Got caught in the rain, now mower won't start

TheGoat · Jun 7, 2012

At the end of the day yesterday I got caught in a typical florida downpour.

now the engine won't start.

Kaw fc420v

I have opened all electrical connections and dried/blew them out. pulled and cleaned the air filter and air intake.

any advice?

Bashby · Jun 7, 2012

Maybe wet where the spark plug wire attaches to the plug.

piston slapper · Jun 7, 2012

Loosen the screw in the carb bowl and drain the water.....
Should stop raining by Monday...
Posted via Mobile Device

TheGoat · Jun 7, 2012

Bashby said:
Maybe wet where the spark plug wire attaches to the plug.

no, that was part of my dry/blow out

TheGoat · Jun 7, 2012

piston slapper said:
Loosen the screw in the carb bowl and drain the water.....
Should stop raining by Monday...
Posted via Mobile Device

did that, left the main fuel valve open (like a dummy), closed it, tried to start no go.

closed the main fuel valve and opened it. letting it sit a bit, open.

Bashby · Jun 7, 2012

Check to see if its getting spark.

ffemt1271 · Jun 7, 2012

If this is a newer exmark, remove the control panel cover, clean out all the wet dirt, unplug all connections and blow them out generously and spray wd40 in them. Had this happen to mine yesterday
Posted via Mobile Device

ffemt1271 · Jun 7, 2012

If this is a newer exmark, remove the control panel cover, clean out all the wet dirt, unplug all connections and blow them out generously and spray wd40 in them. Had this happen to mine yesterday, it would turn over and backfire like an atomic bomb but not fire
Posted via Mobile Device

TheGoat · Jun 7, 2012

Bashby said:
Check to see if its getting spark.

good spark

TheGoat · Jun 7, 2012

ffemt1271 said:
If this is a newer exmark, remove the control panel cover, clean out all the wet dirt, unplug all connections and blow them out generously and spray wd40 in them. Had this happen to mine yesterday, it would turn over and backfire like an atomic bomb but not fire
Posted via Mobile Device

this is a scag.

TheGoat · Jun 7, 2012

Took the carb off and cleaned everything out. put it back together and still nothing.

I drained some fuel from the main tank into a container and saw no water there.

Bashby · Jun 7, 2012

Plugs fouled?

TheGoat · Jun 7, 2012

Thanks to everyone for helping troubleshoot. cleaning out the bowl did the trick.

piston slapper knows his stuff.

cbegap · Jun 8, 2012

Water is heavier than gas, therefore it goes to the lowest point in the system. In your case on a gravity fed WB (assuming because of motor size), that would be the carb bowl. With the newer crappy gas, I seem to be taking the bowls off the carbs all the time now to see what jelly has formed in there. One time there was like a 1/4 inch of fine powder. Really weird. Ethanol also captures the moisture more than the gas without, so be sure to run some sort of gas treatment to keep condensation out of the system (Sta-bil, Seafoam etc). Its just good, cheap insurance against most fuel related issues.

Anyway, glad you figured it out.

piston slapper · Jun 8, 2012

When you get 2 inches of rain in an hour...Seafoam wont cut it....
You would probably need an industriial strength " WaterMagnet"....

Got caught in the rain, now mower won't start

TheGoat

Bashby

piston slapper

TheGoat

TheGoat

Bashby

ffemt1271

ffemt1271

TheGoat

TheGoat

TheGoat

Bashby

TheGoat

cbegap

piston slapper

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