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Just curious what color spark is at beginning cold and when it’s hot and quits. Does it start to cut out and miss or lose power and die all at once?

Welcome to the LMF! It’s been fun for me tinkering and working on things since I was a kid. I’m a dabbling Thespian as well, lived in Hollywood back in late 70’s and mid 80’s. “To Beat the mower with a hammer or not to Beat, That is the Question!”

That’s right, good point. That blade acts like a second flywheel to help smooth out the rotations.

Or could be a partially crimped flywheel key throwing off the timing causing kick back. Noticeable after you hit something like a root etc. It’ll run but pull the skin off your fingers when it kicks trying to start it.

I keep saying I’m thru w/ working on mowers etc., but I got a call from a senior friend just up the road. Says his Bolens Single cyl 14.5 BS just quit. I went up do a few checks, valve clearance, spark, but thought I‘d turn it over by hand. Low and Behold NO compression. He has 2 identical...

Dang it! All I’m seeing in my Diagnostic Crystal Ball is some homely looking girl from Kansas clicking her heels and crying about trying to get her mower started back home and the grass is higher than a wheat field…

I studied film production in Los Angeles and know very well what you say. Some of these videos on you tube is like a beginning film student going out with no pre planning and points the camera here and there and calls it a movie made on a weekend! Worse yet a tourist filming here and there...

I’ve got this senior friend who is a magician! He will ask me to come over and repair his riding mower. He admits he knows very little about mowers. But when I start to diagnose and repair it, he suddenly turns into a genius mechanic and tells me what I need to do to fix it! His wife will...

Why not use Steel Push Rods instead of Aluminum ones? That might do the trick after you check and adjust the valve guides.

They just closed Bull Run Steam Coal-fired plant about 4 miles away. Had been online since I was a kid back in the 5Os. How are they going to fast charge all these electric cars that don’t explode and burn first? I saw a u tube about a fairly new white elec suv type auto that the battery blew...

LMAO at Shaved Monkeys! Yep I’ve seen a bunch of those UNSHAVED APES too, especially down South where I live. Thanks for a great visual laugh. That Taryl guy looks like one but he’s a PhD on small engines. And more than a few aren’t shaved. I could use a Bigfoot shaved or not to help me pick...

Welcome to the LMF. Lots to learn and share on here.

I dragged it home back in Nov., all 1600 lbs of it with 2 flat rear tires. Hydraulics out brake cables rusted up but managed to free one up on driver's side left. Got enough air in the rear tires and the main drive wheel tires to move it via come-along winch onto a trailer. Hydraulic filter...

Hi Red and thanks Rivets. I just dragged home a freebie 325D circa mid 90s Groundsmaster. I think it weighed about 1600 lbs. Previous owner got it from a local golfcourse but it ran. When unloading it the mower fell & screw-on hydro filter snapped and there she sat by the shed for several...

Hi and Welcome to the LMF! I’ve never seen a c clip on a c rod and yes if it had one it would be an accident looking for a place to happen. It’s amazing to me these cheap built Troy-Bilt, Craftsman type blowers and weed eaters stay running as long as they do. And yes I’ve noticed some slop in...

What about fuel? Could be fuel starvation. I’ve noticed spark is harder to see these days, esp outside.

Hi Doug I’m there too and have cut back on a lot of work now. Noticed Bigfoot in the name and we’ve got ‘em here in TN too. I’m not far from the mtns and they’re seen from time to time. I’ve only seen red eyes at night on the trail at Clingmans Dome near the NC/TN line.

Welcome to the LMF. Just wondering how much compression it has? Do you have good strong blue white spark? With it popping like that, it sounds like its out of time somehow. Shop costs more than buying a good used mower. Save it for parts if you get a used mower like it.

I just had that problem a short while ago. A customer's ScrubCadet about 9 years old dropped the deck anchor U bolt out of its hole and it was scalping the yard. All I did was loosen the front deck that tightens and raises the deck. Once I got the pin in the hole everything worked fine...

Every now and then a blind squirrel finds a nut in the forrest! Congrats! It is unusual to say the least.

Sounds like the valves are out of adjustment not letting the ACR do its job, hence the hard spot. I agree w/ Mark.

Just curious how much compression you have? I have to pull my 6.75 faster than that to get it to hit. I've got one like it that won't start from a customer. That popping sound does sound a little like a head gasket losing compression. Could be as "tackle says", a coil going bad. Several...

I don't see how the compression could be affected, but what kind of PSI are you getting? Just curious. Do you have another coil to test it with? Weird things happen at the same time occasionally. The coil could have just gone out.

Yes, that's the first thing I would check. You can remove the top cover and look down at the flywheel and see if it's partially sheared. It should get spark even if the key is sheared, it just won't run. The key just keeps the timing correct. The coil generates the spark from the magnets going...

Doesn't sound like a rod knocking or broken camshaft, so that's good. Sounds more like a rattling than a banging. Hate to tear it down just to find it. But it could lead to more serious damage if not fixed. Still trying to visualize what it is. Reminds me of a loose muffler vibrating against...

Why not boil it out and clean it good then blow it out with compressed air and try again?

My friend has a 2 yr. old Troybilt rider that blew the engine the other day. His daughter was mowing with it and suddenly started clanging and banging and locked up. I pulled the engine and removed the oil pan to find the Connecting Rod and Cap in pieces with about 1/3 of the Rod dangling...

This engine is in a 2 year old Troybilt basic mower. My friend was mowing with it and suddenly loud banging noises, metal clanging on metal and then sudden lock up. I disassembled it and found what I suspected to be the culprit. The interior was full of disintegrated metal which is what...

They also have a tendency to throw belts on lower RPM's. It's FULL SPEED AHEAD Mates!

Today a friend asked me to check his Poulan Pole Saw out as it was hard to start and wouldn't keep running. He's had it for a few years and been kept in garage with good fuel. First I found both fuel lines loose and the supply line from the filter/tank with bubbles in it. I trimmed the ends of...

What did the compression test show? Wondering if it had just enough compression to start and run but not enough to do the job.

Just off hand I was thinking it might be slightly warped heads causing the #2 head gasket to blow. Strange it's only #2 and not #1 and not just one case but several. Maybe the heads weren't being torqued properly when going down the assembly line on #2?

After getting the fuel shutoff working properly, why not do a Gasoline IV line and as ILENGINE said the fuel level may drop below gravity feed and starve the engine for fuel. It should run on an elevated portable tank or another push mower gas tank and see if it continues to run ok. And Welcome...

From listening to your video the first thing that came to mind was a blown head gasket. I've seen them smoke and surge like that before, but check out what 'Slomo' and 'Bert' say 1st. Yes, I'm curious why you took off the carb to begin with. What was the compression on both cylinders? Plugs...

Hi BB and Welcome to the LMF! Mowing season is almost upon us and many folks will be wanting their mowers running and rush the mechanics wanting it done ASAP. I worked on an older Craftsman with an Opposed Twin 18hp last week but its been so soggy wet down South for the last month it's hard to...

Hi and Welcome to LMF! I've got a friend who lives in Smyrna w/ her family. Also had a friend who used to live N. of there in a little place called Dallas

What kind of engine are you running? If it won't turn over and rotate could be points out of adjusgtment , if too far apart, Decompression won't work.

Agree w/ you that it sounds like some sort of fuel starvation even with all that he put on it. I was wondering if the fuel lines themselves might have some internal blockage. Was he using 100% Pure Gasoline? That ethanol will cause hoses to clog up over time as they deteriorate on the inside...

Welcome to the LMF titanfan!

After an engine sits w/o use for any length of time not to mention 12 Months I always drain the float bowl. Just did a push mower about 2 weeks ago that had clean gas in it but wouldn't start. Used a 1/2" box end wrench and loosened the bolt holding the bowl on and let the gas drain out as I...

Most of the time a mechanic in a busy shop will just swap out carbs as it takes too much time and $$$ to tinker around with one, boil it out etc.

Welcome to the LMF TerraKacher:

Good Point on the kerosene instead of gas! There were some friends living up in the far North of Alaska and one of them got a Snowmobile and got it running which extended his range. One night he and a pal got on the thing and the pal grabbed what he "thought" was 2cycle gasoline but it too was...

Hi Penpaljr and Welcome to the LMF!

Man is that aggravating trying to track down a crack in a plug. LOL @ Electricity being lazier than you or me. True! I found a rag floating inside a gas tank on an old 8N Ford Tractor once. Start it up fine, run it about 10 or 15 minutes and then it would start to starve out and die. Shut it...

Wouldn't hurt to run some Sea Foam through it and things might clear up.

I don't know what Rec fuel is either. I have poured regular oil down in the piston hole and turn it by hand before winter storage just to keep the rings lubed. Who cares if it smokes on start up? Fuel Stabilizer or Drain it? I've done both over the years.

Welcome to the LMF! Those darned Chipmunks are also hard on wires, fuel lines, anything they can chew up and shred. Once cost my friend who had a Cadillac about $800 in repairs!

Those engines with a float bowl will condense water over time no matter the fuel type, stored inside or outside garage or shed or under a tarp. It's so very common I always check that first. Don't see those old Chrysler 225's anymore. I had one in my new 72 Dodge 2 Dr. Dart. Navy blue, 3 on...