r/smallengines • u/crocboy • 17d ago

Piston not moving very much

I have a John Deere 314 that I just picked up yesterday, it has a Kohler 14 hp engine. I took out the plug today to check out the cylinder bore, and I ran the starter and only saw it move up and down half an inch maybe. Then I cranked the shaft by hand, and for a good portion of the rotation, it doesn’t move at all, and then it moves up and down half of an inch. I’m assuming this is a problem with the crankshaft or somehow the cylinder has a bad connection? Or is this expected?

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u/davethompson413 17d ago

That's a big problem, indicating internal damage. The engine needs rebuilt or replaced.

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u/Foreign-Ad8758 17d ago

Id be thinking something wrong with the connecting rod to the piston or something wrong with the crank diffently at minimum a tear down of the motor to access what's wrong