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Posted by on August 19, 2006, 2:29 pm
Hi.
Yesterday while I was mowing the lawn, my mower engine suddenly
stopped. The blade continued to spin until it slowed to a stop. It did
not strike any objects. It was working fine up to this point.
When I attempt to start the mower by pulling the string, the blade will
spin quietly, but I do not hear the engine try to engage. Additionally,
it feels "loose" when I pull the string; previously, I could hear the
engine cranking, but not anymore.
I'm not very experienced with lawn mower or small engine repair, but I
did some basic troubleshooting by looking at guides on the web. The
flywheel key, and the blade adaptor key both seem to be intact. The gas
is fresh. Oil was recently filled.
My mower is a Craftsman, model 143.996504 with a 6.5 Eager-1 (Tecumseh)
4-cycle engine (917.377431).
Any ideas?
Thanks.
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Posted by hallerb@aol.com on August 19, 2006, 2:45 pm
remove plug, ground ignition wire well to engine block away from plug
area.
put finger gently over plug, pull or get someone to pull cord.
do you feel compression? in and out feeling
sounds like broken valve etc from your description easy to pull.......
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Posted by professorpaul on August 19, 2006, 2:47 pm
Engines basically don't run for one of two reasons:
1. Fuel
2. Spark
If you pull off the spark plug wire, and hold it near the engine (mayb
1/4"), do you get a spark while cranking the engine?
Remove the spark plug (special wrench/socket needed), is the gap either
excessive ( > 0.030"), or bridged with carbon fouling? If either,
clean, reset gap, and put the plug back in.
If you are getting fuel, you should be able to smell it. The plug
should be wet, if there is no spark.
How about the air filter? If it is the sponge type, it needs to be
washed out now and then. If it is the paper kind, they have to be
replaced every season or so. Take a good look at it. In a pinch, use a
whisk broom to clean off the grass clippings, crud, on the surface of
the air filter. Put it back in.
That should give you a good start. Also, the manual that comes with
your mower should give basic maintainence tasks that you can do.
When you turn the engine over with the pull cord, you should feel some
compression, unless the engine is very worn.
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Posted by Ether Jones on August 23, 2006, 8:28 pm
professorpaul wrote:
> Engines basically don't run for one of two reasons:
>
> 1. Fuel
> 2. Spark
THREE reasons:
1) fuel
2) spark
3) compression
>From the OT's description, it sounds like #3.
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Posted by DanG on August 19, 2006, 4:10 pm
If you pull the cord but don't feel and/or hear the resistance of
compression, it is probably trash. You've lost a valve or ring.
I would guess that you would not be comfortable taking the motor
apart to see what may be holding a valve open.
Feeling for compression at the spark plug hole with the spark plug
out is more scientific.
My personal decisions about small engines:
No compression - trash can
Bent crank - trash can
Otherwise they are usually fixable.
If you have compression, it is probably the flywheel key. You
cannot tell unless you remove the flywheel which requires removing
the pull rope mechanism, the shroud, and probably the fuel tank.
This give you the opportunity to reset the magneto, slip in a new
flywheel key (under $5), and clean out the old dead grass and
crud. It would be a great time to give it a fresh pull rope too,
before the existing one breaks.
______________________________
Keep the whole world singing . . . .
DanG (remove the sevens)
dgriff237@7cox.net
> Hi.
> Yesterday while I was mowing the lawn, my mower engine suddenly
> stopped. The blade continued to spin until it slowed to a stop.
> It did
> not strike any objects. It was working fine up to this point.
>
> When I attempt to start the mower by pulling the string, the
> blade will
> spin quietly, but I do not hear the engine try to engage.
> Additionally,
> it feels "loose" when I pull the string; previously, I could
> hear the
> engine cranking, but not anymore.
>
> I'm not very experienced with lawn mower or small engine repair,
> but I
> did some basic troubleshooting by looking at guides on the web.
> The
> flywheel key, and the blade adaptor key both seem to be intact.
> The gas
> is fresh. Oil was recently filled.
>
> My mower is a Craftsman, model 143.996504 with a 6.5 Eager-1
> (Tecumseh)
> 4-cycle engine (917.377431).
>
> Any ideas?
>
> Thanks.
>
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