7 year old Craftsman 21 hp riding mower hard to turnover & start, High compression stroke. Model 331877 2371 G5, YT3000

[PNWguy]

I bought a used craftsman riding mower for a few hundred dollars thinking that I could fix it. I was told it sat over winter and they couldn’t get it started this year. They said they didn’t know much about fixing it so they bought a new one. I figured it sounded like maybe a easy fix. Guessed wrong so far. They replaced the battery but with low torque I noticed. When I got it the battery was dead. Charged the battery, adjusted the Values to 005, both intake and exhaust. I tried to start the engine, a few times the engine didn’t want to turn over more then an inch. I rotate the engine by hand over the high compression and I tried starting the engine. The engine started right up and ran really good. Cool I thought!
, that I have fixed it. Wrong. When I tried to re started the engine, the same thing again. I replaced the started thinking it was bad or going bad. I replaced my starter. I still had the same trouble starting the engine, not turning over enough to start and now I broke two starter gears.

Q, I am not if the started is installed correctly, Is there supposed to be a shim/washer under the rear starter bolt Between the engine and the starter? When I was removing the starter a washer fell and not sure was it behind the starter or not? Currently there isn’t one and I have broke two gears now. Maybe that is my answer. Or is the high compression breaking my starter gears?

Q, I can’t tell if the crank/cam compression release lobe is releasing on my mower looking at the valves. The little bump what I have read and seen on the you tube videos. I have read an old 2014 forum had a similar problem but they replaced the starter and they were good. Or so good for me. I may have to take it down to the repair store if I can’t figure this one out.

Any help would be great

Stan

 

[ILENGINE]

If you are sure the valve clearances are correct, and may want to double check to confirm. then next step would be the camshaft due to a broken compression release. And the washer would of been on the outside not behind for a shim. If it even was supposed to be there, unless that washer came from someplace else.

 

[Craftsman Garage]

yeah, ive had my fair share of mowers with a bad acr (like half of them) and sometimes if its not too bad you can buy a very powerful high cc batter for them and it sorta bypasses it, but yeah, when looking for a mower, avoid the 21xxxx, 28xxxx, 31xxxx, and 33xxxx briggs and stratton single cylinder engines, especially the intek ones

 

[bertsmobile1]

Check you got the correct starter, there are several of them and there is 2 different size of drive pinion.
On top of this all of the cheap imported starters are 2 pole ( 2 magnet ) starters that consume a massive amount of Amps for very little torque .
Most of them fail within a couple of years
The brushes are very soft and many will have so much carbon dust accumulating that they short out .

 

[Craftsman Garage]

i forgot that i have this exact same mower! if you have any questions, ask me because i now have a visual of what you r dealing with lol

 

[PNWguy]

If you are sure the valve clearances are correct, and may want to double check to confirm. then next step would be the camshaft due to a broken compression release. And the washer would of been on the outside not behind for a shim. If it even was supposed to be there, unless that washer came from someplace else.

Thanks, I will double check my clearance again to see if there the same. Could the engine still run if the compression release was bad? I had the engine running a few times and even mowed the lawn with it one time until the starter broke today. Thanks for the washer note.

 

[Craftsman Garage]

Thanks, I will double check my clearance again to see if there the same. Could the engine still run if the compression release was bad? I had the engine running a few times and even mowed the lawn with it one time until the starter broke today. Thanks for the washer note.

yes it can, you can put in a new and much stronger battery and that will essentially bypass the ACR or i have seen some people cover up the intake hole with their hand and it would start, just some advice from someone who had 5 or 6 of these Hard-to-crank blown acr engines, just sayin

 

[PNWguy]

Check you got the correct starter, there are several of them and there is 2 different size of drive pinion.
On top of this all of the cheap imported starters are 2 pole ( 2 magnet ) starters that consume a massive amount of Amps for very little torque .
Most of them fail within a couple of years
The brushes are very soft and many will have so much carbon dust accumulating that they short out .

I took my old starter into a local Electric shop, they told me that they only make one style of starter for my mower, however there are three qualities cheap , middle of the road and the best. The starter that I got they just happen to have a new one on the shelf. The gear only lasted about a dozen starts then broke. I had the old starter and they swapped out the gears for me. Unfortunately my old start gear broke only after a few attempts trying to starting my mower. I will have to do some more research on the different size drive pinions. Thank you

 

[Craftsman Garage]

I took my old starter into a local Electric shop, they told me that they only make one style of starter for my mower, however there are three qualities cheap , middle of the road and the best. The starter that I got they just happen to have a new one on the shelf. The gear only lasted about a dozen starts then broke. I had the old starter and they swapped out the gears for me. Unfortunately my old start gear broke only after a few attempts trying to starting my mower. I will have to do some more research on the different size drive pinions. Thank you

i think they make metal ones...

 

[Craftsman Garage]

did some cross referencing...

Amazon.com