i removed about 2 oz of oil to make sure it wasn't that stupid. dad didn't seem concerned about that saying it was an insignificant amount. difficult to get an accurate read on the oil level due to the stupid plastic dipstick design but it seems at the correct level. i probably should stick a screwdriver in it to get an accurate read, but like i said, it isn't over-filled oil. i know the symptoms of too much oil -- heavy black smoke and very erratic performance. this is a slight black smoke, excessive fuel consumption (rich burn, burning fuel 4 times faster than it should), slight erratic performance, and degraded rpm. new spark plug was installed and gapped to 0.76mm (factory gap was actually correct). removal of air filter was tested. it is a new air filter replaced 2-3 weeks ago and frequently dusted -- i also typically use a very porous 2ndary filter (similiar to the filling of a comforter) as well to keep larger stuff off the air filter. it isn't those things. i've used new gas from two different sources. i've thoroughly cleaned and checked the carb (needle valve was perfectly clean like brand new and functioning correctly with the floater, the bulb was perfectly clean like brand new except of course with clean gas in it), everything looks good, and really, there isn't much that could go wrong with the carb with everyday use, unless i was burning sand and sludge. i also examined and cleaned the breather and it looked in good condition. the breather was clean except for the expected oil and functioning perfectly. i'm really just asking for advice on what to expect for tearing down the engine, if there is anything special that i need to know. my dad thinks it ran hot with the choke getting stuck and not releasing fully. it is likely internal to the engine. hopefully, it is just a worn belt considering 500 hours (5-10 years of residential use) is about the life of a residential mower engine, but i may have to replace rings and hone the cylinders if it was because of the automatic choke release being used and not releasing even though the lever was fully released due to dirt build-up around the linkage for it. everything else was just fyi to give my review and experience with the craftsman mower and honda engine.

I too have an Ariens Snow Thrower with a Tecumseh engine. I am a mechanical schmuck -- my father was an aircraft mechanic and I picked up more than a few things from him in the past but by no means am I an expert when it comes to these little engines. I have a kid that is a highly trained motorcycle repairman. I have a brother who used to service Hueys. My snow thrower ran like a top for 2-3 years -- no problems. Two years ago it started to surge -- this problem progressively got a bit worse. My snow thrower use has been quite limited all things considered. My first thought was the carburetor. My son and I disassembled the cowlings and detached the carb. Suffice to say it all looked like it was new. (it should have looked like new -- probably operated less than 20-30 times total). Ian rebuilt the carburetor. New gaskets/seals. Net effect: Nothing changed -- nothing at all. My brother suggested running straight sea foam (higher octane) -- this too failed to improve things a bit. Then my brother suggested we spray gas (with a spritzer) on various areas on the assembly while the engine was running -- if the surging stopped, that would suggest there was an air leak. I told him he was certifiable -- spray gas on a hot manifold??? Well after much argument, we sprayed carb cleaner as previously suggested with the engine running and low and behold, the problem resolved -- temporarily. Spraying the front of the carburetor seemed to get the best results. So it appears the problem is an air leak. Why would an air leak manifest over three years after purchase? An air leak will make an engine run lean. Wonderful! Now I have one more issue to resolve. Where the heck is the air leak? (bangs head on the desk). Nope, I cannot identify this new phantom. Sorry, I didn't solve your problem here but this is a real issue, it is not the choke, the carb, the old gas, or many other of the well intentioned suggestions. It is likely caused by an air leak. Now if anyone can tell me how to identify this air leak I would be most appreciative and I suspect others might benefit from information of that nature as well. I got a bad feeling that I will have to replace the entire carburetor -- just bet this is a manufacturing defect. mjc

Every electrical motor has a maximum rpm that it can turn without sustaining damage. Once that speed is exceeded, centrifugal force will pull the windings from the armature and they will bind into the stator. In the case of the Prius transaxle we are actually talking about a rotor assembly that has permanent magnets attached to it. Exceed the rated speed of that rotor and it will grenade. The engineers are correct. http://eahart.com/prius/psd/ In order for the gas engine to propel the car, MG1 actually has to be a generator and provide resistance for the engine to push against, as well as MG2 being a motor that helps the gas engine push the car. Using the java applets on the site I provided you get to see the normal operation of the motors in the transaxle, and how they work together. Take note there are times that MG1 actually is forced to spin backwards. The Prius has a maximum vehicle speed of 94mph, with the primary reason being risking over-revving the electric motors and causing a catastrophic failure of the transaxle. Here is a link that might be useful: Prius Power Split Device.

dnt1 said" john g you have gotten yourself stuck on the wrong area with your business. You have to show people something besides good work and here it is. People dont care how much you know until they know how much you care. Customer service good listening skills and lots of empathy man, now get on it and get that business growing as it should." Well if it was really only that easy. I repaired a Jeep Cherokee that had bounced around between 5 shops/techs. The problem surfaced alledgedly right after a major transmission replacement. The symptom was a surging/high idle speed, missfire/cutout when driving. The AC was inoperative, the clutch would not engage. The customer had already tried adding refrigerant with sealer himself, without gages. Plus the 4WD display was blank. The soultion was the computer had failed, but before the computer could be replaced, every possible reason that something on the car could be causing the computers microprocessor to continually reset had to be explored, and proven to NOT exist. Plus I also had to be sure that something else on the data bus on the car was not causing the reset to occur. There are no training manuals anywhere, nor is there service information/repair manuals written at this level. Guys like me are totally on our own with this stuff, and we often spend two times as much time studying the system at home to make each diagnostic move faster, and in analyzing the results to make sure we haven't overlooked something which would result in a customer potentially buying a part they do not need. I had well over eight hours time in this car, and ultimately billed three. The result had everything working, and I did notice some belt squeal, it was a newer, and properly tightened (within tension specs) serpentine belt. Now do you think this guy appreciated what I did? I did not sell any unneeded parts or service and I even cut him a significant break on the real amount of time required to do that. For my trouble I can tell you that I have 80% of the fuel injection wiring diagram memorized for a 97 Jeep Grand Cherokee. That's how close I had to study this system to be positive I was making the correct call. He went out to the Jeep after paying his bill, five minutes later he came back in and wanted me to go outside and hear something. He was concerned about the belt "chirping" when the AC was turned on. He was complaining that it did not do it before, well of course it didn't, the AC had not worked in the month and a half they had been fighting this. I told him shut the engine off, and went inside and got my laptop, and my belt tension gage. I showed him the spec, then I measured the tension on the belt and showed him it was in spec. The I showed him how the belt that was on the Jeep was one of the discount aftermarket replacement ones, that does not actually fit the pulleys correctly. He still insisted that I do something, and at that point I said fine, I'll take it to the maximum tension allowed on the spec, for a fee. At that point he balked, and said it's not adjustable, it has a spring tensioner, which I really got a laugh out of, because I asked him to show it to me. Then I showed him how the belt adjusted with the idler that is just below and inside of the power steering pump. I then asked him, who put this belt on? He said it was another shop he had dealt with recently, and I asked him why not go back to them and have them deal with it? His reply? Because he didn't pay them for it. I didn't press him for details at this point, but one way or another he managed to coerce them into doing it for free, or flat out managed to rip them off somehow. In the end, he paid me to adjust the belt. I refused to touch the rest of the AC system at all, because the sealers that he added have the potential of damaging my AC recovery/recharge equipment, and I'm not ready to have to spend another $4,000 on a new one. I also told him to the best that I could be sure, the transmission shop had nothing to do with the failure of the computer. Three days later the transmission shop involved called me up. He had not seen this guy and was glad that I had straightened his Jeep out. He was having trouble with a Ford tranny he had rebuilt and needed me to help him figure out what was wrong. He had one dissapointing thing to say. No matter what the outcome was, this guy with the Jeep would bad mouth me about fixing his car. It's just the way the guy is..........