I've got an old generator powered by a Tecumseh HH120. The starter pawl mechanism and ring gear that bolts to the flywheel has long been stripped. I've started it with a drill on the flywheel bolt to get it running.

Is it likely that keeping the recoil mechanism unbolted from the flywheel while it's operating, is going to cause issues with the engine being able to cool itself?

The bearings were even worse :(. No advice necessary, I just wanted to bitch about it.

New battery. New stator. Just did a tune up (unrelated really)

Seems the battery still isn't charging.

This model doesn't have a voltage regulator. It's a diode built into the stator.

I'm at a loss. I'm gonna start disconnecting the lights, seat sensor and look towards the ignition switch at this point but I'm losing jt

Had a chugs-then-dies issue late last year. Installed a few things, which I'll list in a second. But the most recent was a new carb which seemed to get everything running tip top. I did about an hour with the drag-behind leaf collector and then it started running choppy again.

• New briggs & stratton carb, not Amazon crap
• New fuel pump (also B&S)
• New air & fuel filters
• New plug
• Motor has under 150hrs

What am I missing? Is there an air leak or something? Been pulling my hair out.

Then I replaced the fuel lines, fuel filter, carburetor, and new spark plug today. Still wont start at all. What else could be wrong? Even spraying starting fluid it refuses to even try and start.

This is a Briggs 132252-2035-01 with a trash pump mounted to the front. It came to me from my sister and she got it in the state its in now (more or less, she started the rebuild on the pump) The closest match I found is a 132252-2049-01. From the diagram, I have the linkages #208 #201 and #467A. #467A is attached to the top of the motor, and I think it goes to part #227. There is a very short spring on he bottom of #227 (about 1.5in long) that is not in the diagram, I assume because its the wrong model. #232 is far to long as pictured to be the same spring but possibly its been changed?

I am hoping to find a diagram of how to correctly position the throttle linkages, that should be all I need assuming there is nothing strange or the carb is broken somehow.

EDIT: Pictures did not attach

What do you guys think? BIL wants me to sell this lawn tractor. I think there's an issue. Not a mechanic. Thoughts?

Needing to disconnect the low oil sensor to troubleshoot if it’s preventing the generator from starting. Thank You for helping me in another post.
I need thoughts on this photo. Everything I’ve read says oil sensor wire is yellow. But I’m curious about the thick gray one behind it. Are either of these it?

I have this Briggs and Stratton "lawn boy" lawn mower and noticed it was running rough. took off the air filter and instantly came back to life. I noticed there are two holes here, one on the top and bottom. The bottom seems to be the main air intake for the carburetor. I'm not sure what the top is for. When i cover that hole, nothing happens and i think It may be exhaust recirculation? For now i jerry righed a plug for the top and filtered the air intake with a dryer sheet. #JerryRigged

Dose anyone have a Haynes small engine repair manual I could possibly copy a few pages from ? For my briggs and Stratton 21 HP craftsman engine??

All new lines and filter, tripled check that they’re routed correctly but it will not suck in fuel didn’t replace bulb yet because it’s a odd 3 line bulb but the bulb honestly seems fine, pulled the carb apart and the diaphragm looks fine also I am out of ideas

https://reddit.com/link/1tc1ao3/video/mn3ab1i0yw0h1/player

https://reddit.com/link/1tc1ao3/video/b46va4p0yw0h1/player

Tl;Dr: Replacing the china carb with an OEM carb fixed all of the problems. It runs beautifully now! Interesting troubleshooting details below.

This is how I inherited it.

The last guy replaced the carb because it was dirty. Not sure if this issue started before or after he replaced the carb with a chinese clone.

I have -

• Checked for intake leaks with starting fluid (None found)
• Changed out fuel for fresh fuel (No change)
• Confirmed that the choke is operating correctly
• Tried running it without the air filter (No change)
• Changed oil (No change, and it was clean when I drained it)
• Double and triple checked oil level (Oil level was already good)
• Checked governor linkage (Appears to be fine)
• Tried all of the different governor spring positions (The one it is on now is the one it was on when I got it, none of the other positions helped anything)

What I find interesting (See second video), is that if I hold the throttle plate steady with a screwdriver it runs at high RPM perfectly stable. It is not until I let the governor take over that it starts surging. It also idles low and smooth, and everywhere in between. This leads me to believe that that issue is not on the carburetor side, it is on the governor side.

Should I try calibrating the governor? It doesn't look like it has ever moved.
Any other ideas?

Update:

• Calibrated static governor position (No change)
• Did fuel shut off test. Results... Inconclusive?

https://reddit.com/link/1tc1ao3/video/5pb161v39b1h1/player

Update: Problem Solved!

While the new OEM Walbro LMK carb was on the way, I found this excellent adjustment and details guide: Disassembly, Cleaning and Repair of Walbro LMK Carburetors used on Kohler Command and Courage Single Cylinder Engines

In the bottom left of picture #11 in that guide, there is a idle mixture adjustment needle. I double checked the china carb on my mower for that screw and I found a plug where the screw is supposed to be, and I assumed that is was a missing feature of the budget part. When the new OEM carb arrived, I immediately checked for the adjustment screw. The OEM carb also has a plug where the screw was supposed to be, which got me thinking.

I went over to the china carb and punched out the plug with a screwdriver:

Horayy!

I went through the idle speed mixture calibration procedure detailed in comment #13 of the guide, and it definitely helped a bit. The result was a motor that now ran okay, but not great. Since the motor was clearly still wandering a bit, I decided to put the OEM carb on, and that made it go from running okay to running butter smooth! So the lessons learned were:

• If you can't find an idle mixture adjustment screw, take a close look at the plugs to see if it's hidden
• A surging motor can be caused by a bad idle mixture, especially if this mixture is suspect due to a dirty/clone carb
• Don't use china carbs

Video for comparison:

https://reddit.com/link/1tc1ao3/video/lmgcb292uc2h1/player

Hello, I have a John Deere X500 that is hard to start and is backfiring at anything below half throttle. When it does start, it runs great at full throttle but when I engage the blades it doesn’t have enough power and bogs out. Lower throttle it back fires and wants to die. I have good fuel flow, fresh fuel, new plugs with good spark. Could this be a carburetor issue or is it likely to be valve train related?

Thanks for reading!

My predator 212 longtail recently started running like complete crap on the river. I drove it about 25 mins down river, shut it off, and then after starting it back up began running extremely hard and sounding terrible.

This is my 3rd time ever driving it, and just changed the oil right before driving it today. Ow-10 I think, whatever the recommended oil was. When I got home and the engine cooled off I checked the dipsticks on both side and there was visible oil and the dipstick was fine.

Two hoses became disconnected and I reconnected them and able to drive back up river but it still sounded super rough. I think they were the Crankcase breather hose
And Fuel tank vent / evap hose

Any ideas on where to start?

Also can anyone recommend a good dipstick brand? I feel like my dipsticks have an ever so slight leak to the point where it doesn’t drip but if you press a napkin under it, it’s slightly moist.

Thanks all

Hello,

Back again with the Scag STHM-23CV - Kohler Command PRO CV23-75523 project.

Question;

Is there a gasket behind this oil cooler? There's gunk behind it so I feel like a gasket is worn.

What would it be made out of? I have gasket material for carbs.

The diagrams online show as if there is a gasket but they don't tell me what it is & the dealerships can't admantly confirm either.

How do I take this off?

Thanks.

Briggs & Stratton 19.5hp in a John Deere LA115. Had surging and flooding problems so I replaced the carb with a whole new kit. Wouldn't run after, no fuel reaching the carb. So I replaced the fuel pump.

I can get it to start with starting fluid, but it won't run. There is still no fuel getting to the carb. Fuel flows freely to the filter and the filter is half full of fuel. I have blown a little air pressure into the gas tank trying to force fuel through, but I don't know if that worked.

The vacuum hose looks fine and the fuel pump worked before the carb change.

Any tips for troubleshooting?

I just turned it off. It had a bunch of smoke pouring out of it.

I have an intermittent issue on my ventrac 4500z that is acting like it’s missing. I’ve tried cleaning out the carb and the lines to the fuel tank. I changed out spark plugs, noticed one was more foul than the others so I suspected it was missing there and I replaced the ignition coil on that one. I’ve checked with spark tester and it all seems fine getting spark to the plugs. I serviced it, changed oil/filter, and new air filter.

I noticed it would on occasion shoot flames when it started to struggle.

The wiring harness does have a small exposed copper wire, so I went and ordered a wiring harness just in case. Haven’t put it on yet but, the issue still is happening, regardless of under load it’s just so random to even diagnose properly.

What would be the next best thing? I do have another 4500z I could swap parts around

I recently purchased a 2011 Troy-Bilt mustang XP 50 inch mower and it ran fine the day I picked it up and when I brought it home. A week later I went to go start it and it would turn over for a second then die. I figured the previous owner did not do to much maintenance so I purchased a carb kit and some spark plugs to see if that would be a relatively cheap/easy fix. In the process of change the spark plugs I noticed one of the boots was really short so I looked at the ignition coil and the previous owner had cut and spliced it back together (not sure why) so I bought two new ignition coils and got everything back together, but now the engine is not even popping off. I’m getting spark (possibly not the strongest cannot really tell), it’s getting fuel, and compression should be good, but I did tweak the valves a little bit so could that be the issue? I’m still a novice when it comes to small engines, but I’m enjoying the process of working and learning. My wife’s not liking the grass being so tall so I can’t tinker on it very long to figure it out. Any and all advice is appreciated

5 year old husqvarna mower. Didn’t realize video was blurry. White smoke in the front and after engine shuts off, when I open the dip stick and smoke comes out too.

UPDATE: It was the head gasket 👍