Courage 15

[Mazone]

Hello everyone.
where to start, ergh. So i got lawnmower with this engine in as a gift for Xmas. It wasn’t running and haven’t been in a year. There was no spark plug so it has been standing outside “open”.

I have solved connection issues and got everything to “work” BUT.

I have the “to high compression” issue. Without spark plug the engine turns good etc. plug have spark. But with plug installed it won’t turn properly!
Valves is checked and measured. But still.

what’s the next step to take?

 

[bertsmobile1]

Welcome.
As Sols said "OIls ain't oils "
And lawnmowers ain't lawnmowers.

Apart from having a Kohler engine it might be handy to know which engine you have on what mower
Courage engines have a decompressor built into the inlet cam which is prone to breaking .
When this happens you do not get any decomprssion so the starter can not crank the engine.
When you turn over the engine slowly by hand you should see the inlet valve either
1) close just past bdc then stay closed till just before tdc when it just barely opens then closes to decompress
or
2) the inlet will not close till 1/2 way up on the compression stroke to do the decompression
or
the exhuast vlave may just crack oper just before TDC on compression stroke.

This is what was done on most older engines but EPA regulations forced it to be moved to the inlet.

 

[Mazone]

Oh darn!
I have a courage 15 engine!
Iam not very good with engine terms and English is my second language. Trying my best to explain etc.

I measures the valve “gaps” on piston return. As explained on YT video. Is this correct?

 

[AVB]

There should a model/serial number sticker on the engine shroud. Most likely it starts with SV.

Valves are adjusted at TDC compression stroke or just a little pass or using an old method when one fully closed and the other fully open. Takes longer but I am more comfortable with doing the latter method.

Besides ACR problems. Starters on the Courage engines do tend to wear out and bind. I have many more starters then the ACRs here on the Courage single cylinders. Maybe one of these days I need to go inside one to the ACR.

 

[bertsmobile1]

If you did it exactly as described in the video you should be fairly well right.
Put your finger on the exhaust rocker which is the one on the left side when you are lookig at them face on.
Now rotate the engine slowly by turning the flywheel with the palm of one hand.
You can remove the spark plug to make this easier.
You should feel the valve open as the piston gets closer to you then close as the piston goes away
Then as the piston comes back up, some where between 1/2 way towards you and fully towards you you should feel the rocker move a very small amount.
This is why I suggest to feel rather than look.
This is the decompression.
If that does not happen then either the gap you adjusted is still too big or the part that opens the exhaust valve for decompression is broken.

I hope I have made this easy for you to follow.
Working with instruction is a second language is never easy.