Nothing to snicker about Nando. I fought my rough running 73 for a year before I changed the plugs (that were only a year old) and solved the problem. No more AC for me. Had a rough running Che** PU, when I pulled the AC plugs one electrode was completely missing. That would seem to explain the loss of power... Kerryp --- Crownking <crownking62@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > Hello All: > > The incident herein intrigued me and has Imperial > implications but > the experience was not wholly Imperial. The long > and short of > it--what about a spark plug makes it a wearing part? > > My one year old lawnmower cut out while mowing the > grass the tenth > time this season. It would start once every hundred > or so pulls but > run for only a minute or so and badly at that. I > cleaned the air > filter to pristine. I tore the carb apart and > cleaned it up although > I was doubting old gas as a contributor since we > have run the thing > so much this year. The thing would not even start > reliably on > starting fluid. I tried it without the air cleaner > to no avail. I > cleaned the spark plug with carb cleaner followed by > brake cleaner > after filing the electrode with a teeny file and > cleaning up the > other side with fine sandpaper. I did not check the > gap since I did > not know what was correct and believed this could > not be gap related > since it ran some of the time. Nothing worked. I > deduced that it > had to be either a loose ground owing to the silly > safety cutout or a > bad magneto which is highly unlikely given its age. > With Moron's > assistance a test for spark was devised in which we > would ground the > plug and try to start it in a dark garage--if you > want to amuse > yourself just try holding a mower still enough to > check for spark > while pull starting it. Prior to making that > drastic and potentially > dangerous test, I decided to replace the plug and > learned the correct > gap in the process. The mower starts first time > every time. > > Here is the question: Isn't a plug nothing more > than a wire with a > hole in it through which electrons jump thereby > causing the necessary > spark? What can possibly wear out on one? I > dutifully replace my > plugs in my cars as recommended but always feel like > a sucker doing > it and have never experienced any change in > performance after having > done so. This mower experience has opened my eyes > though-- I wonder > if there are a few Imperials out there pronounced > DOA that are > suffering from nothing more than a sick spark plug > or two. > Dick--what the heck should I know here? I hate it > when the solution > to a problem is not chemical in nature--most > solutions are! > > Let the snickering begin.... > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > LAUNCH - Your Yahoo! Music Experience > http://launch.yahoo.com > >