This was just another image with some interesting texture.
So today I was going out back to try and get some things done, and my son asked if he could mow the lawn. I am always saying no, and not right now, and maybe when I get this or that finished, so I decided to just let him do it. (Of course when I get to the point where I’m asking him to do it he won’t be interested at that time) I pulled the lawn mower out, put in some gas and started pulling to start it. I wasn’t getting anywhere. I pulled long enough with no success, that I thought I should try something different. I took off the air filter and pulled some more. Still nothing, so I pulled out the spark plug. It was a little black on the end, so I did a little sanding with a fine grit paper, and then had my son pull on the starter while I held the spark plug next to the frame to see if it would spark. It did. I put it back in and pulled some more. Still nothing. This is a fairly new Honda mower, so I expected that it should just work. I pulled off the gas line to make sure the line wasn’t clogged. It was fine. I checked the oil again, and it was still there. I pulled the spark plug out again, and it still sparked of course. I pulled some more. All the time I was pulling I was moving the throttle around. I finally got to where the I would get it to sputter a bit, and I would think why won’t it just go. I had to take a break for a couple of hours for conference. After the 2nd session I went back out and started pulling again. I was getting more sputtering, but no real starting. I looked at the throttle cable again to see if it was actually moving things around. It appeared to be just fine. I pulled and pulled some more. Finally i got to where it was sputtering more and more, and I thought maybe I had managed to work enough fuel into the system or something. I continued moving the throttle lever to different places, hoping that I would get it to just the right mixture, I even tried moving it around a bit while it was sputtering. By this time the blisters on my fingers had long since popped, and I even put on a glove so that I could keep pulling. Considering how long I had been at it, and how frustrating it was I managed to keep my cool pretty well. I think partly because the lawn wasn’t that bad. Maybe I’m learning to be a little more patient too. In the end I managed to get it to fire up enough that I could keep it running. I think the main issue was user error. I thought that the throttle pulled all the way up was off, but it turns out that that is the full throttle position. I had probably kept it too lean for most of the time. I may have to go out and start the mower every other week all winter long next year. That would require much less of my time than I spent bringing the thing back to life. I may also need to pick up a can of starter fluid. That may have saved me a bunch of time today also. Long story, but I did get the lawn mowed, because by the time I got the thing stared my son was off on a bike ride. I suppose he can mow the lawn next week. Life is great.
