Can bad spark plug affect Lawn Mower

Spring is a great time to tune up your lawn mower and get it ready for the coming season. We get questions from readers such as, can bad spark plug affect lawn mower engines? The answer is definitely yes. An engine with a dirty spark plug can be difficult to start. When you finally get it running, the engine may run poorly and shut off often. There can be a number of reasons this is happening, but one for sure is a bad spark plug. What do we mean by a bad spark plug? It is dirty around the electrode with lots of carbon deposits and the porcelain may even be pitted. All of these things will impede the spark that ignites the gasoline oxygen mixture in the cylinder causing a rough running engine. It may not even start and if it does emits sooty exhaust smoke.

Can bad spark plug affect Lawn Mower – Repairs

If you have this problem, the easiest thing to do is to remove the spark plug and clean it up. Remove all of the dirt and grime along with any carbon deposits. Once it is clean and spotless, reset the gap according to the manufacturers specifications.

You can test your spark plug by reattaching the spark plug wire to the plug. Hold the spark plug against the metal housing of the engine to ground it and crank the engine several times to generate a spark. If you do not see a spark you may not have grounded it properly or there is something additionally wrong with the spark generation system.

You may need to investigate further, but at least you know that the spark plug has been cleaned and / or replaced.