Hello all! I am stumped on this mower im fixing up. Its a john Deere JS25 with a briggs 6.25 motor. The lawnmower will run perfectly in idle mode until i engage the self propulsion, and it dies. The carburetor was thoroughly cleaned inside and out and all jets and passageways (including fuel lines) are clear.

The thing that stumps me the most, is the self drive cable itself. The mower and self propulsion will work fine ONLY if i pull on the self propelled cord with a pair of vise grips. When i use the handle to engage the self drive, the mower dies. On another forum, someone mentioned a safety switch somewhere.. but i cannot find anything attached to the handle bar.

Thanks in advance!

- Ben

 

Does your mower have a blade brake? I'm wondering if it is not adjusted properly.

 

I would suspect that the cable going to the kill switch on the engine is barely turning it on and the movement of the handlebar when you engage the drive handle is letting the kill cable turn the engine off.

 

The control cable should be adjusted to release the blade brake and remove the ground to the ignition control module when the mower handle is in the mow position and apply the blade brake and ground the ignition control module when the mower is in the stop position. The adjustment should be in the owner's manual. Good luck.