When the mower sits overnight it will not start unless I remove the spark plug and squirt oil into the plug hole. When the sparkplug is replaced after squirting oil one pull on the starter rope and it fires up and runs like a charm. Is there something that can be done to eliminate the removak of the plug and squirting oil every time I go to use it. Once started if I shut it off for a short time it restarts ok. If it is shut down for an extended period of time I must resort to the plug removal remedy.

Salvatore DiChristina, July 2005

craftman Lawnmower problems.
Here are some common areas to look at.
Assuming you have good spark....
Assuming you have not run over any tree stumps……
The Air filter could be plugged with debris.
Prime the gas line using the primer bulb.
The gas line may have air in it- check to see if fittings are tight (replace the fuel line). Check to see if the spark plug is set at the correct thousands of an inch.
If the lawnmower smokes or you need to add oil each time you run it- then you have bad rings or valves and this will decrease the compression and foul the spark plug, if this happens it will be cheaper to replace the mower.
New engines now days are cheap but, they have non adjusting tuneable carburetors and have no fuel bulbs to empty debris and the end result is the carburetor wears out fast and the engine is not worth the time and money to fix. My best guess is you have air seeping into the fuel line and it would be caused by a bad connection on one of the ends of the fuel line or the the fuel pump in the carburetor is starting to wear out.

fixityourself, July 2007