Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

How do you change the primer bulb on a Tecumeh 4.5 lawnmower..I am having trouble starting this lawnmower..When you prime it when its cold,it will start and then quit right away.if i start it again and prime the primer as its running it will stay running for me,,,,I feel air leaking out by the primer bulb when its running.Please HELP ME????????? Thank you for your time,,,,,,,,Rick-------email me at ricksprg@yahoo.com.....I'm thinking the primer bulb has a hole or a crack in the rubber ...............

Not sure if your problem is a crack in the primer bulb or not. Once the thing starts to run the primer bulb should have no bearing. Sounds to me as though the carb may need a bit of cleaning, possibily the needle valve.

It is a small unit so when it gets gummed up or sits with old gas in it for long periods it may have difficulty running , but when you pump the primer bulb you are giving extra gas that it may be starving from otherwise as it is dirty and gummed/plugged up.

Just my thoughts and previous experiences with other mowers.

rick64red wrote:
hi  rick   i  just   joined  here    i  run into them  problems  alot here  and   what  it is  is  the   primer  could  be  not  seated  correctly  in the   carb    there is  a  round  retainer  clip    that  holds  that primer  in place     if  that  retainer  clip   gets  worn  anyway    it may  encounter  a    leak    and  if there is  a  leak  it will  make the  engine  run   rough    another thing you do  is  if it  starts  and then  quits   take  the   carb  off  the  unit   and   take  a    1/2  wrench  and  undo  the   bolt  on  bowl   and  take  that     float  out  and  shake  it  if you  hear  any   kind of  swish  sound  that means  the  float  has  a  pin  hole  in it  this  is  common  for    carb  floats  in tecumseh  engines    what  causes  that  is  the  carb is  set  up  thru   winter  season without  being  runned    so all the  excess  fuel  is    working   on  that   float    the  replacement   float  part  number  you  look for  is  a     #  632019    and    i  dont know if  i  can  advertise my  business  on  here or  not  but  i  will   contact     the  admin  on  it  and  see  if  they  can  add  a  link  to  my  store    but   i  thought  i    thought  i would  help   you  out   a  little  on the  diagnosis   problem    now  for  the primer  sometimes    they  can  get  a  small  air leak   the  primers  some of them suppose to have  a    pin hole  in the center    this  helps  out in many  ways  but  what i would do  before  doing anything with  primer  is   check that  float   first   thing  that   start  and cut off   symptom   tells  me  you  have a   float issue  and  not  a   primer  issue   hope   this  helps you  out  
calvin