Lawn Mower Won’t Start When Hot: Discover the 4 Causes and What to Do
It is difficult to try and imagine a world without lawn mowers. They are an integral part of the upkeep and maintenance of our living environments, and their usefulness and efficacy speak for themselves.
You may be reading this and thinking that we are giving an awful amount of credence to something as trivial as a lawn mower. However, you must admit that your life would be vastly different without one in your garage.
Don’t get caught without a working lawn mower – it will leave you feeling very frustrated. Instead, try these handy tricks to prevent it from failing when it gets too hot.
Why Your Lawn Mower Won’t Start
Lawn mowers generate a lot of heat when they start up, so it’s no surprise that the added warmth of the sun doesn’t help. Beyond that, however, there are a few other reasons as to why your lawn mower may be giving up the ghost. Some of these are a little more technical in nature than others, but we’ll try to keep things simple and succinct as we explore the different causes of your lawn mower’s failure.
Overheated Engine
This is by far the most common cause of lawn mower start-up failure, which is why we included it in our introduction to this section. Though lawn mower engines may seem small, they can generate an insane amount of heat while they are in operation.
Rest assured that this is normal, and it is merely a by-product of the lawn mower’s engine in use. To counteract this, lawn mowers include cooling fins that help dissipate the extreme heat, thereby ensuring its continued functionality.
Unfortunately, these cooling fins are susceptible to clogging due to the many grass clippings constantly flying around while your lawn mower is in use. As a safety precaution, your lawn mower will not turn on if the engine is overheated.
Additionally, the plastic casing of the engine can also be damaged by bits of debris. After a while, all of this dirt can eventually lead to the engine shutting off.
What to Do About an Overheated Engine
Luckily for lawn mower owners, while this problem is common enough, it also has a very simple and effective solution. All you have to do is periodically clean the cooling fins and plastic casing of your engine. Make sure the engine is cool before doing this, lest you come away with a few nasty burns.
Extreme Oil Levels (High or Low)
You may think that your lawn mower’s engine can never have too much oil. Think again! If the oil level is too high, your lawn mower will most probably not be able to start in the first place , and this is programmed as a safety precaution. Similarly, if the oil level is too low, chances are you will not be able to start it even if it wanted to.
There’s nothing too complex to worry about here, so let’s move on to the solution to this problem.
What to Do About Extreme Oil Levels
In the case of an overfilled oil tank, you’ll have to manually let some of the oil out to get your lawn mower running again. If the oil tank is empty, simply fill it back up again, being careful not to go too far.
Air Leaks
Air is good, right? We all need a sufficient amount of the stuff to keep on living. Our lawn mowers don’t function on the same logic, though. If your lawn mower’s engine is exposed to too much air, it may suffer a permanent shut-down.
The cause of most mower-related air leaks is the presence of loose bolts that are meant to hold the engine’s many components together, as well as keep the motor firmly affixed to the frame. These bolts need to be tight to do their job, and when they’re loose, the engine starts to pull in air from the outside.
As you use your lawn mower more and more while the bolts become looser and looser, the tiny parts of the engine expand as the engine itself heats up. This ultimately results in an ill-functioning engine in serious need of replacement.
What to Do About Air Leaks
Unfortunately, if your engine’s internal components are damaged enough, you may need to replace the engine entirely. However, if you’ve discovered this issue early enough, you may be able to save yourself the trouble. You must regularly tighten the bolts of your engine to avoid this alarming ordeal.
Troublesome Spark Plug
Spark plugs come in a huge variety of lengths and heat ranges. Sometimes, the one you buy simply won’t be compatible with your lawn mower’s engine. In that case, the engine will shut off, and you’ll be left wondering what went wrong.
This usually occurs when the spark plug’s gap is not the correct length. The heat of the engine will inevitably widen the gap far enough for the engine to switch off. Luckily, there usually isn’t any permanent damage. Additionally, the spark plug itself may be damaged from overexposure to carbon.
What to Do About a Troublesome Spark Plug
Usually, all that may be required of you is a quick adjustment to the width of your spark plug’s gap according to what is stipulated in your lawn mower’s owner’s manual. Rarely, you may need to replace the condenser and ignition coil, which control the flow of electricity to the spark plug. Lastly, if the spark plug is damaged beyond repair, it’ll have to be replaced.
Final Words
We’ve managed to cover quite a bit in this “Lawn Mower Won’t Start When Hot – How to Fix It” guide, and we hope that all of it has proven to be useful in your mission to keep your lawn mower working in the best possible way.
To help you even further, here’s a handy lawn mower maintenance resource that we think will be useful for you to read.
That being said, there are a multitude of potential reasons for lawn mower engine failing to start, so it’s important to consult as many sources as possible to correctly assess the damage. Hopefully, at the very least, you won’t need to replace your trusty lawn mower.
