engine will not start

Lawn mowers or any small engine not starting after sitting all winter, tends to fall into two categories! An engine needs two things to run, 1) Fuel and 2) ignition (or spark) how you shut down your gas engine for winter helps with spring start up! Fuel does become stale, it may still work but why mess around for a partial tank of fuel. Let the engine run the tank dry. After it cools down, check the oil and top it off to the mark. Next, remove the spark plug and check it for gap. Most small engines are .028 to .030 !

Now, back to it won’t start! Same two things, 1) Fuel and 2) Spark! Remove the plug and connect the bottom screw part with a wire to someplace on the engine. Plug in the high tension wire from the mower and get the whole thing in a dark place and pull on the rope so that you can visually see the spark plug is working right. When you pull the rope or hit the starter button, with the engine turning over, the high voltage should be jumping the spark gap! If that checks out, put the plug back in and tighten and connect the high voltage lead. You are now down to fuel. Remove the air filter and squirt a bit of fuel in the carburetor! Next put the filter back on and give it a pull. It should start. If not continue to repeat the fuel in the carb routine. Some carbs with the built in fuel pump sometimes need a little prodding getting going after a long rest. If the problem remains you cannot start, then there is something with fuel delivery that needs attention. That may involve removing the carb and cleaning it or rebuilding it. I would venture 9 times out 10, priming the engine with fuel in the carb gets em going!