Dead Cylinder?

[TRM]

Greetings, All.

I have a Craftsman Lawn Tractor (917.273022) with a Kohler 20HP CV20S-65551. My left cylinder (when sitting on the tractor) has a issue. The tractor was running very roughly and I discovered that I could pull the spark plug off and the tractor ran the same. I thought it was the ignition coil, so I bought and installed a new one. It made no difference. I swapped out the ignition coils and the new coil worked flawlessly on the right side. The left side, which I have confirmed is getting good spark, still is not functioning. I did removed the kill switch grounding wire and it made no difference. The carb is recently rebuilt...plus it's running the right cylinder so I don't think that's the problem. It seems that, on the left side, the carb, the coil, and the spark plug (and I used multiple NEW plugs, BTW) are working to spec. I pull the plug and it is wet with gas. So.....is it a problem in the cylinder like a stuck intake or exhaust valve? I'm scratching my head on this one. Anyone have a theory? TIA, Thom

 

[Rivets]

Do you have compression on the problem side. You say you have spark and fuel, so you need to check the last thing you need.

 

[TRM]

I will check that out this morning and post my findings. Thanks, Thom

 

[TRM]

Do you have compression on the problem side. You say you have spark and fuel, so you need to check the last thing you need.

There is no compression on the problem side. It could be the head gasket, but there is no oil leaks, hissing sounds, gas/oil contamination. I'm going to pull the valve cover to see if the problem is there. Any other suggestions or theories?

Before I removed the valve cover, I put a smooth metal rod into the spark plug opening and turned the engine by hand to see if the piston was moving. It is not. I think I'm in trouble.

 

[Rivets]

Sounds like a broken connecting rod. Need to open up the engine to find out what's going on.