cub cadet xt1 lt42b brigs and Stratton engine struggles turning over and struggles starting

randarrington · Nov 12, 2025

I've got a 3 year old lawn tractor and by the second year I noticed that it started to struggle turning the engine on the start. Once it had started then there wasn't an issue. Now, however, it seems to have gotten worse. The motor will turn once and then struggles to turn again. Holding down on the key will eventually (until the battery dies) turn it again but it's not fast nor consistent enough to fire the engine. I thought it was the battery since it seems to drop below 10 v when I turn the key. So the check this, I tried jumping from my car batter which produced the exact same performance. Sometimes I'll hear a high pitch whine as it struggles to turn the engine. I'm guessing it's either the solenoid or a bad starter. I did hear that the belts on the deck could be tightening and causing additional resistance. I'm not sure how to even check that. Does anyone have any advice please?

randarrington · Nov 12, 2025

Oh also the engine is really hard to turn past the pressure point. I'm hoping it's something other than bad valves....

ILENGINE · Nov 12, 2025

If this is a single OHV briggs engine most likely either the valves are out of adjustment or the camshaft compression release is broken, or both.

hlw49 · Nov 12, 2025

Holding the key when it is hard to turn over can burn the starter up. Adjust the valves and try again.

Auto Doc's · Nov 12, 2025

Hello R,

Welcome to the blog.

We need the number information stamped in the valve cover. If problems are with the rider itself, we would need the product label information.

Your description is a classic sign that the valves are out of adjustment after breaking wear.

The repeated straining of the starter has also likely overheated the starter windings, so it may need a starter.

There are lots of good You Tube videos about how to adjust the valves.

If it has broken the compression release, the engine will have to be removed and the camshaft replaced.

Tiger Small Engine · Nov 13, 2025

randarrington said:
I've got a 3 year old lawn tractor and by the second year I noticed that it started to struggle turning the engine on the start. Once it had started then there wasn't an issue. Now, however, it seems to have gotten worse. The motor will turn once and then struggles to turn again. Holding down on the key will eventually (until the battery dies) turn it again but it's not fast nor consistent enough to fire the engine. I thought it was the battery since it seems to drop below 10 v when I turn the key. So the check this, I tried jumping from my car batter which produced the exact same performance. Sometimes I'll hear a high pitch whine as it struggles to turn the engine. I'm guessing it's either the solenoid or a bad starter. I did hear that the belts on the deck could be tightening and causing additional resistance. I'm not sure how to even check that. Does anyone have any advice please?

First charge and load test battery. Second clean and check all terminals for tightness. Could be one of several problems, but always start with the battery.The high pitched whine you hear is the starter slowly being killed. You can always turn the engine past the compression stroke by hand, short term, to get it started

Craftsman Garage · Nov 13, 2025

No doubt, yours broke the compression release.

randarrington · Nov 14, 2025

Thank you all for the replies. I had a shop come and pick it up today. I don't have anything that I'd need to adjust the valves so I opted to let a pro do it. I had come to the conclusion that it's probably the valves. Sounds like I may have destroyed the starter too. Sigh. The mower is only a 3 years old.....Needless to say, I may never buy a cub cadet product again.

woodstover · Saturday at 3:55 PM

randarrington said:
Thank you all for the replies. I had a shop come and pick it up today. I don't have anything that I'd need to adjust the valves so I opted to let a pro do it. I had come to the conclusion that it's probably the valves. Sounds like I may have destroyed the starter too. Sigh. The mower is only a 3 years old.....Needless to say, I may never buy a cub cadet product again.

Yearly maintenance prevents 90% of problems. Read your owners manual and follow the recommended maintenance schedules. Valve adjustment is just one of many maintenance items that is required after a certain amount of hours (which is listed in your owner's manual) This is no different than having your vehicle maintained on a set schedule to ensure trouble free operation. Either learn to do it yourself or have a qualified person do the work if you want a reliable machine.

Tiger Small Engine · Sunday at 3:29 AM

woodstover said:
Yearly maintenance prevents 90% of problems. Read your owners manual and follow the recommended maintenance schedules. Valve adjustment is just one of many maintenance items that is required after a certain amount of hours (which is listed in your owner's manual) This is no different than having your vehicle maintained on a set schedule to ensure trouble free operation. Either learn to do it yourself or have a qualified person do the work if you want a reliable machine.

One of the main reasons yearly maintenance prevents most problems is because you usually catch problems before they happen. Example: A drive belt that has cracks about every inch and needs to be replaced. Very few people seem to do yearly maintenance with their equipment, at least in my experience.

cub cadet xt1 lt42b brigs and Stratton engine struggles turning over and struggles starting

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