Mountfield lawnmower - help it won't start!

Hi all

We have a very large garden & I used to mow it with an electric mower I got off Freecycle - although it really was too small. It just gave up the ghost so i bought a Mountfield petrol SP470 off eBay, collected it yesterday locally. However, tried to start it up today & it won't start - i have no instructions with it. i really can't afford to waste the £56 it cost - I will go back to the ebayer but wondered if anyone knew how it starts? The guy showed us; move choke onto full, press red button 3 times to prime then pull cord - but it won't fire. Any help would be most welcome, even if it is a link to the manual or something:confused:
New start JAN15 - NOT BUYING IT 2015 :eek:. Long haul DFW #145 : 2011 DEBTBUSTING : £5500 OD GONE, £2000 OD - GONE £93,610.30 cc & loan debt - GONE 27.6.14 FINALLY DEBT & MORTGAGE FREE :happyhear

Comments

  • barnabee
    barnabee Posts: 1,210
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    Try taking out the spark plug, checking the gap and clean it. Then place the spark plug against the cylinder head, try to start the engine and see if you get a spark.
    If you can see a spark inject a very small amount of petrol in the hole where the spark plug came from. Put the spark plug back in and then re-try to start.
  • Barneysmom
    Barneysmom Posts: 10,123
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    You might have tried a few times and flooded it. Leave it a while and try again?
  • misgrace
    misgrace Posts: 1,486 Forumite
    Have you mixed the correct ratio of oil and petrol?, if the mix is not right it can flood it, and flood the filter.
    We had a mountfield for some years, but had to get another mower, not a mountfield this time, but a honda, but we had trouble with the honda the first time we used it, as the mix was wrong.
    Also same thing happened to our neighbours petrol strimmer, again he put the wrong mix in, as soon as it was sorted with the correct ratio, they were okay.

    We might still have the instructions for the Mountfield, If we have it, then I'll look in tomorrow eve with the info.
  • Quintain_2
    Quintain_2 Posts: 442 Forumite
    I've trouble with my Mountfield too. The pull cord is jammed.

    Any ideas?
    Watch out for the sandbag.
  • Avoriaz
    Avoriaz Posts: 39,110 Forumite
    Have you checked that there is petrol in the tank?

    Sometimes it is the most obvious thing that you check last. :D
  • sashanut
    sashanut Posts: 3,252
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    misgrace wrote: »
    Have you mixed the correct ratio of oil and petrol?, if the mix is not right it can flood it, and flood the filter.
    We had a mountfield for some years, but had to get another mower, not a mountfield this time, but a honda, but we had trouble with the honda the first time we used it, as the mix was wrong.
    Also same thing happened to our neighbours petrol strimmer, again he put the wrong mix in, as soon as it was sorted with the correct ratio, they were okay.

    We might still have the instructions for the Mountfield, If we have it, then I'll look in tomorrow eve with the info.

    From what the seller told us, this mower just runs on unleaded petrol so no need to mix with oil etc AFAIK. Any help with instructions would be great, as I said, we were told to open choke fully, press red button 3 times & then pull cord to start - not sure if we are supposed to hold down red side lever on handle as well (it has one red lever & one black on either side of handle), HTH,

    kind regards
    Sasha
    New start JAN15 - NOT BUYING IT 2015 :eek:. Long haul DFW #145 : 2011 DEBTBUSTING : £5500 OD GONE, £2000 OD - GONE £93,610.30 cc & loan debt - GONE 27.6.14 FINALLY DEBT & MORTGAGE FREE :happyhear
  • sashanut
    sashanut Posts: 3,252
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    Avoriaz wrote: »
    Have you checked that there is petrol in the tank?

    Sometimes it is the most obvious thing that you check last. :D

    Must be petrol in tank as when red button pressed got some on gloves! However, that might indicate a flooding problem?
    New start JAN15 - NOT BUYING IT 2015 :eek:. Long haul DFW #145 : 2011 DEBTBUSTING : £5500 OD GONE, £2000 OD - GONE £93,610.30 cc & loan debt - GONE 27.6.14 FINALLY DEBT & MORTGAGE FREE :happyhear
  • misgrace
    misgrace Posts: 1,486 Forumite
    misgrace wrote: »
    Have you mixed the correct ratio of oil and petrol?, if the mix is not right it can flood it, and flood the filter.
    We had a mountfield for some years, but had to get another mower, not a mountfield this time, but a honda, but we had trouble with the honda the first time we used it, as the mix was wrong.
    Also same thing happened to our neighbours petrol strimmer, again he put the wrong mix in, as soon as it was sorted with the correct ratio, they were okay.

    We might still have the instructions for the Mountfield, If we have it, then I'll look in tomorrow eve with the info.


    I got it wrong about the mix :eek: My hubby has called me a bl00dy idiot, the mix is correct for strimmer, but not for the lawnmower.
    So very sorry about that.:o

    Still looking for the instructions, but clever clogs hubby :rolleyes: said the same as barnabee, to take the spark plug out and clean it,and check the oil filter and make sure its not covered in oil .
    If its not covered in oil, give it a good shake to get the crap out of it.

    This is what he did with our old mountfield, and it did work for a while, but it was on its way out, so we bought another, 'the honda' and he says its much better than the mountfield was.

    Hope you get it sorted.
  • Sorry if this is obvious, but it foxed me the first time I used a newfangled modern mower. You need to keep the "deadman's handle" depressed (or in your case I think pulled up), while starting. You mention 2 leavers on your mower. One will be the deadman's handle and the other will be the power drive. (and it sounds as though there's a choke too). This is so that when you leave the mower to empty the grass box, you have to release the lever and the mower blades will come to a standstill. Most people i know use a velcro cable tie to keep the lever engaged so they dont have to keep restarting the mower, But beware if there are children about who might lift the mower up, (all 20 kilos of it!) and touch the rotating blades.

    If the mower is cold you often need more than the regulation 3 pushes of the red button to prime the carburetta. I used to use 5. If that doesn't work go and have a cup of tea, try 1 squirt and then retry the starter. If the engine has been running you dont need to re-prime the carb. If you have a choke, and it doesn't start on the 2nd or 3rd pull, pussh the choke right in (ie at slow speed setting) and (with deadmans handle engaged) gently pull the starting chord a few times to clear any flooding. Then go an make that cup of tea, and try and restart in 5 mins or so. (prime red bulb 2-3 times.)
    By the way you will get to know the "feel" of the bulb. The first few pushes will be accompanied by what sounds like small air bubbles. When the carb is fully primed each press seems more like you are pumping just fuel, not a mixture of air and fuel.

    Now the fact that you got petrol on your hands when pressing the red bulb worries me. A common fault is that the bulbs get damaged by rough treatment, in which case it will need replacing.

    Just another footnote, make sure you are using fairly fresh petrol. Believe it or not it can "go off" if left for a month or so in a can. Some of the additives that boost the ignition break down over time.

    Its worth checking the spark plug as previous poster mentioned. Clean up any gunge and excess carbon and clean the gap with some emery paper and check the gap. If you dont have tools just set it so a thin piece of card will slide between the gap (in the old days people used cigarette packet card - so you know the sort of card I mean)

    Hope this helps, let us know how you get on.
  • Oh my gosh, apologies for rescuscitating a dead thread (I misread the last posting as 22nd June 2009! and it was 2008! )
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