Did i kill my motor?

[RockVegas]

So, I thought I had more oil in the motor than I did. It ran fine, I had it running for maybe 30 seconds, heard a screeching sound, turned it off. Added more oil. It wouldn't start again (14hp B&S electric start). I pulled the engine cover off, I could turn the flywheel, not easily, but I could with a screwdriver. I thought maybe the battery was just low and the starter didn't have enough juice to start it. Put it on a charger for a few hours, same deal. I know, I need to get a multi-meter on it but I don't have one handy.

So, being that I turned the motor off, it didn't turn itself off, I can turn the flywheel with a screwdriver, is it safe to hope the motor isnt toast?

 

[DaveTN]

Having started the motor and then it screeched and died, I doubt if you ruined the engine. Screeching sounds more like a belt or pulley than something in the engine. Did you check for anything bound up around the pulleys underneath? Could be a belt in a bind, or a pulley jammed on a stick or something. That would make the engine hard to turn.

 

[RockVegas]

I was really hoping since I can still then the flywheel it would be a good sign. Like you said, maybe a belt or something. I'll look around later today and see what I can find.

 

[RockVegas]

I'm not seeing any sort of belt binding. I put the battery on a charger for another 5 hours or so, nothing.

I'm wondering if I shouldnt pull the plug, see if I can turn the engine by hand, see if it's not got a valve adjustment problem, maybe pressure is built up. If I pull the plug, and still can barely turn the top of the engine (at the screen) by hand, is it safe to say the motor is probably toast?

 

[DaveTN]

Wouldn't hurt to take the plug out and see if it will spin over by hand first. If it does then try it with the starter. A valve could be out of adjustment, or perhaps the compression release not working making too high compression for the starter to handle. I wouldn't condemn the engine for toast until I ran a few more checks. Still trying to determine what caused the "screeching"

 

[RockVegas]

Yeah, that was a concern, lol Is it common for the starter to cause noises like that? I did have it in gear with a new belt, unadjusted, so I'm hoping that was the noise but who knows. Will try to pull the plug on my lunchbreak.

 

[RockVegas]

I took the plug out, still takes two hands and a good bit of elbow grease to get the motor to turn. Seems like the exhaust valve is always tight. Would that make it hard to turn the crankshaft?

I need to find TDC on the exhaust port stroke to set valves right?

 

[Mini Motors]

How little oil did you have?

 

[lm002]

I had something like this happen to me. For me the screeching noise was actually the piston in the cylinder. Without proper oil, it overheated and the piston expanded and well, just ruined the cylinder and in the end the whole engine.

Lm002