Being too wet to mow for the first time this season, thought I'd go ahead and perform some maintenance on the mower and get it ready for the first job of the mowing season. First up, the air filter. I was totally unaware there were two filters in the air filter compartment, the regular paper filter, and, an "engine pre-filter".
The local Sears store had the paper filter, but did not have a pre-filter. The clerk who was helping me was unaware of it himself. Rather than having Sears order the part, went home, reviewed the schematic on line to make sure what I was looking at, and ordered it myself. It was a Saturday. I was going out-of-town on the next Friday and was hoping to get the part by Thursday so I could mow the grass before I left. Shipment was estimated to be 4 business days which could mean I would get the part on Friday. However, the part was delivered on time, Thursday, the larger air filter and the pre-filter installed, and got the lawn mowed on Thursday. Couldn't ask for a better conclusion. Thanks Sears for a successful part replacement.