Exhaust glowing red - issues..

[Hammermechanicman]

So the engine still ran without a cylinder sparking? Wouldn't it have a noticeable performance issue? This is a two cylinder..I would imagine that performance would be even worse if they weren't sparking... but could they not be sparking optimal? "Mostly working "? So that there isn't a performance issue, but not burning enough?

Twins like that can have a dead cylinder and not be noticeable unless under a load. The dead cylinder can dump raw gas into the muffler and ignite there causing what is called afterburning. Looking at the plugs it is not running lean and the engine is not overheated. Try running it on one cylinder then the other by pulling a plug wire. See if it won't run on one of the cylinders.

 

[TK1963]

I would check the ignition timing. If it's retarded, unspent fuel might be burning late and inside the muffler.

 

[enigma-2]

2005 engine - valve lash adjustment. One way to test this is to observe muffler in evening. If fire coming out of end, I'd suggest checking and setting valve adjustment. (Exhaust valve opening too soon).

 

[ILENGINE]

@enigma-2 Kohler Command engine so in this cause has hydraulic lifters and no adjustments.

 

[zagato]

check the exhaust valve clearance, on one of my engines the exhaust valve would stay slightly open allowing some of the fuel/air mixture to escape and ignite in the muffler , blew a hole in muffler and you could see flames coming out

 

[jpdodd]

Ok. Couldn't start with only one plug in, but once I got it running, I pulled each plug one at a time. Decrease in performance, but each plug kept it running.

Twins like that can have a dead cylinder and not be noticeable unless under a load. The dead cylinder can dump raw gas into the muffler and ignite there causing what is called afterburning. Looking at the plugs it is not running lean and the engine is not overheated. Try running it on one cylinder then the other by pulling a plug wire. See if it won't run on one of the cylinders.

 

[ILENGINE]

check the exhaust valve clearance, on one of my engines the exhaust valve would stay slightly open allowing some of the fuel/air mixture to escape and ignite in the muffler , blew a hole in muffler and you could see flames coming out

Kohler command engine with hydraulic valve lifters. No clearance to check and non adjustable.

 

[jpdodd]

Ok, so I was able to mow for a good 15 minutes and the glow didn't get any worse than in the video. (Mild glow where muffler meets muffler tube)Which is a huge improvement from before, where the whole muffler would glow within 2 minutes.

So, I'm hopeful at this point that fixing the air leak in the gas line has helped!

What are your opinions on running it with a mild glow? Everything seemed to work fine, but it was a colder windy day. Mid summer may be different...

 

[Caregiver5354]

Have you taken the muffler off and checked it they have a spark arrester in them and if that has malfunctioned the muffler may be partially plugged.

 

[Hammermechanicman]

Have you taken the muffler off and checked it they have a spark arrester in them and if that has malfunctioned the muffler may be partially plugged.

He said he replaced the muffkin.