On Wed, 21 May 2008 16:00:49 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

On May 21, 2:30 pm, Manjo wrote:
On May 20, 6:40 am, wrote:



On May 20, 3:45 am, Manjo wrote:

At least I hope this is it because it's the only tangible problem I've
found so far. I received my replacement leakdown tester and the B&S
"L" head engine was the first test to see if it was working properly.

I had tried a crude compression test a while back that showed no
symptoms, but with the tester, I located a lot of leakage at the
exhaust valve (I could hear a lot of hissing at the muffler).

The symptom was hard to start and keep running, but once the engine
was warmed up, it would keep running at 1/2 choke eventually running
at 80% power with the choke full OFF.

I can only guess the valve and valve seat expanded as the engine
warmed up to where there was enough compression to keep the engine
running once it got hot. I can't do the valves for several weeks, but
once I do the valves and true the head, the engine should be running a
lot better.

My thanks to everyone for their help, tips, and suggestions. I leaned
a lot.

Manjo

When you do the valves...you're in the club!
Good Luck,
p_z- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Thanks. My wife and I took a Small Engine Repair class at the local
HS 2 years ago. I took good notes and I have the engine manual. I'm
looking forward to giving it a shot.

Manjo "L" head B&S 5 hp engineds

The biggest challenge I ever had was when the boss's friend brought in
a Lawn-Boy in a bushel basket (he took it apart-totally).
This was an old one with real points and all.
I'm not a fan of LawnBoy but I enjoyed getting it running.

I've set a few sets of points, using a match book cover. Gets them
running for a fine tune later.