Recent content by slomo

Good on you my friend. Sitting over the winter is old fuel. Pull the plug/s and clean them. Suck out the fuel tank then drain the carb fuel bowl as txmowman said. Blow out the fuel lines. Add fresh E-zero gas. Make sure the choke is working. Pull air filter looking for fuel flooding into the...

:oops:

You have to match the blade to the deck type.

Grass wet or cutting too much at one time. Speed too fast. Poor deck and blade match.

Sure, solvents/acids can eat the foam.

To me looks like one too many springs, installed wrong, over stretched and wrong hole as others said. Reduce spring tension to lower revs.

You can oil it as the others said, if done correctly. Saturate it in SAE 30W then gently wring it out inside a new clean red shop rag. Filter inside the rag trying to remove all excess oil. That is how Briggs says to do. Do what you can to stop all dirt and grit getting into the rings and bore.

Have to ask. Are the cooling fins clean and open? Little late now I guess.

Tank should be cleanable. Muratic acid or what ever you like to remove interior rust. Rust converter, motorcycle tank cream, nuts and bolts...... Vinegar will take a while. Acidic acid is nice and gentle. Make sure the fuel pick up tube is not cracked. Taryl has a video of how to make one out...

Grass chute might be clogged. Blades on upside down. RPM too low. Blades not spinning.

Don't think so. Just looking to improve the filter seal is all. Trying to stop grit passing the filter. What I am talking about mainly is that Briggs 491588S blue rectangle paper job. Common on Toro pushers and many more.

Used to run machines dry in the fall. Fuel lines would dry up, crack and leak. Replaced lines either yearly or bi-yearly. This is in 2 and 4 strokers. Now use Stabil year round. Leave fuel in the machines year round. Never have to worry "how old is this fuel" anymore. Fuel lines get replaced...

All I know is gasoline, insurance all types, groceries, toilet paper, medicine, cold beer, housing prices, spark plugs and so on are more expensive than the last guy in office. Realistically, we are all getting price jacked. They do it we pay it. Most are still on that fake covid scare company...

Thank Joe and Kam' la. Better get out and vote.

Did you get this ironed out yet? What was the fix action please?

Get an inline spark tester. See if she loses juice after 30 mins. Make sure the ignition coil has a good ground. Parts heat up and lose connections......

LOVE that body style.

Suggest buying a couple if you plan to keep that mower. Honda is out of the mower biz and dumping parts.

They are flying them in all over the place thanks to you and I. No house for them, we'll just throw them in a luxury hotel. Destroy the hotel, not a problem.

Trash in the fuel tank. Flush her out then blow both ways with shop air. Make sure you have good fuel flow as Craftsman Garage said.

Spray it down every day for a couple weeks. Use your favorite penetrating lube of choice. This is the only way these type lubes work. If that doesn't help, heat, air hammers and puller time.

New or old, you all better be wiring up an ignition kill switch, HIDDEN in the car. All these new Kamala/Biden "migrants" are stealing cars left and right here in OKC. Shootings are off the charts in the poorer side of town.

Flush fuel tank and lines slash filters. Make sure you have good fuel flow. Mower that old will have a ton of trash in the tank.

Bring back some Wisconsin Robins, Yamaha, Subaru and FJ-180's.

Look at cam, lifters and or ignition.

Most

No reason for RTV anymore. Use the OEM Briggs gasket and never look back. Polish the crank end. Little grease around the seal. Little grease on the crank. Don't roll it like Star Tech was saying. Take your time putting it on. Never use the bolts to force the cover on.

Most pushers use a paper filter. On one of my old Snapper pushers, has a round paper filter with a foam pre filter. I oiled (saturated) the pre filter and still had dirt past the filterS. Scalping is a filthy dirty job. Only thing I can do is try gluing the filter down. Grease doesn't seem to...

It's not about replacing anything. You must TEST what you have.

Just a home owner.

I mentioned a medium strength goo of some variety. Flimsy housings were thought about. Something to seal and be somewhat removable. Not talking about JB Weld type goo. See my thought on checking more often is when you are checking slash disturbing the seal or lack there of, you could allow...

Clear GE 100% silicone in the caulking tube is super tough when removing. Course once the filter is causing starting/running issues, time to change it anyway. Why I was asking about a medium strength goo. Something that sticks tight but, could be, removed with effort. Might try some GE...

Guessing most of these oil burner type engines are from poor air filters. Or not checking the oil prior to mowing. Talking about the first one. You pull an air filter, looks pretty clean. There is always grit and lawn debris PAST the air filter. Don't care if you buy OEM Briggs filters or...

Have to ask, out of gas? Battery needs LOAD tested. Auto parts store do this for free. All cables need cleaned and checked. Grounds are mostly overlooked. Pull the hose off AT the carb inlet. Should have gas filling up the inner diameter of the hose. Or on a fuel pump engine, gas will pulsate...

Verify choke is working proper. Every FJ engine I've had, carb linkage was all fouled up. Recommend downloading your engine manual and reading it. Could be's 1.valve adjustment 2.Clogged fuel tank. 3.Failed fuel lines. 4.Dirty carb, pilot circuit. 5.Clogged tank filter slash screen at tank...

Pull the fuel tank hose AT the carb inlet. Should flow and fill up the entire inner diameter of the hose. If you see half flow or less, flush tank and install all new lines.

Ever clean the cooling fins? Is this overheating? Ever pull the top engine shroud or engine cover?

I'm all ears. Please explain. A fluid is a fluid is a fluid. The additive pack in motor oil or even the base of it will reach the same temp in said system as regular hydro oil. What did I miss? Thin or viscous at 212F is just that.

Been preaching to clean yours, mine and everyone else's cooling fins for a while now. Shame taking about 3 minutes of not reading your engine manual killed a perfectly good engine. So what do you guys have? Valve issue or what?

Using it like you are, no wonder she has a drinking problem. Fix the oil issue before using it. Or as others said stop and add oil say at 30 minute intervals. Agree with hlw49, leak down and compression test. With the door open, fire it up in the garage. Should be able to smell it burning oil...

A-Ma-Zin'

What product do you guys use to raise your pH? Got 3 bags of Sta-Green Calcitic Lime from Lowes. Going to need about 15 more as this is not a one time treatment. Bought a cheap soil pH tester from Scamazon. Went from 7,6,5,4 then 3.0 then read LOW. No wonder my lawn struggles to grow. Half of...

Backpack blower into a pile. Feed your newly built worm composting box. Table scraps, greens and brown material and such. Then go fishing.

Most are a single nut and a washer. Nut is a locking type so replace it with a new one. And no don't screw it back on as it is a one time deal. Your wheels could come off when you hit the nitrous. Maybe try an air hammer?? Some are round axles and some are D types.

You pointed me to a nice picture of it over on that carb cleaning page.

That is the carb needle. Potato po'tat-o?? Now you have fuel dumping into the oil sump. It makes a difference how you put the needle back in. The pointed tip is supposed to seal off the "seat", cutting fuel to the carb. Float rises and falls depending on fuel demand like a toilet. Never heard...

I possibly forgot to take my medicine this morning. Or did I? :D

What first post? I'm slow so help me help you. Pictures please.

This is what he is working with, we think. No engine numbers were provided.

Did you clean the emulsion tube? Any holes plugged up? Did you check this "new" plug for spark? Does it work? Choke needs to be closed on a cold engine. Possibility. Need to pressure test the carb needle/seat at 7psi for 30+ minutes. Could be sticking closed too. There are 2 TDC strokes on a...

What the????? Take a picture of this float valve. Yes there is a float inside the carb bowl. Float itself is not a valve. And if this is what I'm thinking, how did you get it inverted? Picture will solve the mystery. Video even better.

That is your idle speed adjustment screw. Sets idle speed typically 1750rpm. Turn it CCW to lower rpm. This is the screw with the spring around it.

Glad to hear it's running. Thanks for letting us all know.

I totally missed the pump part. Looked twice. Nice catch on finding it.

Thanks for sticking with us and glad to hear she is running again. Recommend downloading your engine manual. Read it cover to cover. Things like valve lash, CLEAN THE COOLING FINS and such are yearly tasks we all need to do.

So find out why you don't get full gravity flow or flow from a pump that both types fill the inner diameter of the hose. Why add another point of failure? You can't even get a gravity system to work?? I'm not even sure if your engine has a gravity or pumped fuel system? Okay just looked at...

Fix the valve issue. If you still have issues have the battery tested.

Does your engine have a valve stem cap? If so find it and put it back on. Then set the lash.

So you have spark and she won't fire off with starting fluid? A-maz-in. Flywheel key is good. 150psi means you need to pull the valve cover. Beat me to it LOL. Nice pic. Yeah you have issues. Now investigate WHY the rocker came off. Never ran valve lash? Bent push rods?

OEM carb or Chinese amazon ebay specials? While you had it out, did you watch the plunger move when you hit the key on and off? Do you have spark from the coil? So now 2 plugs and no fire? Just read you claim to have spark. Good man now use them. Already covered this. Needs tested and...

Take the battery and have it LOAD TESTED. Charging a battery doesn't tell the whole picture. Once you hit the key, a dead cell will make the entire battery fall on it's face delivering less than required current. Once you confirm you have a good battery, then attack carbs and other mower parts.

I would pull the valve covers. Watch the valves go up and down. They should all move roughly the same in travel distance. Put a straight edge on a rocker, watch the valves move. Look for a valve that doesn't move at all. While you are there check lash. I would check flywheel key, valves and...

Pull the fuel hose AT the carb inlet. Should flow out with a purpose. If it flows nicely then tapers off...... 💡💡💡 Tank vent clogged in tank cap or fuel outlet on bottom of the tank.

Should of stated what you have TESTED. I'm listening to you so let's roll. Typical issue is valve lash is out of spec. Would start there first. Next would be hydrolocking. As is pulling the oil stick and smelling for fuel. Next test/check would be poor battery or control cables and connections...

Could be. Pull the kill wire off the coil. Should empty the gas tank If the coil is good.

All batteries and electrical circuits need LOAD TESTED. Putting a meter on a battery with a dead cell means zero. Oh I see 12 volts means nothing.

Got to clean the rim like a new one. All rust and nicks got to go. Run your naked hand all around the rim feeling for bad/sharp spots. Also feel inside the tire for loose cords which can be steel shards poking the tube. I have 2 wheel barrow tires with blown out cords. I've had to take a file...

One reason why I don't use the Christmas light style spark tester. I want to see spark hop a 1/4"+ gap in free air. PET-4000 can't be beat for testing spark. Seen several coils have weak to minimal spark. Most I can polish the coil and block mounting pads up to restore the ground. Mounting...

I like the old school beam style. Like that Craftsman second from the right in the picture above. None of us operate a calibration truck. Get what you like.

Test the battery at an auto parts store. New doesn't mean new. Engine stopping is no spark or fuel. You are lacking one or both.

Throw a tube in her. Slimes and foam are your last options. Maybe your wheels are too small for tubes????

Pull oil dip stick, smell for fuel. Is the oil level on the FULL mark? Not over nor under? Could be a stuck open carb needle. I would verify spark as a quick free check.

That is high. Might need to de-carbon the cylinder and valves per your engine manual. Briggs motors are mostly 8:1 compression. Definitely inspect the valve lash or lack of. Tells me your battery might not be charging and or definitely needs charged. At rest 12.6 is fully charged. Take battery...

Are you running it with no engine shroud or top engine cover? As in you can see the flywheel and flywheel fan blades? Big no-no if this is true. Pull the fuel tank. Needs to be clean like a new one. Grass, bugs, dirt, leaves and such can plug up the tank outlet. Install all new fuel lines...

Which is not a true synthetic. All motor oils in the US have no regulatory body to demand the product is a real synthetic oil. Europe does. We all can thank our court system for that. It's your mower. I have no fight in this. Run what you like. Better than not adding any fresh what ever oil of...

I was just about to comment on this very same point. Motor oils are formulated for cars and trucks. Hydro oils and for hydros. If I ever had a mower with hydros I would use hydro fluid. Never happen as I will never have a mower with hydro anything. All that loud whining growling sound means trouble.

IF it is the head gasket, it can have a gasket leak that gets into the push rod tunnel that goes back to the cam and oil sump. From the oil sump out the block breather hose inside the air filter housing. So head gasket to cam tunnel then oil sump. Oil sump to block breather and breather hose...

First off that stinks to pull the engine off to get the muffkin off. That would be my luck. Not any help but what type of camera did you use on that pic? Never mind. You live at the South Pole. I would spray her with rust converter then header paint prior to bolting back on.

Order extra flywheel keys and get the proper OEM torque value for the flywheel bolt. Most are a tapered shaft. Polish the crank end meaning remove no material, just polish and clean up. The inside of the flywheel needs cleaned up/polished too. Some flywheels have a key that is kinda hidden...

Disconnect that rigid choke linkage for testing. That rigid piece of wire that connects to the choke. Manipulate the choke plate with your fingers a lit easier. Should stumble down in revs and make some black some out of the muffler.

I see some blow-by coming out of the carb. Might want to pull the head and check for a blown head gasket. It's visible all the time you have your hand on the throttle. Look right below your right thumb in the video. See that smoke puffing out of the breather/engine? Seeing a little black smoke...

Most mowers are 8-8.5:1 compression. 87 octane E-0 is fine. Now if you want to talk chainsaws, 91 E-0 is your friend. Some blowers might be over 10:1 so check your manual for clarification.

I would add a Battery Tender brand. In winter, pull it from the mower and bring inside on the tender. Will make your battery last 2-3 times longer than leaving it outside.

Use to drain everything over the winter. Lines obviously will dry up in that few months, crack and leak. Started using stabilizer year round. Stopped having to replace fuel lines in 5 mowers, back pack blower and trimmer. Oh and the hedge trimmers too. Never have to recall how old is this gas in...

Use what works for you but I prefer NGK. Not for nothing.

20 mule team Borax and plain old white sugar, 50/50 mix. Great for killing ants, termites and most other bugs. They like us go for the sugar and get the Borax sleeping pills LOL. Just sprinkle a little on a mound and they will take it to the queen. Bye bye..... Easy on the environment too.

camshaft time?

Appreciate you helping a fellow mower junkie out. (y)

Okay this is getting crazy. The main still sounds partially clogged. It does give a little more fuel and less air when choked down. Slightly smoothing out the engine. I hope you fully choked it down. Looking at the top of the carb. There is a choke plate which is physically away from the engine...

What I was getting at was if you lower the revs the battery might not charge proper. Keep her at 3600rpm. Some have a small charging coil of say 3 amps. One engine crank will take a while at topping off the battery at 3 amps.

yes

But it will outlast all the new battery mowers out there x10. Think we are in the polishing up stages.

Windoze can do it without any special big brother reporting apps.

Easy there. Think what Bert was getting at is any oil contamination is no good. I'm guessing, that internal brake is a wet brake design? Inside the pump motor? I don't know. I will never own any mower with hydros. Belts are so much easier and cheaper to maintain.

Did you set them incorrectly? There are 2 top dead center strokes on a four stroke engine. One valve all the way open or pushed into the head, adjust opposite valve. Rotate engine doing the same for the other valves. If one valve is open, other valves are safe to set.

Are you running this down at a low idle? Say when getting off to open gates? Moving into the garage or field? Trying to save gas? Trying to slow the mower speed down by lowering revs? That "new" battery will require load testing to confirm it is good.

That would be a baby mac with NO cheese at that price. LOL Thanks Kamala

All "new" parts require testing. I know you are in the middle of doing this. Just wanted to state the obvious. All new parts need tested to confirm they are good. Most everything is cloned in "Chyna" (Trump) as we all know. Counterfeit parts are all over the place.

Guy, can you see tiny holes in a black rubber hose? It needs to be pressure tested maybe shooting soapy water at it. "Looking" at most mower parts doesn't cut it for a true test.

Say it again Skippy. (y)

I know these are simple mower engines. Running a super hot plug could lead to pre ignition pings. Probably never happen in a mower engine. Not enough load I would guess. I would stick to the stock heat range and deal with the main jet sizing down from 112. Post up a pic or video of the fouling...

So choking down roughly 50 percent did nothing to smooth her out. That tells me the main jet or circuit might be clogged. Next test, choke it all the way closed like you just did in the last video. You should hear it stumble down in revs. If max choke does not stumble, confirms main circuit is...

Nope. She runs at say 3600 until she needs more fuel/air slash engine load. Governor system opens throttle in attempt to keep revs at 3600. That lever I think you are speaking about is the governor linkage. Take a picture of your carb linkage or video what you are referring to.

Agree. Some carbs offer high altitude mains for less fueling at altitude. In this case we see a variety of sizes.

So oil was perfectly on the FULL mark? Not one bit over full? One side of the stick over the full mark and the other not over FULL? Make sure, for testing, keep both sides of the oil dip stick below the FULL mark. Moral of this is keep her on the FULL mark, nothing more nothing less.

For the most part I agree. Some you can install a different main jet size or a high altitude version of it.

Blue smoke is burnt oil. Black smoke is rich excess fuel.