bugelingkayaker
Forum Newbie
- Joined
- Sep 5, 2020
- Threads
- 1
- Messages
- 1
troybilt tb320 with autochoke. this motor has me racking my brain and i cant figure it out. it was free off the side of the road so i dont have any money in it and i'm well past the point that i should probably give up, but i dont like giving up on an engine without at least knowing what was wrong with it.
when i first got it it wouldn't start. cleaned the carb and voila ran fine. sat in my garage for a few days, i went to start it again and it was running weak. like it was going to die any second. put it back in the garage because i didnt have time to mess with it that day, pulled it out a few days later and ,magically it ran fine again. maybe a little lower rpm than i would expect but didnt seem to be a problem. back in the garage. few days pass again, i pull it out, and then i couldnt get it to start at all. checked electrical everything seemed fine there, had bright white spark, the engine brake was fully lifting off when handle was depressed. i put a powerdrill with a socket attachment on the flywheel nut for a diy electric start- still wouldnt start. finally after messing with throttle and choke i finally got it to start only if i had the air filter off, the choke fully open, and the throttle fully open. thats when i noticed it starting to backfire through the carb. my first suspicion was the timing was off so i checked the flywheel key and sure enough it was partially sheared and pushed back pretty far. so i pulled the flywheel, put a new key in, and went to start it, aaaandd... same issue. no improvement whatsoever. still barely runs, shoots back exhaust through the carb, will only run with air filter off and choke and throttle fully open, which to me seems bizarre as if it is somehow running rich. at this point i've reached the limits of what my experience can get me so i started researching online. from what i gathered it seems like this can be a symptom of the intake valve not closing all the way, so i popped the head off and then exhaust off to get at the valves and springs. at both top dead center and 1/4 inch past top dead center (i wasnt sure which to check it at because some sources said one, some said the other) the intake valve SEEMS to be fully seated. i used a feeler gauge and got a gap of .004 on the intake valve stem which seems to be close to typical but im having a hard time finding the exact specs for this engine.
anyways, before i started grinding on things i barely understand i figured id come ask the experts. any ideas what might be causing the problem here? the valve clearances are kind of my last resort here, do you think that sounds like my issue or am i way off tackling the totally wrong direction?
thank you taking the time to read my rambling and for any advice.
when i first got it it wouldn't start. cleaned the carb and voila ran fine. sat in my garage for a few days, i went to start it again and it was running weak. like it was going to die any second. put it back in the garage because i didnt have time to mess with it that day, pulled it out a few days later and ,magically it ran fine again. maybe a little lower rpm than i would expect but didnt seem to be a problem. back in the garage. few days pass again, i pull it out, and then i couldnt get it to start at all. checked electrical everything seemed fine there, had bright white spark, the engine brake was fully lifting off when handle was depressed. i put a powerdrill with a socket attachment on the flywheel nut for a diy electric start- still wouldnt start. finally after messing with throttle and choke i finally got it to start only if i had the air filter off, the choke fully open, and the throttle fully open. thats when i noticed it starting to backfire through the carb. my first suspicion was the timing was off so i checked the flywheel key and sure enough it was partially sheared and pushed back pretty far. so i pulled the flywheel, put a new key in, and went to start it, aaaandd... same issue. no improvement whatsoever. still barely runs, shoots back exhaust through the carb, will only run with air filter off and choke and throttle fully open, which to me seems bizarre as if it is somehow running rich. at this point i've reached the limits of what my experience can get me so i started researching online. from what i gathered it seems like this can be a symptom of the intake valve not closing all the way, so i popped the head off and then exhaust off to get at the valves and springs. at both top dead center and 1/4 inch past top dead center (i wasnt sure which to check it at because some sources said one, some said the other) the intake valve SEEMS to be fully seated. i used a feeler gauge and got a gap of .004 on the intake valve stem which seems to be close to typical but im having a hard time finding the exact specs for this engine.
anyways, before i started grinding on things i barely understand i figured id come ask the experts. any ideas what might be causing the problem here? the valve clearances are kind of my last resort here, do you think that sounds like my issue or am i way off tackling the totally wrong direction?
thank you taking the time to read my rambling and for any advice.