Newbie to mower repair

[Deano2450]

I have a 5 year old Troy Bilt Pony 42" cut with the 15.5 Briggs and Stratton motor. I was mowing today and the motor made a clunk sound, quit, and now won't start. When the crank is spinning after I let off the key, there is a clicking noise as it spins down. Could it be new mower time or does anyone think it will be a inexpensive fix?

 

[bertsmobile1]

At 5 years you have reached the design life of throw away mowers that are destroying the environment & ruining the USA economy
So either pull the engine out & fix it or go buy a another pile of precious finite amount of the planets resources and toss the old to the tip.
If the mower is still in reasonable condition you could save some of the planets resources and fit a replacement engine from one of the surplus engine retailers .

 

[mechanic mark]

Check oil level on dipstick, how does oil look? Key is possibly sheared at top of crankshaft, you will need to remove blower housing & flywheel. Let us know how it goes, thanks, Mark

 

[ILENGINE]

Check the oil level like Mark said, and then try to turn the screen on top of the flywheel by hand and see how much resistance there is to turning. Sounds like it may of broke the rod, in which the flywheel will spin freely or stop in one spot like something is jamming it.

 

[Deano2450]

The crank isn't broken. The flywheel cover and the pulley under the motor are turning with each other. I'm guessing the cam is okay because I took the valve cover off and cranked for a second or two and both lifters and pushrods were doing their thing. I also took the spark plug out and did a "compression test" but there was no sound whatsoever coming from the head. I know absolutely nothing about small engine repair, so I guess I'll take it to the repair shop here in town and see if it's worth fixing.

 

[Scrubcadet10]

crank may not be broken, but if the connecting rod broke, the piston will not move.