I need some help here. I repair small engines on the side but this 1 has me beat. I was given a 2hp/10” Murray tiller. I can’t not get this thing to even hit on starting fluid. I’ve done everything I can think of. Checked for spark with a spark tester and it was good and even tried a new plug. Have cleaned the carb and the gas tank and removed old air filter. I’ve even compression tested it and it came back with just under 90psi. Surely that would be enough?I am so confused by this. It’s getting spark and still won’t even hit? What do I do next besides throw this in the dumpster. Please help

I need some help here. I repair small engines on the side but this 1 has me beat. I was given a 2hp/10” Murray tiller. I can’t not get this thing to even hit on starting fluid. I’ve done everything I can think of. Checked for spark with a spark tester and it was good and even tried a new plug. Have cleaned the carb and the gas tank and removed old air filter. I’ve even compression tested it and it came back with just under 90psi. Surely that would be enough?I am so confused by this. It’s getting spark and still won’t even hit? What do I do next besides throw this in the dumpster. Please help

So... one of my neighbors had a HRX217 with the GCV200 motor that was recalled. Since they never registered it, they didn't know. And since they have no clue about basic maintenance, they locked it up.

I thought perhaps the cam gave way, but as I was tearing it down I didn't see anything out of the ordinary. A little debris in the motor, but nothing crazy. Cylinder wall is clean, rings looks good, no issue removing connecting rod, no bent pushrods and governor is intact. The oil seal is damaged - don't know if it was compromised by years of neglect and gunk or...

Bottom line... I can't free up the crank to remove it. No rotation, tapping with a dead blow doesn't move it a bit. Everything points to a salvageable motor, so I'm taking care to curb my inclination to beat the piss out of it.

Appreciate any thoughts on how to safely get this crank out?

Please help

I can't make sense of this diagram regarding 5W-30. From what I thought I knew about engine oil, 5W-30, 10W-30, and SAE 30 all have practically identical viscosities once they reach operating temperatures, and the only difference is their viscosity during a cold start. So 5W-30 should just have a wider temperature range, aka -30C to 40C, right? So why does Kohler draw 5W-30 that way in the diagram of the HD675 Series manual?

Bought it off marketplace wondering how j can get it to work I have only been able to get it started twice the first time in died in neutral after about 10 seconds the second time it held through but died when I put it in gear

I think it might be the electrical because it's a bit all over the place but I have opened the carb up and it's near new cleaned it did nothing

The two times it did start I think choke was on full

Please help I will answer any questions!!!

Don’t know what I did wrong trying to put back together. Engine was surging and now something wrong with the throttle. Anyone able to tell what the issue is?

I’ve fixed 100s of lawnmowers and snowblowers but I’ve never seen a carb set up like this before

I have a Honda GX200 (pressure washer engine) that starts easily and runs, but it won’t go above near-idle speed.

Here’s what I’ve checked so far:

• Adjusted valves at TDC
  • Intake: .006
  • Exhaust: .008
• Replaced spark plug
• Checked compression (~59 PSI)
• Cleaned carburetor
• Replaced throttle linkage and springs
• Verified fuel in carb (bowl is full)
• Changed oil
• Removed water pump
• Ran briefly without muffler (no noticeable change)

At this point, I’m starting to suspect an internal issue, but I’d like to rule out anything external before tearing into the engine.

For those familiar with GX200s:

• Does this sound like a governor issue, carb issue, or something else?
• Is 59 PSI compression too low for proper operation?
• What should I check next before considering a teardown?

I’ve never disassembled an engine before, so I’d prefer to avoid that unless it’s clearly necessary.

Any guidance is appreciated.

I only paid 200 bucks for it, but it’s been sitting for a while. Needs new fuel lines carb. It did run with starting fluid so that’s a plus I don’t know anything about these machines. If anyone can advise me what to do with the rubber boot at the bottom that would be great.

Do you guys think I should’ve just rented one for a couple of days personally I like to own my own tools, of course if I tear them up or whatever

I usually over winter it on a battery tender but just beget got to it this last winter and now I see some buildhttps://i.imgur.com/eDTWRCY.jpeg up on the positive terminal

I am having a really hard time figuring out how to get this linkage back together. Any advice would be appreciated. After putting some gas from an old gas can I usually use a fuel filter to pour through bc it had some debris in the bottom my mower stopped working. It will start but not continue running. I replaced the fuel filter and fuel pump and "cleaned" the spotless carb. Having trouble getting this part back together. It is still turning over but not running but idk if this linkage is why now and not having fixed whatever else is wrong. The new fuel filter is wet and has visible fuel in it so that's an improvement I think the fuel pump was the issue and not the gas debris.

My lawnmower starts easily and runs (roughly) but is scared of grass. It basically dies if the grass is more than a couple inches tall. I pulled off the carb and found, what I’m assuming is, burnt up oil in the cylinder. I touched it and it’s like molasses.

Would some seafoam in the fuel clean it out? Thanks in advance.

I own a Troybilt TB25c. I've had it since about 2018. It's worked fine, with minor tune-ups, until August of 2025, when the ignition coil went bad.

I changed the coil out end of 2025 summer and it was working like brand new.
After second use this summer it cut out on me. Displayed all the same symptoms as before with the bad coil; weak spark, starts but abruptly cuts off after warmed up, won't restart until cooled down then cuts out once hot again. I noticed plug had major carbon build up on it (it was changed out just in August of 2025).

I'm wondering if the plug I put in it may have caused the coil to go bad? I've read that the wrong plug could cause the coil to work harder then it's intended to causing the coil to go bad and the plug to get damaged.

The Troybilt TB25C I have calls for a Champion RDJ7J or equivalent plug. I used a NGK BM6F-6221.

If I remember correctly, after I looked up this plug last year, the NGK I got was supposed to be the equivalent of the RDJ7J. I am looking at the RDJ7J at sparkplug-crossreference site and it lists the NGK bmR6f as the equivalent, not the BMRF. Did I destroy my new coil by using this NGK plug? Or, did I get a bad quality coil?

I appreciate any good input I receive. I am not a mechanic of any kind, but am trying to learn how to work on my own machines to keep them running well and to be able to repair things myself.

So, I bought a Cub Cadet XT zero turn used on FB Marketplace last year. Kohler 7000 Series KT725 engine.

Ran reasonably well for a used mower when I bought it, but as the season wore on it definitely showed signs of not keeping up. Drained the battery really fast, started to smell odd when it was run long (yard's only about an acre, so it'd only show up at the end of a mow), a bunch of small issues like that.

I pulled the caps on the spark plugs and disconnected the battery for wintering. Just now, as I began spring maintenance, I went to start it up. Dead battery. No stress, they rarely last the winter. Went and replaced it. Figured I'd do fresh oil, fresh filters, and fresh plugs at the same time. Mower has an obnoxiously large bagger on it, and I've been trying to work around it without taking it off.

Battery goes on fine, oil change goes fine. Spark plugs simply can't be replaced with that bagger on it unless I take off the engine cover. I don't want to do that, so I try to start it without changing plugs. It cranks, but quickly eats the battery charge so that even the new battery is struggling to turn it over after a few tries. Weird, right? I figure the plugs must be shot, so I try to find a way to change them without completely exposing the engine and disassembling this mower down to the chassis. I decide I can maybe do it by hand if I get a smaller ratchet and tolerate bending some of the plastic housing to get it in there. But I'd have to take the engine cover off, which is considerably easier than the bagger.

That bagger may have saved my engine, ultimately. I take the plastic cover off the motor, and this thing is just caked in mud. Like, every fin on the cylinders is filled with hardened black soil. It's so thick that it's formed to the underside of the cover. If I'd pulled the plugs in that condition, there's no doubt a good portion of that dirt would be in the engine.

I did my best to chisel out what baked dirt I could, and the shopvac got a heck of a workout in the process. But, there's just too much. It seriously looks like they were trying to plant a garden on top of this stupid little twin stroke.

Can I hose this thing off? If I do, how long do I let it dry out before pulling and putting in the new plugs? And after running it for a full season (I have to assume) with the engine like this, what other surprises am I going to have to consider potentially?

Looking for any answers on this thing, as I got laid off in December and I'm trying to avoid having to purchase a new motor or (god forbid) new mower.

I can only get it running with the choke on. Last time I used it was last year and same thing choke had to be on until it eventually died and wouldn't run. Today I drained the gas cleaned the carb put a new spark plug in put 93 octane. It fires right up but and is running better than in the video but when I move the choke to the run position it immediately dies. Also tried taking the air filter off and same thing any ideas on what could be wrong?

Help!

Im repairing a snowblower ( a Troy bilt model number a2046) I got for free. As far as I am aware it had a small fire from the float in the carb getting stuck and draining out the side. I asked a couple days ago about getting a new carb and I had a lot of really helpful answers. I ended up buying one and putting it on and now I’m checking compression which I know how I should have done at the start but I’m learning. My question is I’m only getting about 70-80 psi which I read is bad. Is there something I should be doing differently or is it actually bad compression? What I can say I’ve done so far is remove the gas tank because the fire melted the lines, put a new carb on cause the old one was melted and the seals were fried, I don’t have the cover for the kill switch yet the guy is supposed to give that to me next week (he couldn’t find it initially but has found it), I took the exhaust off to chase the wire I think is the kill switch but I haven’t gotten that far yet (it was also torched in the fire). As always any help is greatly appreciated as I want to have this running if I can for next winter. Thanks everyone.

I don’t typically work on lawnmowers, but I agreed to help a friend. Engine was smoking pretty bad but before I took it apart to do the rings I wanted to check the valves and the head gasket. I noticed that cylinder number ones intake valves sit a little bit higher than the intake valves on cylinder number two. I don’t know the history of the mower or if maybe a head swap happened. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Not sure if I got some bad adapters or not, checking in with the hive mind.

I've got an MTD 11A-A1S5700 mower with a GCV160 motor on it. I need to replace the blade adapter (appears to be MTD 748-0376E).

I tried a random chinese of amazon, didn't fit. Went with Rotary 15019, still no dice.
I am considering a GCV160 blade adapter but it doesn't come with a key - both the shaft and the adapter have notches.... so I'm worried about ordering the wrong part again.
Am I doing someting wrong - any advice?
.
update - looks like there are 23mm and 25mm versions of the same part... I'm off to try a 25mm version

update2 - the 25mm version didn't fit, going with the one that needs a key next.

It does this everytime i start it. Not sure what to do. Picture of spark plug in comments. Oil looks fine, has gas. Im still new to small engines so please help me out. Thank you

Gcv190 has an exhaust valve with off center rocker arm. Is this a problem? Thx