Kickbacks and poor starting on 1980s B&S 114982 0180-01 on a Garden Way Sickle Bar mower.

[Rivets]

Yes

 

[bertsmobile1]

Some call them cup washers, some call them bevel washers, what they are is a spring washer
If it has worn flat then it requires replacing
There is a B & S tool that sits over the clutch which has a hex end for a tension wrench

No one is trying to be insulting but as none of us have any idea about the mechanical competency of the posters then we assume they have never touched a mower in their life .
It is amazing how many people who have rebuilt dozens of car & truck engines can not work out mower engines and then there is elec-trickery

To go back to first principles the engine needs fuel at around 14:1 needs a spark a the right time and compression above 45 psi or it won't start and that needs to be 65psi or better at running speed or it won't stay running .

When left standing for a long while fuel and condensed water accumulates in the sump
Now am I safe to assume you drained the sump and refilled to the correct level with fresh oil ?

 

[gmcinnes]

Some call them cup washers, some call them bevel washers, what they are is a spring washer
If it has worn flat then it requires replacing
There is a B & S tool that sits over the clutch which has a hex end for a tension wrench

Interesting. What's the function of the spring washer, out of curiosity? Is it convex on top to further reduce friction between the clutch and the flywheel?

No one is trying to be insulting but as none of us have any idea about the mechanical competency of the posters then we assume they have never touched a mower in their life .
It is amazing how many people who have rebuilt dozens of car & truck engines can not work out mower engines and then there is elec-trickery

Absolutely. I like to think I know how to turn a wrench, but I'm well aware I don't know what I don't know, and have been humbled more than once . I contribute on some other places and totally get it. In case it wasn't obvious I really *am* happy to get the 'duh..' questions.

To go back to first principles the engine needs fuel at around 14:1 needs a spark a the right time and compression above 45 psi or it won't start and that needs to be 65psi or better at running speed or it won't stay running .

When left standing for a long while fuel and condensed water accumulates in the sump
Now am I safe to assume you drained the sump and refilled to the correct level with fresh oil ?

Case in point about 'duh...' questions. I absolutely did *not* replace with fresh oil yet, to my shame. I figured I'd splash out on the oil if I could get it to fire, but here we are, having had it run for about an hour all told, and I haven't replaced it. Will do that next.

 

[gmcinnes]

There's a washer there. It looks like this one: https://shop.briggsandstratton.com/products/briggs-and-stratton-691736-washer from the part number you quoted. You can see it (out of focus) on one of the clutch pictures above.

Using my fingernail I can feel it's slightly convex on one side and slightly concave on the other, but it's not visible to the (my) eye. In any case, I had the concave side down, facing the flywheel. Is that right?

I'll remove the flywheel again to inspect the key.

Here's the key, along with the keyway in the flywheel and crank. It looks ok to me, but I have no experience.

 

[bertsmobile1]

For the piston to go all the way down there has to be enough air space under the piston to accomodate the compression volume
Yes I know there are breathers and on motors that have been sitting for a long time they often rust closed
On some of the motorcycles I own, when the contents of the oil tank end up in the sump you can not turn the engines over and if you do then you blow the crank case oil seals out .
Also things like mud wasps build nest is breather tubes which causes even more pressure to build up if you attempt to kick start them .

 

[gmcinnes]

For the piston to go all the way down there has to be enough air space under the piston to accomodate the compression volume
Yes I know there are breathers and on motors that have been sitting for a long time they often rust closed
On some of the motorcycles I own, when the contents of the oil tank end up in the sump you can not turn the engines over and if you do then you blow the crank case oil seals out .
Also things like mud wasps build nest is breather tubes which causes even more pressure to build up if you attempt to kick start them .

Following up gents:

Of all the things I tried it seems like the most important was this. After draining and re-filling the oil it starts on the 3rd or 4th pull. No kickbacks so far.

FWIW I was able to counter-hold the flywheel with a Harbor Freight strap wrench. I tightened the clutch with a chisel and a tap from a hammer. I'm not sure it's . I'm sure it's tight enough.

I still feel like it's running a bit slow, and a bit low power. I measured it, and it's running about 2900 rpm. The throttle lever is pinned against a stop, but the governor lever doesn't get pulled to where I think it should be. It could be that the spring that links them is weak. I'll try and figure it out, based on the great manual. I'll start a new thread if I can't figure it out.

Thanks guys.

 

[Rivets]

Try adjusting the throttle control cable first. Loosen the cable clamp and with the throttle control push forward, push the cable as far forward as possible and tighten the clamp. Not uncommon for the clamp to come loose and move back.

 

[SmallEngineHead160]

you can sometimes slightly bend the control lever tab that the spring hooks onto to make fine tune adjustments on these.
you could also tension the spring a little bit more by pulling the spring a little tighter and forming a new hook but this can
get messy real quick if not done carefully and often is to much of a step up in speed.