Craftsman LT2000 -> Does not Start... Help Needed.

[Stack223]

When I do head gaskets & valve lash I raise the front of the mower about 6" to 1'
Even 4" ( a couple of house bricks ) under the front wheels will stop the oil making a mess
Noe if that oil is thin & smells like fuel then you have a carburettor float valve not working .
By the time you get done you will be ready to start posting you tube videos .
Do not get too prissy about the "tightness" of the feeler gauge
What I usually do is slip it in then tighten the gap so the gauge can not fall out then back off slowly till it slides out under the weight of the whole set .
Way back I was at an auto show where there was a competition stand where people could set a gap with a set of feelers which was then checked electronically
About 5% of the people who tried got it correct to within 0.0001 so went in the draw for a new car and less than 20% got it to within .0005" so got a pack of detailing products .

Thank you. I think the problem here is the ignition coil.

One of the rocker arms I could fit 0.009 in. I tightened it to where 0.005 fits and if I try really hard I can wedge 0.006 in there too.
The other rocker arm only 0.005 fit. So it seemed okay.

I'm on my second new battery now. The first one tested bad on my second trip to auto zone today. They replaced it under warranty. It was less than two weeks since I bought it.
I'm on my fourth spark plug. The original one went out in the trash. The second one is on the shelf. The third one I dropped and it shattered. The fourth one is in the mower.
I removed the carb, disassembled it and the interior was oddly very clean. The float is fine. I put it back together and didn't notice but I busted one of the screws in half. So it was constantly leaking gasoline. I fixed that today.

I bought the inline spark tester. Maybe it is DOA. Maybe I don't know how to use it. But with two different spark plugs and two different batteries, it doesn't do any kind of light show whatsoever. I removed the current coil and cleaned it. But that didn't help any. Nobody around here seems to carry the coil... websites say they can order it for $50. I bought one on amazon for $19... should be here for Sunday. Problem is that by Sunday my wife will have me renting a mower to cut the yard. This has been going on all week.

 

[Stack223]

Kill wire is a ground lead and is never connected to the battery
Cranking the engine is flattening the battery

That battery is auto zone's problem now.

 

[Stack223]

Oh I've also changed the oil three times this week... that's more than the past six years.

 

[snappercat]

I had one of these, one day all of a sudden it wouldn't start, I checked for spark and there wasn't any. I did some research and found out that under the seat there's the usually safety switch which kills the ignition unless you sit on the seat but unbeknownst to probably most people, there's a secondary switch in the main switch that is meant to prevent someone from jumping the terminals and defeating the main switch, it's simple to change and that was the problem. The next thing that happened was the idle mixture solenoid on the bottom of the carburetor float bowl went preventing the engine from starting, two easy things to fix, one second they work and the next second they don't.

 

[moangrass]

An internal comb. engine needs air, fuel, spark, and compression to start. Troubleshooting usually begins by testing for these. Changing oil will not cause an engine to not start, nor will improperly adjusted valves, unless they are so far out that you have no compression. When you adjust the valve clearance, you want the feeler gage to just slide in with no pressure - if you force the gage in, you are compressing the spring and setting the clearance improperly. I hate to say it, but you spent time changing the oil and adjusting the valves that was probably not needed.

Sears tractors have safety interlocks that prevent the mower from starting. It is usually easiest to test these switches with a continuity tester first. A wiring diagram is usually necessary to see what interlocks your mower has, but once located, it takes seconds to check. For example, my GT3000 has these safeties under the seat, on the brake lever and the mower/electric clutch. If the brake is not on or I'm not sitting on the seat, no start. Once you check these, move on to the next easiest item to check.

Spark. You can always check the spark by pulling the plug boot, putting a screw driver into the boot and laying the metal shank of the screwdriver on the engine. Crank it over and you should see a blue spark jump from the shank to the engine. DO NOT HOLD THE SCREWDRIVER, unless you like shocks. Alternatively, you could have removed the spark plug (blow air around the base to get rid of any dirt that would fall into the engine before you remove it), put the plug wire back on and lay the spark plug on the metal engine. Crank it over and you should see a blue spark at the tip. No spark is a problem. I think you found the cause of your non starting - coils do go bad. You will need the specs to properly position the new coil. Buying a spark plug tester is not needed.

Had you found a good blue spark, then the next thing to check would be the carb. Since this usually involves removing and cleaning delicate parts its not something that gets done first. If you start disassembling the carb, you will have to adjust the idle and full load rpm - not difficult, but more involved than, say, testing those interlock switches.

 

[Stack223]

Thank you all. Unfortunately I don’t really understand this new advice. The ignition coil will be here Sunday. If that doesn’t fix it, I’ll probably just list the mower for $50 and be done with it.

I’m going to need to rent a mower to cut the grass.

 

[lbrac]

Thank you all. Unfortunately I don’t really understand this new advice. The ignition coil will be here Sunday. If that doesn’t fix it, I’ll probably just list the mower for $50 and be done with it.

I’m going to need to rent a mower to cut the grass.

It might not be more or not much more expensive to hire someone to cut your grass with their equipment, compared to renting a mower. There might be delivery and pickup charges with a rental that have to be added to the cost of rental and fuel cost as well. Then your time is worth something. Just a thought.

 

[Freddie21]

I didn't notice you saying you had spark. Remove the plug, hold it against the engine body with gloves or plyers and crank the engine. You should have a bright spark. Reinstall the plug, shoot some carb or break cleaner, or a shot of gas into the carb with the choke open. Turn the key and see if it fires. If so, you may just have a fuel\carb solenoid issue.

If no spark, with the engine cover removed, locate the ignition coil by the flywheel. Should be a small wire plugged into it. Unplug and check for spark again. Don't have, the possible bad coil. If there is spark, then there's probably a safety switch problem.

 

[Stack223]

I didn't notice you saying you had spark. Remove the plug, hold it against the engine body with gloves or plyers and crank the engine. You should have a bright spark. Reinstall the plug, shoot some carb or break cleaner, or a shot of gas into the carb with the choke open. Turn the key and see if it fires. If so, you may just have a fuel\carb solenoid issue.

If no spark, with the engine cover removed, locate the ignition coil by the flywheel. Should be a small wire plugged into it. Unplug and check for spark again. Don't have, the possible bad coil. If there is spark, then there's probably a safety switch problem.

Yes. We did basically this yesterday. No spark with the inline tester. I removed the coil, cleaned it, reinstalled it. No spark. New plug. No spark.

New coil arrives tomorrow.

 

[Stack223]

It might not be more or not much more expensive to hire someone to cut your grass with their equipment, compared to renting a mower. There might be delivery and pickup charges with a rental that have to be added to the cost of rental and fuel cost as well. Then your time is worth something. Just a thought.

Yeah. Hire is $150. Rent is $34.