Recent content by Auto Doc's

Pictures of your concerns would help us help you.

Hello JoeKarpowski, Minor surging at idle is a sign of a dirty carburetor internally. The carburetor would need to be removed and properly cleaned. If you want to attempt this, I can only recommend watching some videos of people who work on small engine equipment for a living. Sources: Teryl...

This poor thing has lived a long life. Sorry, it's time to let it go or find a better engine. There is no "polishing" that will save the crank journal and bearing surfaces. All that does it take metal away and increase the oil clearances. After that, the connecting rod will likely break and take...

Two things happen when you apply power to the wrong circuit. One is you let the "magic smoke" out and two, you likely created more problems than you started with.

Have you ever worked on a carburetor before? They are not to complex, but you need to take pictures as you go. The top cover has to have the screws carefully removed, to inspect the inside of the carburetor bowl.

Hi StarTech, I also had a couple fail years back because they were too thin, but the last one I got was a thicker and improved design.

When you initially reset the governor adjustment, it likely had enough room to allow the governor center pin to pop up out of place. Hopefully it is a simple fix and a new gasket, and you are back up and running. Note: Use only a Briggs and Stratton sump gasket kit. Amazon gaskets will create...

They are push on speed clip retainers Sometimes you can find them at a NAPA or a parts store that has selector boxes of various sizes. Occasionally they can be found at a good hardware store. A good small engine shop would have them, if one can be found in your area. It helps to remove the...

The governor has only one job and that is to "govern" (control) the top running speed (RPM) of the engine, that is it, end of story! No starts or surging have nothing to do with the governor operation. Governors do not require adjustment once they have been set during initial factory assembly...

This is a lawnmower forum, not English 101. Many people have terrible writing skills, and they always will.

That is not the number. Look at the flat vertical section opposite side of the block from the air cleaner and carburetor. They will be dot etched numbers, not casted.

Hi Phillybo, The manuals do not give the exact design specification for the installed height of the valve guides. If this head has a pushrod guide plate mounted below the rocker arm retainer bolts, be sure to check them for excessive wear in the area that pushrod comes through. These are often...

Hi StarTech, Back when I was a JD service manager, I used to tell my more opinionated techs that I would gladly make them manager for a day if they wanted to see if they could do the job better than me. They knew that I was not joking and quickly backed off with all the gripping and...

If not you first succeed, try, try again and again and again.... That free returns thing must be intoxicating.

They are not that failure prone unless it has been run with a dead/bad battery for a very long time. The charging system on these are only meant to maintain the battery and run the PTO clutch and lights as need. Thy are not meant to constantly recharge a bad battery. If it mounts to the plastic...