Vanguard V-Twin Briggs problem - reaching the end of my rope
herricjb
10 years ago
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bill_kapaun
10 years agoherricjb
10 years agoRelated Discussions
I.D. a Vanguard
Comments (32)***"BLACK would indicate oil fouling"*** Not necessarily the exclusive deciding factor. The black color only indicates carbon. The source of the carbon will be revealed by other facets of the carbon deposits. Carbon deposits due to lube oil will have a glossy look and will be quite gummy/sticky when scratched. Also the built up deposits can be quite thick and uniformly cover everything about the spark plug completely. Carbon deposits due to a very rich fuel mixture are sooty and powdery looking, and when scratched, will readily shed dryish flakes or specks. Often, where a rich mix is causing carbon, you might see places on the spark plug where the carbon has already flaked off or areas where the carbon seems not to be as thick. A poor boy's method for testing/guessing at compression issues can be done using compressed air. If using this technique, you will need both valve covers removed. You will need an adapter fitting that threads into the spark plug hole and accepts to being fitted to a shop air hose. The engine must be rolled to the correct position (piston 1/4" down and beyond TDC point of the COMPRESSION stroke) for the cylinder being checked. The engine absolutely MUST BE HELD FROM TURNING by some means to prevent the piston from reacting to the compressed air. You would have to figure out how to hold it with what you have on hand. An alternative method that does not require engine to be "locked" is described at the end of this description, so read carefully not to get the 2 confused. Air pressure needs to be 90 PSI to 120 PSI for best results. The air hose and all fittings need to be free of leaks as you will be "listening for leakage" in the test (and any air leaks in the plumbing can dull your testing accuracy). Each cylinder must be tested individually and the piston for each cylinder must be in the correct point, which means you will have to go through the locking and unlocking of the holding device for each cylinder. Once the engine is rigged against turning, apply compressed air to the cylinder you are testing. Now, you must listen carefully for air leakage. I use a 3 foot length of 3/8" plastic tubing to pin point the leaking spot/area by using it like an impromptu stethoscope. Hold one end of the tubing near to one of your ears (but don't stick it in your ear) and probe the following places on the engine with the other end of the tube: Get inside the valve push rod area of the cylinder head where the head meets the block. If the head gasket is leaking, that is where the leak will be. If you hear air leaking, and it gets louder as you probe nearer to the head/block juncture, and begins to become quieter when the probe goes deeper into the gallery (has moved past the head/block juncture), you have located the leak. But.....if the noise level continues to increase the deeper into the gallery the probe goes.............the leak may be coming from the opposite cylinder head or rings. So you have to test BOTH cylinders the same way, but one at a time. If you find that escaping air noise heard through the plastic tube increases on BOTH cylinders the deeper into the galleries the probe is inserted, and you do not hear an obviously louder sound when the probe tube end is positioned right next to either head/block juncture seam.......... the air is escaping past piston rings. This test method will also identify valve leakage by placing the probe tube into the exhaust/muffler or the intake/carb locations. There is also an alternative to rigging a holding fixture to keep the engine from moving under the influence of the compressed air. The alternative way is to REMOVE the push rods from the rocker arms of the cylinder you are testing and simply place the piston at BOTTOM DEAD CENTER (BDC). With the push rods removed, the terms compression, power, exhaust, and intake stroke become meaningless, as both valves are closed. The push rods must be marked so as to get them back exactly where they came from. It only requires finger tip pressure to push the valve spring down to remove the push rods. My thoughts on the Vanguards having "head gasket issues" are that the "true Vanguards" (and the 303700 is a true Vanguard) do not have any ill repute for head gasket failure. On the other hand, the Briggs single cylinder OHV 280000 and 310000 engines DO HAVE somewhat a reputation for head gasket blow out. Same goes for the Briggs V twin OHV engines that are just based on having one more cylinder of the same design as the 28 and 31 OHV Intek family (405700 and 445700). This post was edited by mownie on Tue, Feb 4, 14 at 12:02...See MoreBriggs 16 V-Twin Won't Start
Comments (30)OK, try this just to make sure that something is not obstructing the fuel inlet (needle and seat passage). Connect a short length of fuel hose to the carb fuel inlet nipple. Now try to blow through the hose using your mouth/lungs. With the carb top removed, you should be able to hear the air coming in through the needle/seat. If you can't hear air coming in like that, something is obstructing the fuel inlet or needle/seat area. If you can hear air entering the carb inlet, then you have either a defective fuel pump, or something is wrong with the marine tank/fuel lines. While you have the top off the carb, fill the bowl with gasoline before putting the top back on. When the top is back on, try to start it. If everything is satisfactory with the carb itself, you should get about 30 to 40 seconds run off the fuel in the bowl (your results may vary)....See More22 HP Briggs twin ELS acting crazy
Comments (41)I think you are right "trying" to keep the see saw balanced using an hourly exchange instead of "$ per hour". I would opine that if he spends 4 hours working on your car (for example) you spend 4 hours of your time working on his problem (should that ever happen). The rates of pay, or fees, or charges, or whatever you want to call it.....are largely subjective (to all kinds of marketing pressures/factors) and are really just somebody's opinion of what the traffic should pay. But as you stated, 4 hours (of someone's finite lifetime) spent for your benefit is 4 hours they could have spent doing something for themselves instead. So, if the scales would ever be balanced, it would have to be in "raw time", not some arbitrary $ amount. The tougher (for me) aspect of bartering time is trying to categorize persons that I might be "bartering with". Some persons are simply enjoyable to be around, no matter what I'm doing for them (or they are doing for me) and I place a higher value on the mutual friendship than could ever be expressed in monetary terms. Realistically speaking, this subject is much deeper and complex than what can be addressed in brief. The subject almost always has some factors rooted in benevolence, and even "familial altruism" (when it comes to relatives and in-laws/outlaws....See MoreBriggs Vanguard 18 hp v-twin, making a strange sound
Comments (29)tomplum, I looked at it more closely tonight, including opening the electrical box. Seeing where the wires go is somewhat reassuring, I think I can label them sufficiently, if they have to come off. For now, they're all still connected, from the stator to the Rear Bearing Carrier, and then into the electrical box. I had enough slack to simply move the Bearing Carrier to the side, for now. However, I would welcome any tips on how to remove the rotor. I removed the long bolt, it came off easily. I had read something on another forum (http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/r18965592-Portable-generator-disassembly-help-needed) where the person took his (different) genset to a shop. They threaded a longer bolt down through the rotor, into the crankshaft (so there was still "extra" bolt sticking out of the rotor). They then suspended it by the rotor, with the engine hanging down, and hit the bolt with a hammer, which succeeded in popping the engine off of the rotor. I tried something like that (the long bolts that hold the generator closed are the same thread, but a few inches longer), without success, so far. However, I can't hang it with the engine hanging below the rotor :) I still have the engine bolted down in the frame, but it's bolted onto the rubber mounts, so it could still briefly move away from the generator, if it wanted to. The generator is being supported from below by my car jack. I was leery of actually unbolting the engine, since the engine & generator could then slide out of the frame and fall on the floor. The stator is still installed. Any thoughts on how to loosen this would be quite welcome :) Thank you!...See Morercbe
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