7 year old Craftsman 21 hp riding mower hard to turnover & start, High compression stroke. Model 331877 2371 G5, YT3000

[PNWguy]

yes it can, you can put in a new and much stronger battery and that will essentially bypass the ACR or i have seen some people cover up the intake hole with their hand and it would start, just some advice from someone who had 5 or 6 of these Hard-to-crank blown acr engines, just sayin

Thanks for the great info. My little project is starting to get expensive, looks like I need a new battery and a starter..

 

[PNWguy]

did some cross referencing...

Amazon.com

Will do.

 

[Craftsman Garage]

Thanks for the great info. My little project is starting to get expensive, looks like I need a new battery and a starter..

you can try all these alternative fixes or actually fix the problem, which is most likely the compression release

 

[Craftsman Garage]

Thanks for the great info. My little project is starting to get expensive, looks like I need a new battery and a starter..

how much have you spent on it so far?

 

[Craftsman Garage]

Thanks for the great info. My little project is starting to get expensive, looks like I need a new battery and a starter..

that iswierd that the new starter gaer broke so soon though

 

[PNWguy]

Will do.

I will pick that up, better then replacing the whole starter. Thanks

 

[Craftsman Garage]

I will pick that up, better then replacing the whole starter. Thanks

yeah. that should be a permanent fix at least for the starter

 

[PNWguy]

that iswierd that the new starter gaer broke so soon though

I know, I can’t figure that one out too. By the way, What do you recommend for a battery CA‘s?

 

[PNWguy]

you can try all these alternative fixes or actually fix the problem, which is most likely the compression release

I am not sure if I want to tear into this, it sounds like a kinda big job. I may check with the local lawn repair shop to see what they would charge to replace the cam? Any idea how much it would cost theses days? Ore then the mower is worth?

 

[VegetiveSteam]

I rotate the engine by hand over the high compression and I tried starting the engine. The engine started right up and ran really good.

Like has been mentioned you probably have a bad compression release but just a thought. If you have a compression tester you might want to check compression before you condemn the compression release. You'd hate to go to all the work of replacing a camshaft that didn't need replacing. You should be able to do that just like you did when you got it started. Once you get it past the initial stoppage it will probably keep turning over so you can get a reading. Anything over 100 psi would probably be a good indicator of a failed compression release or improper valve setting but it you've checked that. If the compression release isn't working the compression will probably be well over 100 psi.

Maybe someone mentioned this and I missed it but with the spark plug out you should be able to turn the engine over by hand with the rocker cover off and see if the compression release is bumping the valve open on the compression stroke. Just one man's opinion.