How To Fix a Lawn Mower That Quits, Dies or Stalls After 2 Minutes

thank you buddy I enjoy your videos the trouble is changing the blades on my Victa mower how tight do you do the nylon bolts and if they are to tight can you loosen them a little bit so the blades can move if it hits a rock can you show us how to change blades

To “add” to this video; I once had a gas cap - the inner “cone” fell to the bottom of the gas tank…and stopped running! Replaced the the Cap - Good to go 👍🏻

Thank you so much. It was the filler caps valve that was stuck shut! Almost went a bought a new carb!! Saved me $30

Thanks Steve. I had this problem and could not work it out until I saw this video. I had a spare fuel cap and swapped it in and tested the mower and it now runs properly.

👍

Thanks Steve, love your Worshop, is that a Fosters beer can I see in your collection, That's a great Australian Beer 🍺

is it.common for a briggs and stratton to have no jets in carburetor bowl? I have an old mower that only runs on the Primer gas.

Thank you this is the first time I ever heard about checking the cap!!!

Ty man

Outstanding information. Thank you

Sounds like mine but I put on a new gas cap and sprayed out carb. Always has started on first pull but after a few minutes RPMS drop to about half. If the bagger is full it will die.

John Deere JS25 STARTS first pull , [new gas cap and has spark,] then rpms drop after a few minutes. It was more than 1/2 beer so far.

Well let me say up front I didn't believe it. Mower would run when it was cold but die as soon as it warmed up. Lo and behold I loosened the fuel cap and it runs better than ever. Steve, you are the man! Thank you for saving my bacon! I have liked and subscribed.

Cheers, sir. New sub. You, as they say, are Da Man. Salute 🫡

Very good video mine starts right up it stays started but it doesn't stay running kinda like it's choking it's self out. Kinda like it's trying to stay started. Like a bumping start if that makes sense.

Dude thank you so much

Thanks for your help.

Man I’m lucky this was my problem and not something deeper! Thanks for the “small engines for dummies” explanation!

Thanks!

Okay i checked mine and the cap isn't the issue, fuel runs fine. It still starts and cuts off right away or after a minute of chugging dies. Whats my next troubleshooting option for a yardman pushmower? Im so lost.

Thanks Steve. We have a Toro... different again, but understanding the principle I was able to fix it. Cheers! 🍻

At the end you say, that if the vent cap is actually functioning properly, then you have some further investigating to do in order to diagnose the problem. That there means this is now a Full-Beer job and no longer a 1/2 beer job. Yes, my 18hp riding lawnmower starting doing this yesterday. My other option (not buying a new cap) is to drill a micro hole through the cap to provide venting. I have already told my wife, this is a six pack job.

That was it. I took apart the whole thing looking for a flywheel key issue but it was your gas cap issue. Much appreciate your video!

Have to try it , my ride on started doing exactly what was explained 👍☘️🇮🇪👏

Today I switched the cap from my other Kohler push toro mower, it solved the problem. thank you!

This fixed my lawnmower. Thanks!

I have a ride-on lawn mower that runs great for about an hour or so. Then it will starts to sputter and stall. I have to let is sit for a short period and then start it up again and it runs fine. I maintain it and know the gas is good, carburetor is clean, spark plug is good, air cleaner is clean. Just don't know why it runs great for a length of time before sputtering. Any suggestions as what to check?

And also, for the same symptoms, carefully check the pipe which goes from the tank to the carburetor. It happens that an insignificant and difficult to detect air intake slowly empties the carburetor bowl and then the engine stops. When the engine is stopped, the gasoline refills the tank and the engine can run again for one or two minutes, etc.

Replaced the carb and plug and it still kept shutting off, it wasn't until I saw this video that I realized that I had the cap from my 5 gallon gas can on my mower. Swapped caps and it runs better than ever. Thank you so much!

13 dollars? Ill drill a hole in mine

Any other way to fix cap besides buying new ?
loosen cap a little ?

YES, I have that exact problem. But I don't think it's the cap. 2017 b&s 450e 125cc engine on a push mower. It runs fine...for 5-10 minutes then stalls. Won't start unless I push the primer bulb 3 times, even when warm. There is a vent tube on the gas tank that ends in the air box. It spits some fuel as it's running. Not much, but could that just be flooding the carb? Also, on the carb, there's a nozzle for a vacuum line(I'm assuming) right above the nozzle for the gas line. I don't know if there is supposed to be a vacuum line on that? I don't see anywhere the other end of the hose would go.

Husqvarna with BS engine, model LS221a.. I cleaned the carburetor, I put an in-line fuel filter with a shut off valve in line of the gas line..
The mower starts right up first or second pull.. runs fine for about five or 10 minutes, then it shuts off. Sometimes it’s restarts immediately. Sometimes you have to let it sit for five minutes…
just now, after watching this video about the possible fuel starvation due to a Plugged vent in the gas cap. I removed the gas cap. Completely, it still will not start after it was running minutes ago.
The flywheel was not rusty, there was no debris between the flywheel and the ignition coil. The spark plug was not wet. It just goes Lucas.
i’m wondering if it is going Lucas literally. I have an MG English sports car that I have owned for decades. It was doing something like this back in the 70s. Quitting, I would hitchhike a ride, come back with tools, the car would start right up.
Lucas electrics are known for this trait. They have nicknames because of this widespread problem, Lucas, the prince of darkness, because the lights go out on your car, they say the English drink, warm beer because they have Lucas refrigerators…
so I am wondering if possibly the coil windings are breaking down due to the vibration or heat. And possibly replacing the coil will eliminate this.
Any thoughts?

Spot on. I spent an hour or so troubleshooting - cleaning carb, etc. Didn't think to look at the inside of the petrol cap. The rubber seal had perished and stopped the tank venting!

Steve - I never thought about tank vent on a old 1970 2.5hp Briggs with carb direct to tank with no pump. only vamcum.

My lawn mover has similar problem but my is shut off when I get high grass parts I remove the cover works little bit better but in 3 to 5 minutes start with the problem

Great! Thanks! 🇧🇷🇨🇦

Dumb question but can you just drill a tiny hole in the existing gas cap?

Do all caps have a vent on them? Because I cleaned the carburetor and replaced the spark plug 😢 unfortunately my lawnmower M320 with a Briggs Stratton is still having the problem. I'm hoping this is the problem

Very helpful video. Thanks Steve!

That's twice you have helped me last one was drilling out that puny jet on a craftsman thanks

It was the gas cap thanks

$13 for a fuel cap seems expensive to me! I'll bet they are even more now!

It's it so small you think due to EPA save the planet, climate change rules or such? Politics?

How do you read or ID a .0020inch or the.52mm drill bit... the size on the micro drill bit... omg, can't read it.. Even with my glasses.. help help lol

I drilled a hole in my gas lid and it still dies ffs

Could I actually just loosen the cap and run my lawn mower till I get another cap?

That was good but my Toro riding lawnmower shutting down after about 30 seconds of running. I checked the fuel line like you did in the video, no fuel line issues. Can there be another good reason for the shutting down.

Thank you for the video. What can I do/check if after cleaning and rebuilding the carburetor, replacing the spark plug, fresh gas and my lawn mower still doesn’t start up?