cub cadet xt1 lt42b brigs and Stratton engine struggles turning over and struggles starting

randarrington · 2025-11-12T15:59:51-0500

I've got a 3 year old lawn tractor and by the second year I noticed that it started to struggle turning the engine on the start. Once it had started then there wasn't an issue. Now, however, it seems to have gotten worse. The motor will turn once and then struggles to turn again. Holding down on the key will eventually (until the battery dies) turn it again but it's not fast nor consistent enough to fire the engine. I thought it was the battery since it seems to drop below 10 v when I turn the key. So the check this, I tried jumping from my car batter which produced the exact same performance. Sometimes I'll hear a high pitch whine as it struggles to turn the engine. I'm guessing it's either the solenoid or a bad starter. I did hear that the belts on the deck could be tightening and causing additional resistance. I'm not sure how to even check that. Does anyone have any advice please?

randarrington · 2025-11-12T17:46:45-0500

Oh also the engine is really hard to turn past the pressure point. I'm hoping it's something other than bad valves....

ILENGINE · 2025-11-12T18:22:03-0500

If this is a single OHV briggs engine most likely either the valves are out of adjustment or the camshaft compression release is broken, or both.

hlw49 · 2025-11-12T19:15:43-0500

Holding the key when it is hard to turn over can burn the starter up. Adjust the valves and try again.

Auto Doc's · 2025-11-12T21:45:50-0500

Hello R,

Welcome to the blog.

We need the number information stamped in the valve cover. If problems are with the rider itself, we would need the product label information.

Your description is a classic sign that the valves are out of adjustment after breaking wear.

The repeated straining of the starter has also likely overheated the starter windings, so it may need a starter.

There are lots of good You Tube videos about how to adjust the valves.

If it has broken the compression release, the engine will have to be removed and the camshaft replaced.

Tiger Small Engine · 2025-11-13T05:26:22-0500

randarrington said:
I've got a 3 year old lawn tractor and by the second year I noticed that it started to struggle turning the engine on the start. Once it had started then there wasn't an issue. Now, however, it seems to have gotten worse. The motor will turn once and then struggles to turn again. Holding down on the key will eventually (until the battery dies) turn it again but it's not fast nor consistent enough to fire the engine. I thought it was the battery since it seems to drop below 10 v when I turn the key. So the check this, I tried jumping from my car batter which produced the exact same performance. Sometimes I'll hear a high pitch whine as it struggles to turn the engine. I'm guessing it's either the solenoid or a bad starter. I did hear that the belts on the deck could be tightening and causing additional resistance. I'm not sure how to even check that. Does anyone have any advice please?

First charge and load test battery. Second clean and check all terminals for tightness. Could be one of several problems, but always start with the battery.The high pitched whine you hear is the starter slowly being killed. You can always turn the engine past the compression stroke by hand, short term, to get it started

cub cadet xt1 lt42b brigs and Stratton engine struggles turning over and struggles starting

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