Craftsman tractor engine compression or timing issue
I have inherited a Craftsman Lawn tractor and am trying to get it going. The engine seems to be having either timing or compression problems.
A mouse had made a home behind the petrol tank and chewed through some wires. I fixed the wires and the electrics are now good. It has a new starter and spark plug just before I started working on it. A neighbor has checked the timing and believes it to be good but doesn't have the knowledge to work out what is wrong.
The engine spins freely with the spark plug out but not with it in.
Videos below.
Spark plug in:
Spark plug out:
Thanks.
Update (04/06/2018)
So I had the mower running for a whole season but it got worse so I decided to strip it down and indeed the compression release spring was in pieces inside the engine case. I installed a new camshaft (changed out the oil gov and all seals rebuilt the engine and it started up first time with no compression or turnover issues at all. See Below:
I then left it for about a month, went back and it started again first time. I let it run for a while and all was good. Then the next time I came to start it I forgot to turn the fuel cut off valve on and so it ran out of gas and stalled after a minute. I turned the valve on, and got it started but then it began to run rough and now won't start at all. I thought it was still fuel starvation but checked the carb and was letting fuel through fine. Checked the spark plug and it works fine - did smell heavily of gas when i removed it. See vids below - any thoughts? Has the timing gone?
I stripped down the carb, all looks good. Spark plug working good and valve spacing is all good. Here is another video of it trying to start and the good spark plug.
Ist dies eine gute Frage?
11 Kommentare
@sandyberg what make and model is the engine? You do have spark when the engine cranks over?
von oldturkey03
It is a 21HP model No: 917.28924
Funny but it was sparking, and we tried it with a different cool too, and that didn't help. But I just went out and now it is not sparking.
I adjusted the coil position and still can't seem to get it to spark.
Would that cause the resistance when it is trying to crank with the plug in though? I thought not...?
von Ryan sandberg
*different 'coil' that is!
von Ryan sandberg
No it would not. It could be timing issues as well as a valve settings issue. If it does not fire inside the combustion chamber with the gases present it will cause a lot if resistance to crank. Checked your valve clearance yet? The numbers you gave are your mower numbers. what is the actual engine number? B&S, Tecumseh, Kohler? Double check for spark, if you do not get any spark let us know.
von oldturkey03
@sandyberg you've mentioned yesterday that the engine no longer had spark. Did you get that resolved?
von oldturkey03
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