge the choke. You maybe flooding it.

 Al


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## crehberg (Mar 16, 2008)

Is this a new tiller to you, or one you already had that you had worked on? If it's "worn out" to a certain extent, and that is the cause of the hard starting a quick puff of starting fluid will probably help. As Al already said, it's not the best thing in the world for an engine, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. I ran one for close to 10 years that needed starting fluid on every "cold start". It was a pain, but it held up until I could do "better".


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## dsmythe (Apr 21, 2013)

Yes Allyyooper is right. Ether can and will Kill your engine.

Look for a little "bulb" on the engine. If it has one it is the primer for the carburetor. Press it 3-5 times and pull the cord.
I don't like ether but I do use WD-40. The propellant is propane and has always worked for me. It works better if you can pull the engine up on the compression stroke, remove the spark plug, squirt a "shot" of WD-40 in, get the spark plug back in being very careful to not cross thread it. Tighten the spark plug up and pull the cord. If there is any fire it will crank. A small engine mechanic showed me this trick years ago. SHE used it on 2 and 4 cycle engines. If your son is with you get him to demonstrate the procedure and then you do what he showed you while he watches you. Good Luck. Dsmythe


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## IowaLez (Mar 6, 2006)

I'm on my own, my son is hours away. I never had to do things on my own before, at my age, lol. I've had the tiller for 5 years but left it behind when I fled my abusive husband in mid-2014, and he held it and all of my belongings hostage until this past February, when he "released" some things to me in a storage locker during a divorce court hearing. My son got it from a neighbor that was moving and didn't want the hassle of taking it with him. I only used it once before, when my son first brought it to me. Now I need it.

My husband let the tires go flat during those 4.5 years and they were ruined. The lawnmower shop replaced them and decided to get it running for me as well, last week. I even found a creative way to unload it by myself - I have to get creative a lot of times when dealing with big, heavy, or bulky things I haul home, lol.

It ran great before, and the shop guy said it ran good for them. I don't think it got much actual use, and it's in decent shape for it's age. Now, if it'd just stop raining so much, all I need is one more dry day to get this baby tearing up the ground for me to get some more stuff planted. My electric Mantis tiller just can't do the job.

There is no bulb on the engine. I may have flooded it, I don't know. I'll try again in the morning. But I'll get some WD-40 and do the sparkplug thing.


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## Zoomyn (Apr 12, 2019)

Fresh gas can be a deal breaker on iffy starts - also see if there is a wobble button on the bottom of the carburetor bowl to be able to drain off old gas, sediment and maybe some water droplets - bright white clean ceramic on the spark plug means no/low chances of electricity escaping before getting delivered to the plugs business end, might try pulling the engine through in the dark while watching the visible plug cap and wires to see if you can spot a blue spark going to ground before it gets to the fuel/air - 

When doing the 'I am going to start you now' routine on the machine, pull the cord slowly through twice or three time until the rotation bumps against resistance for the 3rd of 4th time, that is the compression stroke, then give it a 'pull hand back from hot stove' speed yank... if it 'wants to start you can just mildly keep pulling through new cord strokes until it decides to cough to life... 

Keep your nose in the game, if you smell gasoline fumes being dumped out the muffler then cut back the throttle to just above idle and try again. In warm weather many machines do not need full 'choke' so try with half-choke, try with no choke on and half-speed throttle, etc.

Your arm will get stronger : )


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

Good gosh, you dont soak everything in starter fluid, yea they dont call it ether anymore, its some volatile petroleum, supposed to have some kind lube in it. But just very short burst is plenty on small engine and wont hurt the engine used that way. You supposedly can spray into air filter, but personally I remove air filter and spray directly into throat of carburetor. 

Oh and if you dont have the plastic pimple kind of primer, you should have a manual choke lever on the carburetor, since shop supposedly cleaned everything including the carb, the choke should be enough. I realize lot younger people are clueless as to what a choke is, most never seen a car with a carburetor, let alone one with a manual choke. So they dont look for one on a small engine. And EPA seems to mandated those stupid plastic pimples to keep people from running small engines with choke partially closed. It used to be sometimes shortcut to keep engine starving for fuel running by leaving choke partially closed. Some people never fixed the problem, just ran it like that forever. Unless you had it perfect compensated, no doubt you were creating excess emissions..... Even farther back than that you had way to adjust the carburetor jet with a screw on bottom of carburetor bowl. Alas something not ever available on automotive carb. It was truly handy.


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## IowaLez (Mar 6, 2006)

Zoomyn,

What do you mean "new gas can be a deal breaker on iffy starts"? I don't know if they put gasoline in it that contains ethanol; I use gas without ethanol, have 1.5 gals of that in a gas can. The lawnmower shop folks are almost 80 yo, are reliable experts that know all the tricks and problems, do things the old fashioned way, and everybody in the area goes to them with their lawn machines and tillers.

I went and looked at everything closer with my glasses on, keeping in mind everyone's information. It's a Tecumsah engine. 

On the bottom of the carb bowl is a brass post or screw with a spring. It doesn't wobble or push in, it turns. I found no other adjustment things. I can feel the "compression stroke" thing when pulling the cord. I know I didn't flood it this time, no fumes smell, and it felt closer to a start after many pulls ('til my arm got too tired) but still didn't come to life. The spark plug ceramic looks clean and bright. I only put it to full choke for one pull, then half choke for one, then no choke. I'll keep trying and experimenting; I'd like to avoid the cost of going all the way to town just for WD-40. 

It's still cooler outside so won't get overheated with the exertion like I did yesterday afternoon. Just gotta rest in between tries, lol. I enjoy challenges and winning them. Since I moved here last Fall, with the horribly cold and snowy winter, and then the spring flooding, it's been nothing but survival challenges. Made me a lot tougher, leaner, and meaner, lol. "Can't do" isn't in my vocabulary anymore, not if I want to stay alive out here.




Zoomyn said:


> Fresh gas can be a deal breaker on iffy starts - also see if there is a wobble button on the bottom of the carburetor bowl to be able to drain off old gas, sediment and maybe some water droplets - bright white clean ceramic on the spark plug means no/low chances of electricity escaping before getting delivered to the plugs business end, might try pulling the engine through in the dark while watching the visible plug cap and wires to see if you can spot a blue spark going to ground before it gets to the fuel/air -
> 
> When doing the 'I am going to start you now' routine on the machine, pull the cord slowly through twice or three time until the rotation bumps against resistance for the 3rd of 4th time, that is the compression stroke, then give it a 'pull hand back from hot stove' speed yank... if it 'wants to start you can just mildly keep pulling through new cord strokes until it decides to cough to life...
> 
> ...


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

They make several types of starting fluid these days, including the type you just add to the fuel tank.
If I am in the middle of work, 11 miles from a store and I have a cantankerous machine, I'll use starting fluid.
The video below is just a guy with the same tiller. It has the well known and heard "carb surge" and he adjusts his choke to compensate.
Iowalez, once you get it started, run it to warm it up, till up your garden and run it some more.
Using starting fluid is like flatulence; happens to most everyone but no one admits to it.


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## IowaLez (Mar 6, 2006)

OMG! That's the old screw jet adjustment mechanism under the carb bowl on this engine!

I am more than old enough to know what a choke is; I used to do all kinds of work on my old '69 Ford pickup truck myself. I just have to remember information I haven't used in a long time. My grandfather taught me about engines as a kid in his workshop. Born in 1900, he was an inventor, a farm kid with only a 3rd grade education, patented the very first bottle-labeling machine in the world. Had about 25 patents to his name, and his workshop was a fascinating place I spent a lot of time with him in.



HermitJohn said:


> You supposedly can spray into air filter, but personally I remove air filter and spray directly into throat of carburetor.
> 
> Oh and if you dont have the plastic pimple kind of primer, you should have a manual choke lever on the carburetor, since shop supposedly cleaned everything including the carb, the choke should be enough. I realize lot younger people are clueless as to what a choke is, most never seen a car with a carburetor, let alone one with a manual choke. So they dont look for one on a small engine...
> 
> Even farther back than that you had way to adjust the carburetor jet with a screw on bottom of carburetor bowl. Alas something not ever available on automotive carb. It was truly handy.


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## IowaLez (Mar 6, 2006)

Thank you for the video and info! My engine isn't the same one, and the guard bar on the front encircles the whole thing. Gosh, I wish it was just that easy to get started!

I need to thank everyone! I'm going to have to go to town for the starter fluid or WD-40, tho. I've tried enough without it, this morning. My son said just a puff of it; yeah, not dousing it with the stuff.




GTX63 said:


> They make several types of starting fluid these days, including the type you just add to the fuel tank.
> If I am in the middle of work, 11 miles from a store and I have a cantankerous machine, I'll use starting fluid.
> The video below is just a guy with the same tiller. It has the well known and heard "carb surge" and he adjusts his choke to compensate.
> Iowalez, once you get it started, run it to warm it up, till up your garden and run it some more.
> Using starting fluid is like flatulence; happens to most everyone but no one admits to it.


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)




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## MichaelZ (May 21, 2013)

For my old 70’s vintage outboard motor I have two choices to start my season:
1) Starting fluid
2) Oars


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

Since you obviously must have a carb with a choke, take off air filter assembly and see if the choke plate is closing. The choke will either be controlled with cable going up to handlebar or it will have a little lever on the carburetor. Close choke plate and pull couple times, then if it doesnt start, open so you dont flood it and try again.

Oh I assume the throttle is partially open. Depends on set up but for some small equipment, if throttle is closed the magneto kill switch will be engaged. No spark, no start. The magneto kill switch will either be combined with throttle or it will be separate, either a toggle switch or key switch. Yea some equipment had a key even without an electric starter. You ever have to replace that, a toggle switch is fine.


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## IowaLez (Mar 6, 2006)

A puff of starter fluid directly in the air intake worked! I let it run a while, reduced the choke just enough to keep it running. But I killed it when I put it in low speed with the choke off to test till, and it wouldn't restart, so I've got to do it again. I don't think I'm strong enough, yet, to pull the cord fast enough, or something.

Just wanted to let you all know I got it running. I'm checking the weather now because it's getting dark in the west, a storm on it's way. Maybe I can get some tilling done before it arrives.


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## dsmythe (Apr 21, 2013)

IowaLez said:


> A puff of starter fluid directly in the air intake worked! I let it run a while, reduced the choke just enough to keep it running. But I killed it when I put it in low speed with the choke off to test till, and it wouldn't restart, so I've got to do it again. I don't think I'm strong enough, yet, to pull the cord fast enough, or something.
> 
> Just wanted to let you all know I got it running. I'm checking the weather now because it's getting dark in the west, a storm on it's way. Maybe I can get some tilling done before it arrives.


IowaLez;
You didn't warn us that we were talking to someone who has mechanical Genes. It sounds like a LOT of your Grandpa's influence was Caught by you! I believe you will get that tiller cranked and the garden plot plowed before that storm gets to you. Good Luck! Dsmythe


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## Zoomyn (Apr 12, 2019)

Fresh gas might* end 'iffy starts' - I have a 1998 Casino winnings Chain saw that will NOT start on fuel older than two weeks, many seasons of sore arm taught me most fuel is made to be burned rapidly in commuter cars, even the 'recreational use only' non-ethanol goes flat. Stabil additive is not a cure for that chain saw.

The no-fume-smell is not necessarily a good thing, a carb provides a pilot flow that is base idle and then adds a second variable metered fuel source to control RPM - by your description of no low RPM running there a some gum or dirt, sawdust, something interfering with the pilot flow. 

I'd sure like to tell you to drop the carb bowl and make sure the floats, needle valves and jets are clear - finest bread-tie wire fits most itty-bitty passages, let gravity flush the fuel line, count turns of needle valves to a gentle full close (photograph where slot is to duplicate it later) then remove them and polish the point and allow fuel or jet spray solvent to clean those passages - all the tricks that WILL get you in trouble when float goes back in upside down or the chrome pivot pin or spring escapes at 1/10th light speed, bowl gasket goes to pieces or gets creased reinstalling...


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## NRA_guy (Jun 9, 2015)

Starting fluid will NOT hurt the engine.

By the way, you can try WD-40 if you run out of starting fluid.

After it has run a little, don't choke it if you need to recrank it. Doing so may flood the engine. Just crank it with the gas set at high speed without choking.


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## Zoomyn (Apr 12, 2019)

Spraying ether into the intake has been known to erase the molecular-thickness oil film on the cylinder walls - not talking about a freshly run hot engine sopping wet with oil, talking about something that has drained down and is 'dry' & cold - also not talking about a couple of quick puffs into a stopped engine that boil away into gas before going past the intake valves but live liquid spray getting to the piston/cylinder---that is bad juju...

Since the abuse potential is so high for true ether they mix it light hydrocarbons, there is still zero lubricity so that is where WD-40 is first choice in 2-stroke & diesels, and certainly worth trying first in outdoor power engines...


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## GunMonkeyIntl (May 13, 2013)

IowaLez said:


> A puff of starter fluid directly in the air intake worked! I let it run a while, reduced the choke just enough to keep it running. But I killed it when I put it in low speed with the choke off to test till, and it wouldn't restart, so I've got to do it again. I don't think I'm strong enough, yet, to pull the cord fast enough, or something.
> 
> Just wanted to let you all know I got it running. I'm checking the weather now because it's getting dark in the west, a storm on it's way. Maybe I can get some tilling done before it arrives.


I recently won a fight with a chainsaw that seemed to be doing the same thing you’re describing. It was really finicky to start, and, even when I could get it to start, putting any kind of load to it would cause it to shut down. 

I always check air and spark first, since they’re the easiest to eliminate, and both were fine, so I spent the better part of a year tinkering with the fuel system- clean/rebuild carburetor, gas cap, filter, every line...

On a fresh go at it, I noticed that I could start it, run it for 10-20 seconds, and, when I’d pull the spark plug, it was wet. I replaced the spark plug, and it’s run like a champ ever since. 

Apparently, a spark plug can become “internally fouled”. It looks good on the outside, and shows spark when you test it, but it’s not throwing enough energy to efficiently combust the fuel. The outside quickly collects up fuel/carbon and quits working at all until you wipe it off. 

Given the results I saw with some of my tinkering on this saw, it wouldn’t surprise me if your mechanic was able to get it cleaned up and declare it good, in the shop, only to leave you with trouble starting it and keeping it running at home. 

Try a new spark plug. They’re cheap.


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## red1 (Jun 19, 2007)

IowaLez said:


> I'm a small woman. Brought my TB Jr Horse tiller home from the lawnmower repair shop. They had it running a week ago. It's the pull-start kind of beast. I just can't get it to start, even tho it wants to. Has fresh gas in it, and they cleaned it all up, put new tires on it. I had the choke all the way closed, engine lever set to the start position wheels disengaged, tines raised and not engaged. 5-6 pulls didn't do it and I know it should only take one or two.
> 
> My son said spray a little starter fluid in the air filter and that should do it. Is that correct?
> 
> I'm going to have to go 11 miles to town tomorrow to get it. Didn't think to have them show me how to start it before we loaded it into my truck.


Gravity flow carb? Did the shop do anything to it?...I just put a new needle/seal in my 12 hp b&s...Helped immensley...
Find online the carb settings...usely a fuel mixture and idle mixture adjustments...simple.


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## GunMonkeyIntl (May 13, 2013)

HermitJohn said:


> ...Oh and if you dont have the plastic pimple kind of primer, you should have a manual choke lever on the carburetor, since shop supposedly cleaned everything including the carb, the choke should be enough. I realize lot younger people are clueless as to what a choke is, most never seen a car with a carburetor, let alone one with a manual choke. So they dont look for one on a small engine. And EPA seems to mandated those stupid plastic pimples to keep people from running small engines with choke partially closed...


I don’t think the priming bulb has anything to do with a choke. It’s just a carburetor/fuel line primer. All of my modern small engines have a manual choke, but only some of them have primers. 

If I’m recalling correctly, it’s only the carburetors on my smaller, hand-held engines that have a primer. My mower has a fuel pump, and my tiller and pressure washer are both gravity feed, so they don’t need them. 

My weed eaters and chainsaws all have them, but I think that’s because of the orientation of the fuel tank. The carburetor can run dry when there’s no vacuum to keep it full. 

My grandad had an OLD saw that you had to pull the carb’s bowl, fill it manually, and then, sometimes, pull the carb’s out-line and siphon gas through it to get it primed. 

The priming bulb just fills the bowl and purges the lines for a cold/old start. You still have to operate a choke for a cold start.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

GunMonkeyIntl said:


> I don’t think the priming bulb has anything to do with a choke. It’s just a carburetor/fuel line primer. All of my modern small engines have a manual choke, but only some of them have primers.
> 
> If I’m recalling correctly, it’s only the carburetors on my smaller, hand-held engines that have a primer. My mower has a fuel pump, and my tiller and pressure washer are both gravity feed, so they don’t need them.
> 
> ...


Next time you are at store with push lawnmowers, take a look. They ALL have pimples. And NO CHOKE. Only way to start such is can starting fluid or pump the pimple. In my count takes around 12 pumps to get it started and it will die the first time cause once it starts, mower goes back to super lean with still cold engine. Its set so lean even with engine warmed up, it wont run well without the air filter in place. You will also find the engines are set to run full out governed speed, there is no speed adjustment. The carbs are not for any setting but full out. So even if you unlock the throttle plate to allow slower speeds, it will just die. Now me being me, once original carb gets really annoying (<cough> plastic carb <cough>) then I adapt carb from older engine that does things the traditional way. Can be interesting getting governor working right but not too hard. Probably if many did this, then you would have yearly emissions inspections for all your lawn equipment....

I really have no idea on other small engines, all other small engine equipment I have are antique. Take that back, I do have one 13hp clone horizontal shaft engine and it does have a choke and no pimple. I assume most other small engines have to be allowed to run part throttle, but its the government and apparently people that dont actually ever personally use the product they are regulating. I think EPA went after lawnmowers especially cause they get used most by consumers of all small engine equipment. Also one of more likely for consumers to just run with choke half closed to solve EPA mandate for lean running engines that dont like to stay running Though chainsaws have their attention too due to them being 2cycle. EPA really hates 2 cycle engines, just there isnt really another way to do serious chainsaws.


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## GunMonkeyIntl (May 13, 2013)

HermitJohn said:


> Next time you are at store with push lawnmowers, take a look. They ALL have pimples. And NO CHOKE. Only way to start such is can starting fluid or pump the pimple. In my count takes around 12 pumps to get it started and it will die the first time cause once it starts, mower goes back to super lean with still cold engine. Its set so lean even with engine warmed up, it wont run well without the air filter in place. You will also find the engines are set to run full out governed speed, there is no speed adjustment. The carbs are not for any setting but full out. So even if you unlock the throttle plate to allow slower speeds, it will just die. Now me being me, once original carb gets really annoying (<cough> plastic carb <cough>) then I adapt carb from older engine that does things the traditional way. Can be interesting getting governor working right but not too hard. Probably if many did this, then you would have yearly emissions inspections for all your lawn equipment....
> 
> I really have no idea on other small engines, all other small engine equipment I have are antique. Take that back, I do have one 13hp clone horizontal shaft engine and it does have a choke and no pimple. I assume most other small engines have to be allowed to run part throttle, but its the government and apparently people that dont actually ever personally use the product they are regulating. I think EPA went after lawnmowers especially cause they get used most by consumers of all small engine equipment. Also one of more likely for consumers to just run with choke half closed to solve EPA mandate for lean running engines that dont like to stay running Though chainsaws have their attention too due to them being 2cycle. EPA really hates 2 cycle engines, just there isnt really another way to do serious chainsaws.


Ahhh... I see what you’re talking about now. The primer pump still has nothing to do with the choke. 

Most push mowers now have an automatic choke. When the engine is cold, it is closed. As the engine warms up, a thermostat opens the choke. I had one go bad on my push mower (bought in 2006, used through maybe 2009). The choke didn’t want to close all the way on its own, so I would have to manually close it, and let the thermostat open it as it warmed up. 

I don’t know if those came about as an EPA thing, or a safety concern since most mowers have that safety bar, and they want you to stay away from the engine when it’s running. Heck, maybe it was just a “technological advancement” since push mowers don’t have a clutch of any sort, and always run under load. Don’t know. 

If you ping the web for push mower choke repair, you’ll see that pretty much all the push mowers now have auto-chokes. My riding mower (and most others that I’ve seen) has a manual choke that is at the extreme end of the throttle control. 



But the primer pump is completely unrelated to the choke. The choke stops down the air intake to rich-up the mixture at start, without having to have different carb setting for ‘start’ and ‘run’. 

The purge pump’s job is to purge air from the fuel system before starting. It’s purpose is to ensure that when you get that initial intake-vacuum, the cylinder sucks fuel out of the carburetor instead of air. 

If you’re starting your mower with starting fluid, “instead of pumping the primer” like you say above, all you’re really doing is letting the engine fire off the the starting fluid until it manages to suck all the air out of the fuel system. 

I don’t know that that would hurt anything, but it seems counter-productive. If you purge the air from your fuel system, the engine should fire on the fuel it sucks out of the carburetor- like it’s designed to do. 

If your mower’s choke isn’t working, you just need to locate it and figure out why it isn’t working, and how to work it manually until you can fix it.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

There is NO choke plate, no automagic choke, just the throttle plate on rear of carb and think only reason they left that is the governor has to move it to adjust speed. The front of the carb once you remove the air filter housing is OPEN. COMPLETELY OPEN!!!! No sliding choke plate, no pivoting choke plate. OPEN! The primer pump is the choke. Its the ONLY way, short of starting fluid, to enrichen mixture enough to start the engine. The EPA does not want people running with choke partially closed. I ran across one of the plastic carbs I replaced while looking for tool this morning, will take pic of it, though sounds like you cant be bothered to actually look at a new era mower so dont suppose you would believe a picture of an actual carburetor either. But I will post it when I get done installing steering rack.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

Notice the first pic is front of the carburetor and there is NO AUTOMATIC CHOKE or CHOKE PLATE of any kind for that matter. The only thing that bolted to front of that carb was the air filter box.

The second pic is the rear of the carburetor, and you see the throttle plate.


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## flewism (Apr 2, 2007)

I think you need to look at using a drill motor to start it, there is plenty of them out there and you tube videos on how to make one. What model engine? you might be able to get a brand new carb for less than $20.


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## flewism (Apr 2, 2007)

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...B69D7D33EF0C9BAB5CA7B69D7D33EF0C9BA&FORM=VIRE
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...39D839997E567B10DE6239D839997E567B1&FORM=VIRE

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=4+hp+tec...mseh+4+carburetor,aps,163&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_2_21


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## GunMonkeyIntl (May 13, 2013)

HermitJohn said:


> There is NO choke plate, no automagic choke, just the throttle plate on rear of carb and think only reason they left that is the governor has to move it to adjust speed. The front of the carb once you remove the air filter housing is OPEN. COMPLETELY OPEN!!!! No sliding choke plate, no pivoting choke plate. OPEN! The primer pump is the choke. Its the ONLY way, short of starting fluid, to enrichen mixture enough to start the engine. The EPA does not want people running with choke partially closed. I ran across one of the plastic carbs I replaced while looking for tool this morning, will take pic of it, though sounds like you cant be bothered to actually look at a new era mower so dont suppose you would believe a picture of an actual carburetor either. But I will post it when I get done installing steering rack.
> 
> 
> HermitJohn said:
> ...


That is a pretty hokey looking carb. I’ll give you that.

I’d never seen a mower engine without a choke, but I did some reading this afternoon and saw that that apparently is a thing- though it seems to be pretty much exclusive to push mowers and stuff like jet skis.

It’s funny that you make the comment about how I “can’t be troubled to go look for myself”. I actually had to run into to town to get something from Lowe’s, and I took a walk down the mower aisle... just for you, boo.

About half of them there did have some form of an auto choke on them, which is quite a bit different than what you told me to expect. 


HermitJohn said:


> Next time you are at store with push lawnmowers, take a look. They ALL have pimples. And NO CHOKE...


I’d tell you to go check it out for yourself, but I realize that might give you one less thing to be angry about, and put a crimp in your “everything new sucks and makes me grumpy” schtick. I suppose if you didn’t buy the cheapest one you could find, you wouldn’t be able to complain about how everything modern is cheap junk, and where’s the fun in that?


I guess the difference in what we were talking about are the purge pumps found on hand-held engines, and the primer pumps on push mowers.

Either way, the OPs tiller does have a choke, as most do.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

I often start semi trucks That have ran out of fuel or sat for years the trick we use on the road to get them started is to spray starting fluid on a old T shirt then drop that on the air filter. 
You could modify that by spraying starting fluid on a sock or a small rag and placing it over the intake to the air filter on your tiller.


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

My brother in law borrowed a little Mantis Tiller that my wife uses in her garden. Well, used to; he borrowed it 18 months ago...

Anyway, he brought it back tangled in roots, filthy and of course full of ethanol gas that had sat in the tank since last year.
Drained the tank and replaced with real two-cycle gas.
Pulled the cord and choked the carb until I dislocated my right arm. 
Sat for about 10 minutes to rest and pulled it again until my arm was ready to fall off. Then I realized I hadn't turned the ignition to the "on position." I figured that was my brother in law's fault too and I cursed him for it.
Used my left arm and was about to give up when I got it to fire.
Kept it going with a small spray bottle of WD40 until I ran the crap left in the line and in the carb thru and promptly took it into the garden and ran the pizz out of it until the tank went dry.

Moral of the tale-don't use ethanol for anything and don't loan out your tools.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

You don’t turn the ignition on and it’s the ethanol’s fault ?


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## [email protected] (Sep 16, 2009)

what I learned in small engine class. you have to choke a small engine to start it. Period..
a good carburetor adjustment will eliminate any need for any kind of starter fluid.
My Troy Horse is well over 40 years old. never had it in a fixit shop..
it should never take more than four easy pulls to start.
You do not have to pull hard and fast.
usually two pulls with full choke. then it should fire but not necessarily start. reduce the choke to half choke or all the way open. it will start.
If this procedure doesn't work, you are starved for fuel.
once you get it started, don't go celebrating by running through the garden with it.. Now is when you adjust the carburetor. Then go do your tilling..
that carb on that tiller is one of the easiest ones to set.
and here is a tip. each time you want to shut the motor off, do not use the kill switch.. instead, shut off the fuel line. let the motor run out of gas. trust me. I don't know if my kill switch even works. I never use it.
In your troy , gas with ethanol will work. if it is fresh.
but why take the chance ? ethanol free gas lasts much longer. I let mine in the lawn mowers and tiller all winter without stabil. they always start in the spring as if I was using them all along.. but you have to let them run out of gas when you shut them off..
and as someone mentioned, make sure the choke is fully closed.


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## Mr. Kingsbury (Aug 21, 2017)

Good that you got it goin'.

Just wanted to throw this thought out there for others that are dealing with starting problems; check the gap between the flywheel magnets and the ignition armature. http://outdoorpowerinfo.com/engine_specs/briggs_fly_gap.asp


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## JeepHammer (May 12, 2015)

Mr. Kingsbury said:


> Good that you got it goin'.
> 
> Just wanted to throw this thought out there for others that are dealing with starting problems; check the gap between the flywheel magnets and the ignition armature. http://outdoorpowerinfo.com/engine_specs/briggs_fly_gap.asp


Once the fuel system is cleaned out and the choke checked...
Particularly if it's already been running and adjusted,
I go to magneto...

More & more the ignition (magneto) with the spark plug wire coming out of it, will fail.
Since the internal resistance is usually way off, I suspect internal insulation breaking down more often now than they used to.

The magnets in the flywheel will demagnetize somewhat over time, so the energy created when magnets pass the magneto they don't produce as much spark energy.

Moving the magneto closer to the magnets/flywheel often helps induce higher spark energies.
This is a two screw adjustment on most makes, once the air shroud has been removed.
Changing the magneto is usually a two screw and two wire swap out...

Another thing, over time, the magnets pick up ferrous particles and need to be cleaned off.
Metal particles on the magnet scatter the magnetic field, the more you get, the worse it is.

Sometimes the ceramic magnets crack, nothing you can do but replace the flywheel when this happens...


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