Craftsman LT4000 12.5HP B&S No Compression?
JamesBeam
11 years ago
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romore_gw
11 years agotomplum
11 years agoRelated Discussions
briggs and stratton flywheel
Comments (74)Hello Everyone; my first time here. I have a problem and I don't really know how to post a new item here, so I will use this as it is relative. I have just replace a ring gear on my 28N707 Briggs 15 hp engine. It had a plastic ring gear and a plastic starter drive gear.Teeth on ring gear has too many sheared off. The new ring gear is aluminum. The job was a success and the engine will now turn over. Problem, it won't start. It was running fine at middle of fall, when the teeth sheared off. I reinserted the woodruff key in the flywheel when I reinstalled it. When I try to start the engine, I do get some backfires, but no attempts to start. I think it must be timing. Where did I screw up? My first time at doing something like this. I would appreciate any help I can get. Thanks....................Phil...See MoreI.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 MoreLT4000 overheating/ charging problem
Comments (32)The solenoid in the image posted by Bill could be used to replace a solenoid having only 1 small terminal simply by making sure the small nut on the right (grounding side) is tightened down securely. The solenoid would then be grounded if the solenoid is mounted on a metal surface that is common to the chassis ground. If the solenoid is mounted onto a non conductive (plastic for example) it would be necessary to run a grounding wire from the small terminal on the right to a point on the chassis that is grounded. And finally, if the machine wiring is configured so that the solenoid GROUND circuit is also controlled by a separate safety switch (in addition to the other small terminal being controlled by another different set of safety switches) the GROUNDING STRAP you see connected to the small right terminal.............would be removed from the terminal and thrown away before connecting the OEM grounding wire to that small terminal. I hijacked Bill's photo to illustrate the point I'm trying to make. (the universal applicability of the solenoid shown) Red arrow indicates the grounding strap provided with this solenoid....See MoreZero Turns vs Lawn Tractors
Comments (18)Well, I'll chime in here for the old tractors. I have a 1995 Toro Wheel Horse 12-38XL. The "12" refers to the 12.5HP B&S, and the "38" is the deck size, while "XL" is the series. I mow a mostly hilly 1-acre yard, with 43 trees and large freestanding bushes. I also have part of the back yard fenced for two dogs, so I have to go thru a gate to get to that large part of the back yard. I also mow around a vegetable garden, two decks, a patio, and a paved driveway. All that being said, I can mow the whole thing with the little WH in about 90 minutes. Even with the 12.5HP engine, this mower easily handles a plug aerator or a spreader. We don't get much snow in Middle Tennessee, so I have no experience with snow blades. Because of the smaller deck size, I can go thru the fence gate in the back yard. A larger deck wouldn't do it. The bottom line on mowers is what the finished product looks like and your comfort in doing the task. Choose a mower that will do what you need, regardless of whether it's a tractor or a Z. There will still be tractors around for many years to come. John...See MoreJamesBeam
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