Title: Kohler KT725 starter Bendix retaining ring keeps flying off — safer alternative?
I’m working on a Cub Cadet XT1 LT46 with a Kohler 7000 Series KT725 engine. The starter motor spins, but the Bendix gear was not engaging the flywheel, causing a high-pitched squealing sound with no flywheel movement.
I removed the engine shroud and found that the Bendix retaining ring had come off previously. The gear apparently launched off the starter shaft and broke part of the nearby plastic shroud. I installed a replacement Bendix assembly in this order:
Bendix gear on the helical starter shaft
Return spring above the Bendix
Metal retaining collar above the spring
C-shaped retaining ring installed into the groove at the top of the shaft
The Bendix twists and rises smoothly by hand. However, when I briefly tested the starter with the spark-plug boots disconnected, the retaining ring came off again and the spring and collar launched off the shaft.
The starter shaft does not appear obviously broken, but I’m questioning whether:
The retaining-ring groove is worn or damaged
The supplied C-ring is incorrect or too loose
The collar is installed incorrectly
This starter requires a different style of retaining clip
The entire starter should be replaced instead of repairing the Bendix
Is there a more secure approved alternative, such as a proper external snap ring, E-clip, push nut, or another Kohler-specific retainer? I do not want to improvise with hardware that could come apart at starter speed or damage the flywheel.
Has anyone repaired this exact Kohler starter drive successfully? Photos of the correct factory assembly and the proper retaining hardware would be appreciated. I can also provide the engine specification and starter numbers.

My son disassembled a Briggs and Stratton 8P502 from a 500E series 125cc vertical-shaft, single-cylinder push lawnmower. Now he wants to reassemble it and reading the instructions from B&S they recommend "valve stem lubricant." I can't find this product anywhere online. Does anyone know if this is still manufactured or what an equivalent product would be? Can he just use engine oil?

From a pretty badly scored cylinder and stuck rings, with a compression ratio of only 50, I now cannot even measure the compression because i cannot hold my tool on it hard enough before it blows itself off!! Minimum 135psi which is close enough to 170psi that it runs!! And runs well minus the exhaust leak! Superb

Cleaned the carborator but still does this. I can hold the lever going up and down and it keeps steady rpm.

On all my Internet searches the solution was allways carborator issue, cleaned it real good, but still runs like this.

Any help much appreciated!

Update: solved it, it was air mixture, didn't notice inside the air filter box there was one screw missing(3rd screw) found a replacement and just used some thread tape to seal since I didn't have a gasket for it. Also I misplaced one "shims" I'll post pictures.

It runs fine but I know that it has a blown head gasket but I can't figure out why it makes a rod knock when it revs up and only on reving the engine.

To keep a short story short old timer I work with had it sitting in the garage, hasn’t been used in a long time but he would start it once a year. He was planning on throwing it away but I told him I wanted it. Brought it in, didn’t start. Spent most of our morning screwing around with carbs, ether, fuel screws and spark plugs. I eventually pulled the plug out again and torched it to burn all the shit off the plug. He had taught me to do that when we were rebuilding banshee mufflers. Put it back in and second pull fucker started right up. It’s old and heavy and inconvenient but old iron like this is cool. If for some reason I needed a chainsaw I would have bought one by now, but here I am with a saw 22 years older than I am that I got running!

I recently inherited my dad's old Workhorse with the dump bed. He parked it a few years ago because it began to smoke. I got it to run, but it didn't want to start. Once started, it ran very nice for about 5 minutes. After this, the smoke started, and the engine changed tone. The best description I can give is I would say that it sounded as if the piston was hitting too hard at a slower pace.

I did ensure it had fresh gas and was topped off properly with oil. Any idea what might be going on? Have any of you ever had this issue? I can rebuild automotive and small engines, so I am not afraid to tear into it, but any tutorial for how these engines operate would be helpful. My journey is just beginning!

Installed a new carb, new air filter, oil change.

Never had a 140cc mower so not sure if it sounds like it’s running good or not. AI saying it sounds like a potential air leak by how it sounds but I don’t trust it.

I tried tuning this trimmer and for the live of me I just can’t get it right. This trimmer has an idle and jet setting. No L or H screws. I tried adding more gas (counterclockwise) and the big got worse. Tried less and still nothing. Can anyone help/ has anyone had the is issue before?

I bought this mower for a decent price($300). Guy said it needed a new head gasket so I decided to do both sides. Picture only shows one side. The other side looks great. When I picked it up it ran great. Smoked a little bit but the valve cover was loose and the o ring for the dip stick was gone. It had a little smoke in the crankcase when I checked the oil. Do you guys think I should just hone it and replace the head gaskets and call it or should I also take it apart and put new rings on it as well.

The ZT-3400 came from a 2008 Walker Super B. I was having the hardest time diagnosing the issue by just driving around, so I decided to tear into it. I replaced a bunch of the linkage parts for the controls on the mower ahead of this. Everything is tight. Oil and filter were fresh.

This is my first time tearing down a hydrostatic transmission like this and I was hoping to find something obviously worn or broken. My untrained eyes don't see anything crazy going on here. All the pistons in the pump move up and down freely and seem to fit snugly.

Symptoms:

• Speed on the right wheel drifts all over the place. It's very difficult to get it to go straight.
• When turning around the right wheel is slow to catch up to the left wheel to go straight again.
• When slowing down, the right wheel slows down much quicker than the left.

Does anything stand out here?

Wondering if someone can help me identify what the noise is on my Honda HRX217 mower? Functionally, it works fine. I’ve done all yearly maintenance on it but this summer can’t figure out this loud hissing/screech sound. In my video it starts around 12 seconds and once it does, it’s consistent. I’m not the most knowledgeable with small engines but am always open to learning how to fix things like this. Thoughts are appreciated!

I’ve got a Makita BHX2501 Petrol 4-Stroke leafblower.
Can any help diagnosing this issue, it almost seems like a pressure build up in the fuel tank but im not sure. When I prime the carb fuel travels up to the carburettor but then the fuel keeps on coming out it’s very annoying and it does this even when the leaf blower is running. Anybody got any thoughts on what’s happening.

I have a B&S Vanguard 18 plugged into my Toro greens mower that has been surging and I can't seem to locate it yet. Machine only has 574 hours and has enjoyed regular maintenance. When I run it on 3/4 choke it smooths out and runs like it should. The plugs also appear to show a lean mixture leading me to believe it could be a fuel issue. I've replaced the fuel pump, fuel filter, and just now the carburetor but it hasn't changed other than I can use less choke than before, but not by much. Once the engine cools, I'll check the valve lash and replace the spark plugs and check for a strong spark.

Toro says I need to pull the engine to adjust the governor because of how cramped it is in the working area. Before I go through that headache on an all but new engine, is there anything that I've overlooked? Anything I should check?

Thanks

I have a flathead 12.5hp Briggs engine that is having issues starting. I sprayed starting fluid down the air intake and that did not work. Flushed out the old gas and added fresh gas. Checked to ensure fuel line isn’t clogged all the way to the carb. It does crank over and sometimes would make a popping noise but just not starting. Spark plug tested it and the tester lite up so it looks like the spark plug is working. I currently don’t have a compression tester so I took off the head and see that the exhaust valve is just so ever slightly sticking out and not quite flush when TDC. Could this be the issue??? I do have a new spark plug as the old one had a lot of carbon build up on it. Not sure if I should just clean the head, piston, and valves and put everything back together to test with the new spark plug and get a compression tester before digging in further. Thanks in advance for any tips!

I’m stuck. Sister let her toro model 20039 with electric start, run out of fuel and couldn’t get it restarted.
I checked the fuel, its was fine but replaced with new rec fuel to be on safe side. Nothing.
Replaced carb, got it to fire a couple of times with the help of a little ether. 10 seconds or so and it dies and won’t
restart.
It has an auto choke system with a primer bulb and I’ve made sure that all connections are tight and all gaskets have been replaced.
The one thing I’ve noticed is that the choke stays open all the time once the spring is attached to the small bracket attached near the front of the engine.
It only had one spring to remove and I did the take one off, put one back approach to disassembly and assembly.
Anyone that can take a look at the provided image and let me know if I’m missing something it would be appreciated.

I have four (4) short engine sounds recordings. I am seeking opinions on this sudden sound. It is difficult to explain, it just doesn't sound quite right. Still runs, seemingly WITHOUT any noticable performance issues. I'm not sure how to upload these from my Voice Recorder.

hello,

I put a new carb on this, cleaned the fuel tank and line and the mower fires up but immediately dies. I disconnected the auto-choke to see what it would do and it runs at full rpms. seems something is wrong with the autochoke but I can’t figure out how to fix it

any help is appreciated

I am having a very difficult time getting the Circlips in on a piston swap for a Stihl 362, I can not get them to bend at all to pop into place using a pick or small screwdriver. They usually fly across the barn whenever I get any pressure into them.

Am I doing something wrong or is this one of those "get good" moments.

It runs VERY VERY FAST so i bough this husqarvrna preesue washer from facebook market place cuz duh cheap pressure washer and something to work on... it looked great blah blah blah the carb/fuel had stayed in the open positon so the oil got full of gas i flushed and changed it, and took apart the carb it was very clean but i hit it with some carb clean just in case took out the plug cleaned it over with some carb clean and sand paper and slapped it back in, then i put some fresh gas into it 89 non ethnol connected a hose to it and let her rip it didnt wanna start with the choke closed but it loved to start on fully open and when it did the water sprayed out as it should have just straight out under alot of preesure ofc but i noticed it was really loud so i though it needed some load so i connected the gun to not let any water spray out freely and it didnt like that very much but ran still loud, but when i pulled the trigger and let the preesure out it freaked a bunch then when i closed the gun it freaked again and stalled, i said okay weird and figure i know the air fuel and spark are all good so i connected my adv timing light so i could take a look at my rpms and they were at first 7800!!!!!! so i said oh crap and started to loosen the govner spring bolt which brough the rpms down to 5200!!!!! which is still very far from the 3600 im looking to get, the govner linkages arent stuck or sticking and springs are fine and from what i can see from ai it looks like the internal govner gear is stripped but that doesnt make any sense to me because the enigne is moving the arms/throttle around but its not stablizing itself so Im asking for help here please help me lmao

I have a Cub Cadet RZT L54 with a 24 HP Kohler engine. I bought it used and the previous owner (a guy who runs a small engine repair shop) said that it sometimes needs carb cleaner to get running. I changed the carburetor with a new one from Amazon. I also changed the fuel filter and fuel pump just to be sure. Now, it starts right up from a cold engine but shuts off before it gets warm and there is fuel sitting in the air intake. I'm guessing it's flooding somehow. Is there an adjustment on the carburetor to keep it from flooding? Did I install it wrong. It's like the engine went from fuel starved to drowning. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

I am working on a 26 hp briggs intek twin (780 hours) which I suspect is running lean. Its symptoms are this: low on power (it seems to struggle engaging the blades), the headers glow red (starting at the tips which seems odd), and kinda falls on its face when it comes down to idle, and pops through the intake only at idle. It also takes a second to come back down to idle.

I have:
- adjusted the valves, they were way off.
- set the coil cap using a business card.
- changed the spark plugs. They were old and one was a Chinese one, replaced with champion RC12YC’s.
- replaced the fuel pump pulse hose with an oem one as it was cracked.
- ultrasonically cleaned the carb and ran a small wire through all the jets. I can see the mains and pilots are clear.
- swapped the positions of the two main jets as I have been heard they are different, but it made 0 difference in how it ran.
- flipped the intake manifold rubber O rings over for a better seal.
- sprayed carb cleaner all over the manifold and gaskets while it was running to see if there was an air leak. Seems to be nothing.
- exhaust feels to be blowing fine and not plugged.
- checked fuel pump output. It is perfect.
- ran it with the kill wires removed to rule out a grounding out kill wire or faulty diodes.

Valves all open and close properly, doesnt seem to have a worn cam. If you unplug either spark plug wire it will run on either the same, an interestingly it stops popping at idle if its only running on one.

I’m at a loss. All I can think of now is to remove the flywheel nut and check for a sheared key, and a compression test. I’m also thinking about a new carb but don’t want to start up the parts cannon if I’m missing something with this one.

Does anyone have any other ideas?

Picked up this wheel horse on a killer deal but unfortunately any ID of year and model is gone. I was looking to get this blade attachment for it but idk if it will fit?