Last year I bought a used riding mower. Pretty good motor, about 14 hp.
I was riding it around one day, and it started to slow down. Checked oil.
Very low, below Dipstick. Refilling it still goes slow. The crankshaft
Seems about the same rotating force by hand. I rotated it many times during
the summer, since the starter gears were bad. Had o find the right spot. Is
it screwed up? I did find one valve rocker loose. Never blew smoke. I
assumed the oil was full when I got it. I'm not convinced the oil broke it.
I guess I'll have to give it to someone.

I only paid $300 for the mower, but that was a special price from a friend.
I still have another mower.

Greg

gregz wrote in
-septemb
er.org:

Last year I bought a used riding mower. Pretty good motor, about
14 hp. I was riding it around one day, and it started to slow
down. Checked oil. Very low, below Dipstick. Refilling it still
goes slow. The crankshaft Seems about the same rotating force by
hand. I rotated it many times during the summer, since the starter
gears were bad. Had o find the right spot. Is it screwed up? I did
find one valve rocker loose. Never blew smoke. I assumed the oil
was full when I got it.

You didn't check it? Most mower manuals say to check oil, gas, etc
EVERY time you begin to use it. You didn't see smoke because there
was no oil to burn and smoke.

I think you threw $300 away.



I'm not convinced the oil broke it. I
guess I'll have to give it to someone.

I only paid $300 for the mower, but that was a special price from
a friend. I still have another mower.

Greg

Good idea to drain, and change the oil. Then, check and clean the air
filter, make sure the gasoline is clean, and new. Take the carb float bowl
off, check for water. All the usual tune up repairs.

Might be just a coincidence.

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

"gregz" wrote in message
...
Last year I bought a used riding mower. Pretty good motor, about 14 hp.
I was riding it around one day, and it started to slow down. Checked oil.
Very low, below Dipstick. Refilling it still goes slow. The crankshaft
Seems about the same rotating force by hand. I rotated it many times during
the summer, since the starter gears were bad. Had o find the right spot. Is
it screwed up? I did find one valve rocker loose. Never blew smoke. I
assumed the oil was full when I got it. I'm not convinced the oil broke it.
I guess I'll have to give it to someone.

I only paid $300 for the mower, but that was a special price from a friend.
I still have another mower.

Greg

John Carter wrote:
gregz wrote in
-septemb
er.org:

Last year I bought a used riding mower. Pretty good motor, about
14 hp. I was riding it around one day, and it started to slow
down. Checked oil. Very low, below Dipstick. Refilling it still
goes slow. The crankshaft Seems about the same rotating force by
hand. I rotated it many times during the summer, since the starter
gears were bad. Had o find the right spot. Is it screwed up? I did
find one valve rocker loose. Never blew smoke. I assumed the oil
was full when I got it.

You didn't check it? Most mower manuals say to check oil, gas, etc
EVERY time you begin to use it. You didn't see smoke because there
was no oil to burn and smoke.

I think you threw $300 away.



I'm not convinced the oil broke it. I
guess I'll have to give it to someone.

I only paid $300 for the mower, but that was a special price from
a friend. I still have another mower.

Greg


I got it from my brothers friend who buys fixes sells all year. To think he
didn't fill the oil would be strange. I used that mower maybe 5 hours. I
still should have checked. The other mower was a bit low also after 3
years, probably up to 30 hours.

Just bought a 6000 watt generator at aldi's for $350 . I got to fill it
with oil, and run it for several hours, then change oil.

Greg

"gregz" wrote in message ...

Just bought a 6000 watt generator at aldi's for $350 . I got to fill it
with oil, and run it for several hours, then change oil.

Greg

Is that a KingCraft made by Yamaha?

On Mar 17, 9:22*pm, gregz wrote:
Last year I bought a used riding mower. Pretty good motor, about 14 hp.
I was riding it around one day, and it started to slow down. Checked oil.
Very low, below Dipstick. Refilling it still goes slow. The crankshaft
Seems about the same rotating force by hand. I rotated it many times during
the summer, since the starter gears were bad. Had o find the right spot. Is
it screwed up? I did find one valve rocker loose. Never blew smoke. I
assumed the oil was full when I got it. I'm not convinced the oil broke it.

gregz wrote:
Hank wrote:
On Mar 17, 9:22 pm, gregz wrote:
Last year I bought a used riding mower. Pretty good motor, about 14 hp.
I was riding it around one day, and it started to slow down. Checked oil.
Very low, below Dipstick. Refilling it still goes slow. The crankshaft
Seems about the same rotating force by hand. I rotated it many times during
the summer, since the starter gears were bad. Had o find the right spot. Is
it screwed up? I did find one valve rocker loose. Never blew smoke. I
assumed the oil was full when I got it. I'm not convinced the oil broke it.
I guess I'll have to give it to someone.

I only paid $300 for the mower, but that was a special price from a friend.
I still have another mower.

Greg
What slowed down? The engine or the speed of riding? You don't specify
which.

Hank

Engine rpm. I can't start it until I replace the starter teeth. Dam
plastic. 15.5 hp
I/c platinum edition.

Greg

Yeah, they do go bad. I think I spend more on my riding lawnmower
than I do the car. An 18 inch tire for the thing was like 60 bucks!
The starters on the B&S, most just buy the chinese knock offs for 40
bucks but you can get the parts if you want to fix only the gears.
http://tewarehouse.com/Catalog/0515
I see the main belt on mine has a big chunk missing that will be
another 40 or 50 bucks. A good 12 volt battery for them is more than a
car battery. This year the fuel line from the tank was clogged, damn
gasoline is hard on the fuel lines.
And it cost 15 bucks to fill the thing up now days.
An inline fuel cut off is a good investment also.
http://www.texasmowerparts.com/catal...section_id=867
and a battery maintainer
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Schumacher...arger/13005742
and new blades and change the oil, air filter, fuel filter .... check
the belts, those will set you back a couple of cases of beer.
It's that time of year again.

On Mar 18, 9:24*pm, gregz wrote:
Hank wrote:
On Mar 17, 9:22 pm, gregz wrote:
Last year I bought a used riding mower. Pretty good motor, about 14 hp..
I was riding it around one day, and it started to slow down. Checked oil.
Very low, below Dipstick. Refilling it still goes slow. The crankshaft
Seems about the same rotating force by hand. I rotated it many times during
the summer, since the starter gears were bad. Had o find the right spot. Is
it screwed up? I did find one valve rocker loose. Never blew smoke. I
assumed the oil was full when I got it. I'm not convinced the oil broke it.
I guess I'll have to give it to someone.

I only paid $300 for the mower, but that was a special price from a friend.
I still have another mower.

Greg

What slowed down? The engine or the speed of riding? You don't specify
which.

Hank

Engine rpm. I can't start it until I replace the starter teeth. Dam
plastic. 15.5 hp
I/c platinum edition.

Greg

Still need more info before a correct diagnosis can be made. Could be
as simple as throttle linkage cleaning and adjusting, or as serious as
rod bearings going out.

Hank

On Mon, 19 Mar 2012 01:24:22 +0000, gregz wrote:
Engine rpm. I can't start it until I replace the starter teeth. Dam
plastic. 15.5 hp
I/c platinum edition.

My local farm supply store sells the plastic starter pinions for B&S
engines for a couple of bucks each; it may be worth checking in your
area to see what's out there for your engine.

I'm not familiar with that engine, but most mower engines around that
size have a mechanical governor - there's a centrifugal actuator in the
sump and a linkage (externally) back to the carb which throttles the
engine when the RPM gets too high (where the upper limit is set by
wherever you put the mower's throttle control). Throttle cables can
break, linkgages can jam or bend, debris can foul things up etc. so maybe
take a look and see if there's anything obviously wrong (if your engine
has that kind of setup).

cheers

Jules

Jules Richardson wrote:
On Mon, 19 Mar 2012 01:24:22 +0000, gregz wrote:
Engine rpm. I can't start it until I replace the starter teeth. Dam
plastic. 15.5 hp
I/c platinum edition.

My local farm supply store sells the plastic starter pinions for B&S
engines for a couple of bucks each; it may be worth checking in your
area to see what's out there for your engine.

I'm not familiar with that engine, but most mower engines around that
size have a mechanical governor - there's a centrifugal actuator in the
sump and a linkage (externally) back to the carb which throttles the
engine when the RPM gets too high (where the upper limit is set by
wherever you put the mower's throttle control). Throttle cables can
break, linkgages can jam or bend, debris can foul things up etc. so maybe
take a look and see if there's anything obviously wrong (if your engine
has that kind of setup).

cheers

Jules

I'll be checking. Also got to change the plastic rack teeth.

Greg

On Mar 21, 8:09*pm, gregz wrote:
Jules Richardson wrote:
On Mon, 19 Mar 2012 01:24:22 +0000, gregz wrote:
Engine rpm. I can't start it until I replace the starter teeth. Dam
plastic. 15.5 hp
I/c platinum edition.

My local farm supply store sells the plastic starter pinions for B&S
engines for a couple of bucks each; *it may be worth checking in your
area to see what's out there for your engine.

I'm not familiar with that engine, but most mower engines around that
size have a mechanical governor - there's a centrifugal actuator in the
sump and a linkage (externally) back to the carb which throttles the
engine when the RPM gets too high (where the upper limit is set by
wherever you put the mower's throttle control). Throttle cables can
break, linkgages can jam or bend, debris can foul things up etc. so maybe
take a look and see if there's anything obviously wrong (if your engine
has that kind of setup).

cheers

Jules

I'll be checking. Also got to change the plastic rack teeth.

Greg

Will it idle normally in neutral? Does the engine rev up normally when
in neutral? If so, probably not an engine problem.

Hank