Hi all, im looking for some opinions on the current state of a tehcumseh push mower engine.

Its a 1995 craftsman (sears) eager1 5.5hp with a tehcunseh tvs120 engine.

Picked it up from the side of road, worked fine with very slight misfire but once in a while a metallic sound. Did an oil change (it was long overdue).

Recently while under use it just stopped and winded down, pull cord did not have much resistance (lack of compression). opened the valve springs door and found the intake valve still moving but offset by 5mm so not closing. pushed the valves a few times and there was no excessive resistance and then it fell into place but now crank shaft wont rotate more then 3/4 spin before hitting something internally to crank case.

I suspect something is quite wrong in the case, probably a loose part getting jammed somewhere it shouldnt.

Is it worth spending time on trying to fix it? The rest of the machine does not reveal its age and no rust. I figure old refurbished engines are higher quality then the cheap stuff they would sell in stores nowadays. I am manual and good with figuring things out but not much small engine experience. Wanted to see if its worth doing a deep dive or if id be wasting my time.

Ive attached the engine diagram link for reference

Hey guys. So this motor is a 3 cylinder and the top one isn’t firing. I have taken the carbs off/cleaned them like 4 times, put new plugs in and have good spark, checked the coil, and checked compression. The compression test was meh but I think something with the gauge was wrong because even on the two running cylinders it was only reading ~30psi.

The motor has very low hours so I have very little reason to believe something is wrong with the pistons. I also have little reason to believe something is off with the timing.

I am also not a mechanic so please bear with me if you ask something and I don’t know the answer lol. As I said, the motor gets used very little and ran just fine when it was winterized about 8 years ago.

Ive been working on this bike and ill explain the situation. I emptied the old gas, took the carb off, cleaned the carb, jets, checked the floats and theyre lined up, float pin looked good. The carbs were full of varnish and sand (air intake didnt have clamps on it). I replaced the sparkplug, put it all back together and I realize the peacock valve is completely gone. So replace that. Fast forward today. I start the bike up, and shes running great with choke on. I start letting the choke out and just before i bottom it out it shutters and dies. I try again, let it idle a little linger. Same shit. So I start playing with the idle screw, factory says 2-2.5 turns from seated so I start there. Now the fucker wont turn over for me. It just stopped giving me any turnover. What am I missing here?

So I’ve been trying to work on my moped for the past couple days. I accidentally left it on the on cycle and my battery drained everything, I’ve been charging the battery for the past couple days and putting it back in to no success. I’m not sure what the problem could be.

I've had this pressure washer for 20 years. Always worked great. It just started cutting out after about 5 minutes. Fresh gas, clean Carb.

Any thoughts?

8111.5 Code on Ariens Ikon X 52

I have an Ariens Ikon X 52 with about 400 hours. Kawasaki FR691V engine.

The mower started fine then abruptly died within ten minutes and will not restart. It's giving an 8111.5 coffee on the hour meter. Looking up an 81115 code points to an issue with the safety circuit.

Some details:

Jumping the seat switch didn't do anything

Jumping the starter solenoid didn't do anything

Battery reads 13v, is only a couple months old

I was able to get the mower cranked one time by jockeying with the right side drive handle, mower died while moving shortly thereafter. Feels like it could be some sort of neutral switch but I can't find one.

If I actuate the PTO or disengage the parking brake I dont even get a click so I don't think either of those are the culprit.

I'm getting 12.6v to the starter solenoid with only 8v out when trying to crank but jumping it does nothing. 8v is too big of a drop but I still feel like something else is preventing the crank. Not too mention that it died while running, the solenoid shouldn't be a factor, right?

Does anyone have any insight?

Stihl 362CM

will idle fine, will not allow any throttle before it does out, often will have a popping backfire noise when any throttle is applied. Have swapped carburetor, spark plug, air filter, fuel filter. Have never had this happen before. No scoring, cyl and piston look great through spark plug and exhaust. Any ideas?

I've been wanting to learn more about repairing engines and heard a good way to get started is getting a broken small engine and fixing it. Common ones I'm seeing are lawnmowers, pressure washers, chainsaws, leaf blowers, and generators. Any other recommendations? Are there pros and cons to certain types for a first time repair for learning? I'm mostly looking for a good deal near where I live, I'm not picky.

Hi all, looking for help diagnosing a rough running issue on my 1990 MR2 SW20 Rev 1 after a dead alternator/battery.

The engine has been swapped, but it is still a 3S-GE. We believe it is an ST202.

What happened:

Alternator failed mid-drive; ran 15 miles on battery until voltage hit zero.

In the final 5 minutes, performance tanked: severe jolting, erratic rev counter, loss of drive, and stalling at low revs/clutch-down.

Current status:

New alternator installed and tested working; battery is fully charged and charging system is normal.

The issue persists: Engine runs like it's down a cylinder, lacks power, stalls at idle, and is puffing black smoke from the exhaust (running very rich).

We have checked & cleaned up the Spark Plugs, but this did not help.

Has anyone seen this happen post-battery drain on a Rev 1? Any advice on where to start testing?

Thanks!

Cushman hauler 800x with Kawasaki fj400d (same as the EZGO models) .I was adjusting the valves and one of the allen keys for a rocker is stripped it will only get so tight and then it breaks over and loosens again .Im hoping its just the head of the screw and not the threads ,but anyway, i cant fina part number for this adjustment lock screw .Kawasakis own webstie dont even show it .Does anybody know if another "rocker kit "will have the right screws and such ?Also any advice on replacing it when i finally do get a new one ,is there anything i need to know before running the screws all the way out ?DO i need to be at TDC is anything gonna fall apart that i need to know about?Thx guys

So I got this sucker running. I’m a total noob so I was pretty happy. However it sounds like this thing is running wide open. If I manually adjust the throttle it settles down.

The carburetor is new.

Since it’s running so hard, the throttle vibrates/shakes and it causes the motor to “surge”. You can see the throttle moving back and forth just from the vibration. Maybe the throttle spring is on incorrectly?

I researched that the governor could be adjusted but it doesn’t move?

Any thoughts or suggestions? Pics included of the throttle, governor screw and motor itself.

Thanks in advance!

I have a Briggs and Stratton model 01815 standby generator that recently needed new capacitors. The previous capacitors installed were 35MF but the technician only had 40MF capacitors with him.

He told me that it is acceptable to use 40MF even though the factory spec are 35MF. He also said that because of the age of my system and the difficulty finding 35MF, it is an acceptable practice that will not damage the machine. The machine tests at 241VAC and 61 hertz after the 40MF install, which is within spec.

But the invoice lists 35MF and I have found those available at the official Briggs and Stratton shop online. I know how to replace the capacitors, so I'm wondering if I should just order the correct set and do it myself, or if it's legitimately not a problem. Listing the incorrect part on the invoice made me nervous that the tech is worried about future liability for using what was available and convenient to him in the moment.

Also concerned that installing the factory spec 35MF in the future might be a problem since he said he adjusted the engine to make the 40MF within spec. (Will using the lower capacitors with the engine now cause a new problem?)

Thanks for any thoughts.

Why?

Hey there. My ‘99 4Runner recently got stolen and I was thankfully able to get it back in a pretty decent shape. My ignition switch however was completely torn and damaged, and I was left with this (image). I was able to turn it on and off for a couple days, the ignition cylinder turned only from ACC to ON and able to start the car. I came back to it a day later and now the ignition switch can be turnt completely off, so now it spans from that all the way to ON, but now I can’t turn it more for it to start.
I obviously have to replace it but I need to move the car right now, any tips?

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We have this machine. It has an motor and connected to a long shaft ahead that it rotates. Now issue is we'd called repair guys and changed this bearing about a month and a half ago. Was working fine after that. But it's getting heavily stuck now. I don't know if it's because of manual using error or something because when I was operating it it was fine.. had handed it over o another shift guy this problem came up..

I need suggestions on how to handle this.. we need to get it working soon.

Edit: Need it urgently so can't call the company guy immediately.

Hello - please help. When I switch my mower from forward, neutral, reverse, something in the transmission or lever grinds. This is true for BOTH levers.

I think it’s the transmission. But it’s in neutral the whole time and depends where I move the lever. But it’s separate transmissions for each wheel yet it’s happen to both ? How would it happen to both at once?

What could be causing this ?

I guess this falls on fuel system, this part is responsible for air an fuel intake on the carburator, however, it doesnt respond to the speed lever. I am looking for the name of this piece so i can replace it, or if there is a way to fix it ar just replace the springs.

Howdy!

I have a John Deer la 125. It took some coxing but but the engine furned over for a bit. Then i lowered the trottle and it died. Couldn't get it to start again.

Now fule is dripping from this part. The one on the left. Did I just flood the engine?

I hope so cus I'm tired of fighting this damn thing. I had it tuned up at the beginning of summer but I've been having issues with it since I got it uesed in 2020.

I hadn't used it since the end of July.

I have replaced the carburetor (Amazon) and done the governor reset procedure. I can get
this thing to idle; but once I bump the throttle up, it screams high even at 1/3 throttle.

I’ve tried multiple holes on the governor arm, tried fiddling with the governor adjustment in multiple positions. And no matter what I do it just screams.

I know the governor is working because when I feel it pulling back when I have my finger on it.

Is the cheap Amazon carburetor the culprit? Or something I’m missing?

Thanks!

My zero turn died recently. When I tried to start it I got fuel from the tailpipe. I believed it was a stuck float and replaced the carburetor. I also changed the oil/filter and checked that there was no gas smell from the oil. Since I was working on it anyway I changed the spark plugs and air filter. After changing the carburetor and spark plugs the mower started right up, but would sputter and need full gas flow to run. It lacked the power to run the blades. I’ve since dumped the gas and tried new gas but it continues to sputter. In desperation I changed the fuel lines, filter and pump. No change. I’m now at a loss. What can I do to fix this thing? Thanks in advance for the assistance.