Briggs& Stratton engine will not turn over

[Craftsman Garage]

380 posts later and still having problems means the engine probably isn't worth your time, just my $0.50. (for those who forgot to factor in inflation, its $0.50 now, not $0.02 :l)

 

[JimP2014]

I'm just happy I don't have to deal with one of those never-ending problem engines like what you have, there's a reason that I only run v-twins or V8s.

So while all this was going on I was looking for something that I could use and I bought a used twin v. It's a yard machine. Overall I would say it's a very heavy very well-made machine. Hydrostatic 42-in 17 and 1/2 horsepower but it is a twin v and I didn't even want to try and fix that by trying to fix my other one but there's something wrong with it where it dries for a bit and then it's not hunting and surgeon. It's more like the engine once it quit and if you stop you could save it and eventually it'll come back up to RPMs but at some point I'm probably going to deal with it so I personally would rather have a single cylinder for me not being a mechanic I only got to deal with one thing Rather than two cylinders and a carburetor I've never even seen before. But the one I've been messing around with for 6 weeks I'm sure. Maybe within a week someone who understands everything about engines could have had it going. Meaning the one that's taking me maybe 7 weeks. It's still not done yet. Got a new belt for the mower deck coming today or tomorrow. I drove it around last night again and that was for probably 10 or 15 minutes. So after I got done I took the temperature of the exhaust pipe. Those maybe around 500° and the cylinder had was probably $200. Maybe 220° f so we'll see under a load with a blade spinning. That thing will self-destruct while actually cutting grass. But I figure if I could even cut for 10 or 15 minutes and then just give it a break until I can figure out if there's something else wrong with it.


Jim

 

[Timtoo]

If you didn't replace the broken fan you can bet it'll self destruct. Fan and air ducts are there for a reason. Taking its temperature won't cure the illness.

 

[JimP2014]

Thank you very much for your Stern warning. I was just going to run it with broken partially broken fins.

I'm hoping right now since I don't even have the belt for the mower deck, but even running it for 5 or 10 minutes isn't going to do significant harm to it. I did run it maybe half hour ago and the temperature of the exhaust pipe was about 500° f The actual muffler which I believe is a Husqvarna is maybe 250° f and then the cylinder head is around 220° f and so this was after driving around the yard for maybe 5 minutes, maybe 10 minutes. But I'm glad that the cylinder had temperature is so much lower than the exhaust pipe and when I say exhaust pipe it's right after it comes off the engine and goes down towards the muffler.


Jim

 

[JimP2014]

Thank you very much for your Stern warning. I was just going to run it with broken partially broken fins.

I'm hoping right now since I don't even have the belt for the mower deck, but even running it for 5 or 10 minutes isn't going to do significant harm to it. I did run it maybe half hour ago and the temperature of the exhaust pipe was about 500° f The actual muffler which I believe is a Husqvarna is maybe 250° f and then the cylinder head is around 220° f and so this was after driving around the yard for maybe 5 minutes, maybe 10 minutes. But I'm glad that the cylinder had temperature is so much lower than the exhaust pipe and when I say exhaust pipe it's right after it comes off the engine and goes down towards the muffler.


Jim

I am going to listen to what you said. There's no doubt about it so I will order that kit that comes with the plastic fins and that cup made out of metal and maybe one other thing

 

[JimP2014]

Don't you just love it when some people say something that makes so much sense other people jump.

Jim

 

[slomo]

Any of the testers that don't jump an actual gap will give false positives.

Amen to this. You MUST LOAD all electrical circuits while testing. Meaning you need a big gap to force the coil to make all the spark it can.

A simple Christmas light tells you nothing about the strength of the spark.

 

[JimP2014]

One thing I can say about high temperatures at the exhaust pipe. I was looking for thermal sensors for high heat and basically end up with a bunch of grilling tools but the idea was to wrap something around the exhaust pipe so I could see exactly what was going on and have the readout on the dashboard. Hopefully to prevent something from happening again. Not sure if anyone is over. Tried that with a riding mower?

Jim

 

[JimP2014]

One thing I can say about high temperatures at the exhaust pipe. I was looking for thermal sensors for high heat and basically end up with a bunch of grilling tools but the idea was to wrap something around the exhaust pipe so I could see exactly what was going on and have the readout on the dashboard. Hopefully to prevent something from happening again. Not sure if anyone is over. Tried that with a riding mower?

Jim

If anyone has ever done something similar, that's the question?

 

[JimP2014]

And the only thing additional on this topic. Up until a couple months ago I had a digital tachometer mounted on the dashboard and where the blades fully engaged. This thing maintained a steady RPMs of around 3,500.