Pressure Washer stopped running. Attempted Repairs. Won't start at all

ILENGINE said:

Actually it is different. The water is the lube for the pump. Now if there is water in the pump and you shut off the water supply, start the engine and then turn the water on it will buy you a short period of time. If you have seen how many warranty claims I have to deny because somebody turned on the water but didn't bleed the air out of the hose to the pump and actually melted the white plastic washers that hold the seals in place, stuck them to the pistons and then strung melted plastic through the pump you wouldn't start yours without the water turned on and water flowing from the gun.

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AND even the BIG BOYS of commercial outfits will tell ya, it's better to start the engine while squeezing the trigger with the water turned on to bleed the system and to ease the starting process.

Boobola, I have worked on several over the years that you won't get them started without pulling the trigger when you crank the engine.

ILENGINE said:

Boobola, I have worked on several over the years that you won't get them started without pulling the trigger when you crank the engine.

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I'm in TOTAL AGREEMENT with EVERYTHING you have stated, I was trying to further YOUR statements, (cpurvis is incorrect on this one) I know for sure, as my son in law fried HIS pump, because of no water, ... and another mistake folks make, is leaving the pump/engine running for longer than 2 min. (or less in some cases) without pulling the trigger, for a few minutes, the heat build when the unloader valve goes into by-pass mode is critical, my next unloader, WILL have a thermal AND pressure relief valve on it, coupled with the E-Z start feature, hopefully, you didn't take offense to my statement. ..... Boo

Total agreement Boo. I have seen pressure washer pumps go into thermal bypass in less than 30 seconds, And the open temp of that valve is close to 200 degrees. which may not sound like that much, but it will cause pump cavitation and that will kill a pump quick.

I took the gas tank off and cleaned it out as best as I could by shaking it with gasoline inside, draining it a few times and then blowing the gas tank out with compressed air, along with the hoses and on/off valves. I let it sit a few days to completely dry out. I then put it all back together and I'm still seeing the same results. I removed the new carb and re installed the old one in case it was restricting fuel in some way. The pressure washer seemed to run a tad bit longer(as in a few seconds). I would get a few good "vrooms" out of it but then it would always die and return to not starting again. I would let it sit for a while and try starting again and it would fire up for a couple seconds and then die. Rinse and repeat.

I'm stumped.

EngineMan said:

The valve settings are the same, IN .005 EX .005 there is no left and right on the valves think you mean top and bottom, bottom I think is the exhaust, you say the plug is wet so I would I'd be looking to see if you have spark.

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Some additional information that may be helpful.

When I try and pull on the starter cord it will sometimes jerk back very hard. So much that it flies out of my hand and will wrap around the leg of the pressure washer. One time it hit me and it stung pretty good. This does not happen every time I try and start it though.

I also looked at the specs again for the IN and EX OHV valves and I see that there are some other specs that can be set for my particular model? Could this possibly be what is going on with it? Specifically I found these settings but I am unsure of the specific model and the difference between the different types to correctly identify my engine type. The reason I bring this back up is because when I try and star the pressure washer I sometimes see almost like white smoke or perhaps some sort of moisture poofing out of where the air intake is (I have it off temporarily until I can get this thing to start and run regularly)

L-Head Aluminum/ Cast Sleeve Single Cylinder
IN: .005 - .007
EX: .007 - .009

OHV Single Cylinder Horizontal Shaft:
IN: .004 - .006
EX: .009 - .011

OHV Single Cylinder Vertical Shaft:
IN: .004 - .006
EX: .004 - .006

OK I am late to this party.... LOL You have the Horizontal shaft newer style briggs engine... You did your home work on the valve adjustments....... Sooooo....

Go with 5 thou on the Intake and 10 thou on the exhaust...

That might be why the rope is yanked out of your hand........ BUT still hold that trigger while you crank it.... I know it's a Pain in the Butt to do it that way, but it is what it is.... I have to do it myself on mine......

Let us know Mon Ami ~!~!

Boudreaux In Eunice La. said:

OK I am late to this party.... LOL You have the Horizontal shaft newer style briggs engine... You did your home work on the valve adjustments....... Sooooo....

Go with 5 thou on the Intake and 10 thou on the exhaust...

That might be why the rope is yanked out of your hand........ BUT still hold that trigger while you crank it.... I know it's a Pain in the Butt to do it that way, but it is what it is.... I have to do it myself on mine......

Let us know Mon Ami ~!~!

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I adjusted the valves to Intake = .005 & Exhaust = .010. I put a piece of velcro around the trigger while I tried cranking on it. The cord was still yanked out of my hand about every 3rd or 4th pull. The engine did not fire up at all during these attempts. I would get abour 4 to 5 chugs out of it when I would yank on the pull cord. Could this be related to the crankshaft key being slightly sheared? I've done some reading regarding other people's issues and a few of them had slightly broken crankshaft keys.

Thanks for chiming in!

Yes very much sounds like a sheared key.....

Boudreaux In Eunice La. said:

Yes very much sounds like a sheared key.....

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I was able to tear this apart today and lookie what I found!

I placed the order today for some replacements to be sent out. Unfortunately no one seems to carry these in stock around me.

Would this sheared key cause all of these problems that I have been having? Also, should I be able to easily spin the crankshaft by hand with it all torn apart like this? I tried to spin it and it takes some effort to get it to spin, but I'm thinking that this is normal and that it would be a bad thing if it were really easy?

Thanks for your help!