Need help with fixing old Tecumseh engine.

Thanks all, this is very helpful. I have a question for 'upupandaway' and anyone else who might know: I don't see a metal cover on the bottom of the carburetor, although it has a lot of crap all over it. Do I need to have the metal cover with the little primer (shown in many pictures of diaphragm carburetors on the internet)? I am not sure my unit has that, which may be a reason why it wouldn't run. Should i get a metal cover? And where can I get the little plastic primer fitting?

Metal cover?? There is a metal plate with 4 screws that cover the diaphragm. Looking at your pics under the dirt, yours looks complete.
Some apps of this carb did have a plastic "elbow" in the hole in the middle of the metal plate. This connected to a hose to a primer button. If yours doesn't have a primer button you could modify it to get a similar affect...
Go to Ace\True Value HW and get a single rivet. pull the nail out of the rivet. take off the plate from the carb. Slip the rivet into the hole from the inside\diapragm side so that it hangs down. Drill the hole bigger if needed. Reinstall the plate to the carb and press this rivet up for 1 second to prime it to start. Here is your jimmy rigged primer button..

My edger (H30) has the same carb as your pic and it has needed choke just to keep it going. Yesterday, opening it, everything is clean as a whistle so i took a very small drill bit .05" that i use when i make circuit boards, just to make sure the path was open and of all things, the drill broke. So im in your shoes now and am looking for a bowl\diphragm carb to replace the original. :frown:

Hi all and thanks to everyone for their help. Hopefully, everything will work well once I get the carburetor off, cleaned, install the new diaphragm rebuild kit, and then put it back on. "TO: 'upupandaway', please let me know if you find a bowl type carburetor that works to replace this diaphragm carb. I see some bowl/float type carburetors on the internet for cheap and it might be the best choice to replace it instead of dealing with it. Does anyone here know what bowl/float carburater will work for this engine? One that will swap out easily?

IMHO, I'd definitely give the diaphragm carb the benefit of the doubt! I have an old Craftsman leaf sweeper with a Tecumseh H35 on it with a diaphragm carb and it still runs like a top. The second reason is I don't believe there is a cheap alternative, at least that I can find. The parts list for your specific model unfortunately doesn't list the part number for item 240, the bowl carb, but a little digging uncovered that the part number is 631444. That has been superceded by 631800A. Unfortunately, I didn't find any cheap import alternatives for it. Much less expensive to put time into getting the one you have cleaned up and running and hopefully you don't run into the problem upupandaway had. [there are cheap alternatives for H60 engines(I know you have a V60) but they all have a choke arm and shaft. If you are really dead set on it, the choke could be removed and the shaft hole plugged with JB Weld. Put the effort into what you have first!]

Keep in mind too that in addition to the fuel side of the engine, the ignition side may need attention. I know you intend to put a new plug in it but the points and condenser may need adjusted or replaced. The condenser is an electrolytic capacitor and they dry out over time and change value and the points of course get burned. My recommendation is to try and start it and only pull the flywheel if you have to. If you do end up pulling it, I'd go ahead and replace the points and condenser since you will have put the work into getting at them in the first place and the good news is they aren't that expensive to replace! If you end up down this road, also consider replacing the flywheel key. It's a cheap part but can cause hard starting and poor running if it's sheared in the slightest. Even if the amount of 'shear' is small, that little change in timing can wreak havoc!

Hi Telesis and everyone else. Your point about trying to go with the diaphragm carburetor is well taken. Hopefully after cleaning and installing a rebuild kit the carburetor will work just fine. If not, well, I will cross that bridge when I get to it. As far as the ignition, I am sure the way my luck goes and the age of the engine, I will wind up having to replace it all. Not looking forward to having to do that since I believe I have to pull the cover and flywheel so hopefully the engine will start before having to do that. Hey, would you happen to have come across the correct part numbers for the points & condenser, and perhaps the spark plug wire? That would be helpful.

Here is the info. FYI, if you look at page 1 of the parts list, you see a box with a thick black arrow next to it. That box contains the points and condenser drawings and numbers. It's a bit hard to read but they are nos. 235 and 236. On page 4 of the list, you'll see their respective part nos. are 30547A(points), and 30548B(condenser).

Also, the flywheel key I mentioned is item 98 on page 1 and it's shown down by the crankshaft in the drawing. Its part no. is 30884.

I forgot to respond about the plug wire. If that needs replaced, you'll need to buy a new coil assembly which is part no. 30560A. The plug wire is molded/glued into the coil assembly and is not intended to be replaced by itself. The only reason to replace it would be if it's dried and it is cracked. If not, then I'd leave it be.

It's possible your coil assembly has a metal tab sticking out the bottom with the plug wire soldered to it, and if so just the wire can be replaced. The part no. is 30554 and you'll likely have to source it from ebay.

Just so you know how I found the number, the magneto(and flywheel) is no. 241 on page 1 and in the part list is a 610689A. When you look that number up you'll see a breakdown of the individual parts that make it up. 30560A is the coil(including the plug wire). The wire itself(with the terminal on one end) is 30554.

Thanks Telesis, and also thanks to everyone else. I haven't pulled the flywheel off but the plug wire looks pretty dried up. Since I have to pull the flywheel anyway to replace the points and condenser, I figure I might as well replace the coil as well since it is just as old as the other parts. I think it would also be smart to change the filter as well and I believe that is Tecumseh part # 28424 on the list. On the internet, that part also came over as John Deere part # M41806. They can be had for cheap on the web but when you add shipping charges I start to wonder if there is just a good way to clean the existing element? Can i just use a piece of foam from another mower instead of the material used in part #28424? Any thoughts?

Hi All! Since my Tecumseh engine is so old, I think it best to go ahead and replace the ignition coil & plug wire. I also plan to replace the filter breather element but I am wondering if there is something I can reuse instead of getting the straw type that the engine came with, which I believe doesn't have much of a use-life. In searching the internet for the part number, I came across some foam looking breather elements and i am wondering if I could just cut one of those down to size. Anyone have any good suggestions for a generic filter/breather element that I can use?

oldpops said:

Hi All! Since my Tecumseh engine is so old, I think it best to go ahead and replace the ignition coil & plug wire. I also plan to replace the filter breather element but I am wondering if there is something I can reuse instead of getting the straw type that the engine came with, which I believe doesn't have much of a use-life. In searching the internet for the part number, I came across some foam looking breather elements and i am wondering if I could just cut one of those down to size. Anyone have any good suggestions for a generic filter/breather element that I can use?

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Stranger things have happened to old engines.