Briggs and Stratton LAWNMOWER PRIMER BULB PROBLEMS. Won't PRIME. WILL NOT Cold START. HOW TO FIX

Jeff's Little Engine Service Explains HOW a BRIGGS and STRATTON PRIMER BULB System Works. Lawnmower PRIMING Button PROBLEM can be FIXED. PRIMER BUTTON will not work. Gaskets. 3-7 HORSEPOWER ALL BRIGGS AND STRATTON motor with a PRIMER BUTTON BULB.
Music by BonzaiRod. "George"
Copyright 2016 Jeff's Little Engine Service
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PLEASE KEEP IN MIND when you are watching my videos: I am showing you the least expensive, quickest "backyard" methods for repairing or servicing your lawnmower. Replacing all components such as gaskets and fuel lines is always recommended when rebuilding or repairing equipment. With these videos I hope you are able to fix and repair your lawnmower yourself with minimal parts, knowledge and tools. Always work safe. Thank you for watching!

[luckydog-]

Jeff's Little Engine Service - I read all of the comments on the threads, below. Thank you for sharing your vast knowledge. Happy for folks like you.

[jmc]

I dont often go out of my way to thank someone that made a good video but this saved me possibly hours of troubleshooting. Thank you so much. Short to the point and very accurate

[benchan]

This worked for my Craftsman mower with Briggs and Stratton Engine! Needed prime at least 10 times and took 10 pulls, after stacking one extra gasket, it now only needs 4 primes and 1 pull! Thank you!

[gillesdion]

Your video inspired me and i want to add my 2 cents .After many attempts of resolving this problem here is a quick fix . Prime the bulb like you normally do but this time use your other hand to apply a gentle force at the bottom part of the air filter housing . This will help close the gap around the gasket and the air passage. When i did this, fuel came out of the main jet and filled the venturie area .

[jcakelee]

I can’t believe this actually worked. I installed a new carburetor and it still wouldn’t start. Primer was not working. At your suggestion I put the old gasket over the new and it worked. This just amazes me. Thanks

[benkiist]

Omg Jeff, you saved my day. I didn’t even know that tightening too hard would warp that cover. Best video on YouTube by FAR

[jamesdickson]

I tried this trick on one of my Toro's that iam selling, it worked like a charm. Thanks Jeff!

[doglegjake]

great video ! i used to double up the gaskets but now i use a heat gun to staighten them out works great !

[VendMD]

I've replaced the carb and the primer bulb, it still wouldn't start, I worked on trying to figure out what is supposed to be going on to then figure out what's not going. I've looked on YouTube for days trying figure out what i was looking for, I wasn't sure what was supposed to happen with that primer bulb, I didn't know the role of the backing. You've led me to what my problem probably is. Thanks to you and your "old" friend Christy(that's not very nice to call hey old but I won't tell her) and thanks to your side kick Max.

[jaykeehan]

Thank you so much for this tip. I have a B&S 300E series mower that I cleaned up but wouldn't start because the primer blub didn't seem to do anything. I was very frustrated and ready to give up and just buy a manual push mover for my little lawn.

Then I saw this and loosened the two screws holding my carb plate and voila, the mower started.

It would had never occured to me that this was a potential fix.

An aside: why are the B&S manuals (and website) so useless for troubleshooting? The main recommendation they have for any problem is to "contact your local authorised dealer". Pure balderdash: like I'm going bring a $150 mower in for repairs. I hated the idea of throwing away my old unit and getting a replacement because of the waste involved. Thank you again for the help.

[scottcampbell]

Saved the day with this tip. I just loosen off the bolts on the backing plate slightly and it came to life. Thanks for the video!

[stevenvangulik]

Thanks for the tip. Doubled up the gasket and the seal was back. Primed well and started next pull. Cheers!

[grumpa]

I used the masking tape trick suggested in a comment. Worked perfect. 3 primes and first pull.
Thanks

[superdan]

working on exact mower today and i used 2 gaskets and it now primes. great tip

[tamidavis]

Mine was the primer bulb was not seated. I took a screwdriver and carefully pushed the plastic ring down. Works great now. That’s for the great video.

[toonybrain]

Thank you for this video. I’ve found a small push mower with a Briggs & Stratton engine in a garbage dump. Everything just needed a good cleaning (new plug, new aur filter), and the gas tank had a leak from rust. Once I replaced the tank she’d be as good as new. So I thought. Since then, I’ve been pulling my hair out.

Purchased a new gas tank/carb combo for small change, relaced the old one. No prime spray from the bulb. I removed the new carb from the gas tank and put the old one back on because I knew it had spray. Now the old one won’t work. So I’m sitting here over this insignificant piece of machinery thinking, “It can’t possibly be that hard? WTH?” I’ve coined an expression over the years from experience that “when you think a project will take you about 5 minutes, it will end up taking about 5 hours”; case in point.

But, I think you may have solved my problem!

[honeybeahs]

This does really work, I over tightened, so it wasn't sealing good, although I put alittle vaseline behind gasket, it works well now, good info.

[Chriskranenberg]

Very informative video. After watching, I inspected the new gasket and the raised ridge was not fully depressing the gasket due to a partially flattened ridge. Did not have a spare gasket so applied a bit of a thick film of black Permatex form-a-gasket to the gasket surface covering the channel. After installing checked the primer and gas sprayed out of the main nozzle. So, this is an alternative fix to the problem when a spare gasket isn't readily available. Again, thanks for posting the video.

[Papil]

I watched a few videos on this issue. I found 2 i like. 1. Guy always has those gaskets soaking in 2 cycle oil and gas. Helps them be more pliable. Also he has an extra carb and backing plate to use to shape the gasket chanels ebgore he installs it.

2. Bruce pender. Love this guy. And what did he do? He used sone wood screws to hold backing plate down to a pice of wood, with sockets under it, and used a heat gun to heat backing plate as he tightened the screws down to try and bend the backing plate back lol. I used both these methods, and i got it to prime with just 1 gasket

[richardricks]

Was have problems for weeks with this issue Worked like a charm! Thanks.