1 post tagged “handyman adventures”

Idle hands are the Devil's weapons of opportunity.

Busy hands belonging to an untrained but highly experienced sidewalk mechanic are Murphy's playthings.

Wednesday morning, as I finished off my second cup of coffee while trying to determine what chore was most deserving of my considerable efforts, I realized that this was one of those rare days when nothing pressing was demanding my immediate attention.  What would I do with my time then?  It was supposed to start raining at some point in time today. 

I know!...My old riding mower barely made it back to the storage shed the last time I used it.  I suppose I could see what I could do to give it a little more pep.  That mower must be something like fifteen years old now and other than regular maintenance such as oil changes, new spark plugs, keeping the blade sharp, replacing broken or worn out belts a couple times; replacing the two front tires was the only repair I couldn't do myself during that time.

I got my tools and started checking things out.  I removed the spark plug and it looked like it could use a replacement.  Removed the air filter and it also needed changing.  I could barely see parts of the carburetor that were not concealed by oil soaked dust and grass debris.  The adjusting screws had never been touched by me.  If there's one thing I've learned over the years it is that I am not good with carburetors.  If I turn an adjustment screw on one it is sure to be turned in the wrong direction and I can never seem to get it back to where it was or make a positive difference in the performance of the engine it was fueling.

It may be a while before I need to use this mower again so now would be the perfect time to have the carburetor cleaned and rebuilt by a professional. 

The spark arrestor (or what passes for a muffler on a small engine) was blocking the screws I needed to remove so I took a 3/8 ratchet wrench to the 5/16 Hex Head bolts that were holding it on.  Mr. Murphy was holding my hand as I proceeded.  The first bolt loosened right away.  I backed it out a couple turns....THEN it locked up.  That happens a lot to any bolts used in high heat applications like exhaust fixtures. I changed directions and tightened it up again. I've had that help once in a while.  Then, as I switched back to the remove direction, it made it to the same spot and tightened up again.  My Dad used to say "If it don't fit...FORCE it!"  If that doesn't do it...hit it with a hammer...it was probably broken already anyway.  I'm not the man I used to be but evidently, I still have a little strength remaining in these flabby, old arms.  I was only using a 3/8 ratchet wrench with a 1/2 socket on it...what's the chance that I'll get this bolt out if it doesn't want to come?  I gave it one more try and suddenly the bolt was turning effortlessly.  As I extracted it completely, that's when I saw that the threaded end of it had broken off in the hole.

MAN! They don't make bolts like they used to...I thought.  Well!  If it hadn't broken off, how would I ever have gotten the carburetor off this mower?  I'll worry about getting the broken part of it out of the hole later.  That's what I told myself then.  In my mind I'm thinking "Perhaps one bolt will hold it on OK."  I soaked it with Liquid Wrench spray in preparation for the inevitable task before me. 

I drained the gas from the tank and used that for cleaning parts as I removed them.  I finished the disassembly just before the rain drops started falling.  I took the carburetor, air filter and spark plug with me to the mower repair shop just up the road.  They COULD rebuild the carburetor for me; had to order the spark plug I needed but had the new air filter.  I left everything there until they call me saying it was done.  I would pick up and pay for it all later.

I don't know how long that will take but it will give some time to attempt to drill out and re-tap that bolt hole before I try to put it all back together again.