Recent content by Danl99

Geez, guys. I TOLD you what happened. MOWER FIXED. CASE CLOSED.

I've got good service folks. Diagnosis reported above.

Diagnosis - broken compression relief valve and damaged camshaft. Replaced camshaft. Evidently not a very common issue.

I do aerospace engineering, not gas engine engineering. That's why I'm here, because I don't know how everything about how to troubleshoot a gas engine and I thought I might get some help. I haven't really heard any good explanations for my problem, though. I'll head over to a different forum...

OK, sounds like we're done. I was hoping for some useful advice here. Ther seems to be some reluctance to giving that.

Note sure if this info is useful, but right now, with the motor "stuck", I remove the spark plug, and the rod, when inserted reaches 2.0 inches below the plug seat. I suppose I could jostle it a bit, and get the motor started, and then try it again after that. Do I roll the flywheel by rotating...

When this first happened, I assumed there was a jam at the blade, so I turned the mower on its side, saw there was no jam, and rotated the blade by hand. The blade rotated just fine.

But, as I said, I was able to get it to run, and it ran smoothly for 15 minutes. You'd think a mechanical failure wouldn't come and go, and specifically go away when I pull the spark plug. Tried that several times. Spark plug in, CAN'T pull cord. Spark plug out, CAN pull cord.

Not sure what that means. Please explain carefully. What do I do with a rod?

Well, that's depressing. After getting it started, and letting it run smoothly for 15 minutes, when I try to start it back up, the hydra-lock is still there. You'd think that running it for a while would clear out any problem, but that's evidently not the case.

No, it pulls easily with the plug removed.

Thanks. I managed to get it started, and have wired the safety handle to keep it going for a while. Is that likely to eventually clear out the problem? It's running smoothly, with no smoke coming out.

I have a Lawnboy 10730, with a Kohler XT650 engine. Five years old. Seems to have developed hydro-lock, whereby I can't pull the starting cord. I remove the spark plug, and I can pull the cord fine fine (though nothing comes out of the plug hole - I would have expected some oil to shoot out). I...