MarineBob
Member
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2022
- Messages
- 37
I finally got to reassembling this noted engine from a JD mower. Having done the job wrong once (aligned the timing marks with the crank arrow, not the dot) I figured this time before I go any further I want to make sure the release mechanism is working as needed. I got the valves adjusted to what it seems are just in the middle of the spec range, slathered all moving parts with assembly lube and buttoned everything up with a torque wrench. I got an ancient Craftsman battery charger that has an engine start feature, supposedly 50 AMPs, Says it should crank for 10 seconds then a few minute rest to try again, which is not an issue with me. So once I got everything back together, I left the plug out and things spin easily with the charger/starter. Only did one or two spins with no oil. Then I installed the plug and no go. Goes to the compression point and stops like there is no release. So Here is my question, Is the 50 AMPs (who knows what it really is delivering) enough to push through the release point if its working as it should? Before I closed things up, I turned the engine by hand and you could feel the bump when the piston was up towards the top of the stroke, which I believe is where it should be. I got one more idea to try.....I got another mower with a pretty standard, new a couple months back (so its solid) battery. I am thinking I can take the engine into the garage and hook it up to that battery with some jumper cables just to see if the battery got the oomph to crank the engine. Any thoughts or experience what I might have wrong? The original problem was a broken release thing on the cam. I managed to find about 90% of the pieces , and all unaccounted for was some small bits. Maybe went into the filter? The hangup of just putting this into the mower is the relative's house is 45 minutes away, I know the mower has a new (last spring) battery but its probably needing a charge so I'd like to confirm a successful repair before I reinstall. The engine has something like 500+ hours, never had major repair but good periodic servicing.