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Well I picked up a free Craftsman LT2000 yesterday with a 17hp Kohler Pro. The owner said it smokes sometimes and needs a little work and burns a lot of gas.... And he was right! So with that said I got it running but it does smoke a bluish color a bit but not all the time, just like he said. My initial thought was the rings were bad, but if that was true would't it smoke all the time?

I pulled the plug and it was in bad shape. Real bad shape. So I cleaned it and checked the spark to see how strong it was and it checked out great.

I also was thinking about pulling the carb off and cleaning it because when I set the idle to "turtle" it shuts off. So that leads me to think I've got something goin on in the carb, but could that be where I'm getting my smoke from as well or would lean mixture produce a darker blacker smoke?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Running rich will cause black smoke. the other thing is if it is running slightly rich it may not create a lot of black smoke, but can wash the the oil off the cylinder walls, which can cause a blue grey smoke mixed with the blackish smoke.

In the days of the manual choke on cars you were urged to push the choke in as soon as possible to avoid the cylinder wall washing Mr. Il Eng spoke of. Do not run your tractor hot with the choke out and be sure it is closing fully.

Thanks for the reply.

I'm guessing my first step should be clean the carb and change the air filter?

SuperDave4x4 said:

Thanks for the reply.

I'm guessing my first step should be clean the carb and change the air filter?

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If the air filter is clogged, definitely change it, as this would explain the running rich and using fuel. But for test purposes, remove it and clean the intake area real good. Then start and run the engine with the air filter off and see if it performs better.

The intermittent smoking could be caused by a head gasket that is starting to go bad, post your engine's model and spec numbers so we know what you have.

Fish

Fish said:

If the air filter is clogged, definitely change it, as this would explain the running rich and using fuel. But for test purposes, remove it and clean the intake area real good. Then start and run the engine with the air filter off and see if it performs better.

The intermittent smoking could be caused by a head gasket that is starting to go bad, post your engine's model and spec numbers so we know what you have.

Fish

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Well of course the sticker is extremely faded but this is what I could pull off. Not sure if all the numbers are there or exactly right though.

Spec: 27505 ????
Serial: 3322401 ??

That's all I could get.

Craftsman model: 917.273130
Craftsman serial: 081503A028254

Pulled the air filter and it seem to run ok. Anything under 3/4 throttle and its starts to sputter and back fire now. And this sucker burning oil for sure. Pulled the plug and its running a hair lean. But the plug was soot black with the filter on.

A bad head gasket could definitely be your problem, as compression leaks from the combustion chamber and pressurizes the pushrod area, thus pressurizing the crankcase, forcing oil into the breather.

You could remove the valve cover, and the start it and run a second or two and look at the head, if the gasket is blown, you'll know it rightoff,
as it will spray oil etc. If the gasket is ok, you may see a drop or two of oil drip out. Don't run it too long like this, but this is a good way to check

Fish

Fish said:

A bad head gasket could definitely be your problem, as compression leaks from the combustion chamber and pressurizes the pushrod area, thus pressurizing the crankcase, forcing oil into the breather.

You could remove the valve cover, and the start it and run a second or two and look at the head, if the gasket is blown, you'll know it rightoff,
as it will spray oil etc. If the gasket is ok, you may see a drop or two of oil drip out. Don't run it too long like this, but this is a good way to check

Fish

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Ill give that a shot.

Pulled the carb off this morning and cleaned it out the best I could, but did find some trash in the bowl. It will actually idle below half throttle now but skips and misses. When the throttle is set to rabbit it misses but not near as bad when set at half.

EDIT!! Where's the compression supposed to be at????

Almost all small engines employ some sort of compression release, so compression readings are not very useful.

I realize that we need to backtrack a bit, and check this first:

Check your oil level and ensure that it is not over full, also, feel the oil with your finger, make sure it is thick, and all oil, and not half gas,
as a flooding carb can seep excess fuel into your crankcase, thus overfilling and smoking, and will eventually destroy the engine as the gas in the oil doesn't lube very well.

If you find oil in the gas, rebuild the carb, and change the oil, and put in an in-line fuel shutoff, to shut off when not using the mower.

Fish said:

I realize that we need to backtrack a bit, and check this first:

Check your oil level and ensure that it is not over full, also, feel the oil with your finger, make sure it is thick, and all oil, and not half gas,
as a flooding carb can seep excess fuel into your crankcase, thus overfilling and smoking, and will eventually destroy the engine as the gas in the oil doesn't lube very well.

If you find oil in the gas, rebuild the carb, and change the oil, and put in an in-line fuel shutoff, to shut off when not using the mower.

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I changed the oil and filter yesterday. Put 64oz in as that's what the sticker under the hood called for.

When I get back to the house ill check the oil for gas.

Compression check netted 70psi

SuperDave4x4 said:

I changed the oil and filter yesterday. Put 64oz in as that's what the sticker under the hood called for.

When I get back to the house ill check the oil for gas.

Compression check netted 70psi

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Didn't get to pull the valve cover today like planned. My girlfriend had me tied up with other work. I did however check the oil for gas and it seems ok to me, but only has about an hour of run time on it since I changed it. I didn't get any smell of gas.

SuperDave4x4 said:

Didn't get to pull the valve cover today like planned. My girlfriend had me tied up with other work. I did however check the oil for gas and it seems ok to me, but only has about an hour of run time on it since I changed it. I didn't get any smell of gas.

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Well we need a pic of the girlfriend at least with her rope!!!!

Fish said:

Well we need a pic of the girlfriend at least with her rope!!!!

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Lmao! That rope is tight right now. We are remolding her house. I have zero time to tinker any more it seems like, but we are about to wrap up the kitchen.... Thank The Lord. Haha

Up loading a few videos. I hope the sound quality is there though because I used my phone.

Ok they don't sound as good as I thought. I should have videoed at a different angle. You can here the popping ever so slightly in the videos it's the worst a low throttle.


Full throttle.



3/4 throttle.



Half throttle. This video came out nice. You can hear what's going on much better. I think the other two videos weren't so good because the phone was picking up the muffler noise more than the missing and popping.

I'm hoping to be able to pull the valve cover either today or tomorrow.

Were my videos helpful at all?

Well the popping might be unburnt fuel popping in the muffler, possibly from rich running due to an oil fouled air filter,take it off and start the engine. You ought to go ahead and lift off the hood, it'll make working and viewing the front a lot easier.

fish, you go boy! like your style. my 24 Intek twin has no compression release, but maybe it's not "small." motoman

Removed the valve cover and..... A good amount of oil fell out when I popped the cover off. Is that normal?? Also it looked as if there was a little but if gas or something in there with the oil. As it hit the ground is was less dense that the oil.

I cranked it up for a second or two and from the drivers seat I didn't see any oil spraying any where. Do u need to be actually looking closer at the head when is cranked at not behind the drivers seat?

SuperDave4x4 said:

Removed the valve cover and..... A good amount of oil fell out when I popped the cover off. Is that normal?? Also it looked as if there was a little but if gas or something in there with the oil. As it hit the ground is was less dense that the oil.

I cranked it up for a second or two and from the drivers seat I didn't see any oil spraying any where. Do u need to be actually looking closer at the head when is cranked at not behind the drivers seat?

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Well the gas or whatever may just be the problem, as anything getting into the crankcase will make it overfill and smoke like a freight train.

Look closer at the carb, if the head was blown, you would likely know it, but just for kicks, have someone run it while you go around the front and watch.

Fish said:

Well the gas or whatever may just be the problem, as anything getting into the crankcase will make it overfill and smoke like a freight train.

Look closer at the carb, if the head was blown, you would likely know it, but just for kicks, have someone run it while you go around the front and watch.

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Well how much oil is supposed to be in there? I saw what appears to be a small at the bottom near the vale and I'm assuming oil is squirted out from it to lube everything in the head. Towards the top of the head there was another small hole with some type of plastic flapper over it. I'm guessing it cause sthe oil to splash out in different directions.

Next in going to pull the shrouds off the engine to see if I can locate where the head gasket maybe blown. If I see nothing in just gonna pull the head off.

Or I can just reseal the valve cover and trying playing with the carb adjustment

I put a new spark plug in it today and must say its running the best it's ever has but still smokes and spits. The idle just hasn't completely smoothed out yet.

What about that air filter? Is it oil soaked, or am I just not seeing it right in the video?

Fish said:

What about that air filter? Is it oil soaked, or am I just not seeing it right in the video?

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It is dirty and has some "flow" problems but I haven't ordered the new one yet. I'm actually ordering it and a new head gasket as we speak. I didn't want to pay 25 bucks for a filter so that's why I hadn't bought a new one yet.

I found a deal on one and a head gasket on tulsaenginewarehouse.com

Edit. Does this engine not have a base gasket? I'm trying to figure out how I would change the rings out if I need to so that.

It looks like the engine is a cv490 or at least that's what the craftsman owner manual tells me it is.

Ordered a air filter, head gasket and fuel filter yesterday but I didn't even think about buyin a carb rebuild kit. I may just order it too. I was reading a post about how the float valves with rubber tips could deteriorate and cause the gas to leak into the combustion chamber while its just sitting up.

SuperDave4x4 said:

Ordered a air filter, head gasket and fuel filter yesterday but I didn't even think about buyin a carb rebuild kit. I may just order it too. I was reading a post about how the float valves with rubber tips could deteriorate and cause the gas to leak into the combustion chamber while its just sitting up.

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If the needle was a problem, it would leak while not running and pour out on the floor or else seep into the crankcase and overfill the crankcase.

I discussed this in post #10, and is a possibility.

If the crankcase was overfull, it could explain all of your trouble nicely.

If it was due to gas flooding, then you need to fix that cause, then change out the oil and filter, then you need to run the engine a while with no air filter until all of the excess oil is burnt off, as excess oil blowing around will ruin the new filter, and the old clogged filter will just make the
engine run real rich.

Of course, I don't want you to mow grass or anything, just let it run and burn off all of the excess oil.

If after a while, it still smokes off and on, and the o-level looks fine, then I would dig deeper.

Also, do not just add "x" amount, as there is oil left in the engine, and adding "x" amount will result in overfilling. When you start getting close to
the full amount, start checking it with the dipstick.

Well just a very small update. Didn't get to play with the mower over the weekend because we went on a fishing trip but I did mow the back yard last night. I put the new filter on and that didn't make too much of a difference in the way of smoke. I did notice that the engine bogs down if the grass is some what wet and/or thick. I'm going to check the oil this evening for any gas.

On another note I may be getting another free lawn mower tomorrow. My girlfriends stepdad said it is his sons and he doesn't use it any more. All he knows about it is that he used it once or twice last year and it worked fine for him. So with that being said I'm going to pull the head off the LT2000 this weekend and check the head gasket.

Well after removing the carb to rebuild it I noticed that the throttle shaft is not the right one but I can't find a schematic showing part numbers to order a replacement.

The carb is an LMK Walboro 95A 1893 12053118


Anybody got any an idea on where I can find one?