Chrissy: Also Extreme Carbon build up within the combustion Chamber and Piston can cause higher compression than usual . Has you engine been Consuming Oil more recently or smoking during start up . A check of the Spark Plug and Piston Dome will give you evidence of excessive Black Carbon . Just a additional thought , since this could cause slow turn over during starter usage .

You probably need a test light to see what is going on. I agree with the previous suggestions that wrong parts may have been installed or connected improperly. Check ground wires for continuity. Also look at the safety switches to see if they are adjusted or packed with grass. Problems like this require in depth knowledge of the electrical system. This was a very nice older mower that is well worth maintaining. The horizontal shaft engine has been out of production for about 10 years. The blower housing and baffles on the engine should be removed to clean the cooling fins.

You guys have been VERY helpful - wish i could buy you all a beer... Turns out the engine is a Tecumseh and NOT a Briggs & Stratton ... No where on the engine did it say Tecumseh - I finally found a sticker on the side of the engine with some numbers which turned out to be sears parts numbers and then finally I traced a part number to 36680 (a tecumseh Starter motor part number) Anyhow - i found a couple of aftermarket starters for the about $49-59 dollars a real Tec. Starter (#36680) is about $125 bucks (definitely not going to happen). I question the value of this tractor no cutting deck, rough shape, etc. --- I would not pay $50 dollars for the tractor - So Im not sure I would spend the $50-60 to actually repair it... As suggested - I will continue to search for a bargain starter - I know if I wait long enough Ill get it for a good price... BUT to confuse things further - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Today I ran into someone who put out an older Snapper lawn mower with a 8hp Briggs and a 30ish inch cutting deck onto their front lawn (for free!) Its rough - but its free... (wow - that 8HP B+S engine is a lot bigger than the 8hp tecemseh engine) Its a pull start unit (no electric starting), owner tells me it will fire up with starting fluid but wont run, it did run last spring... So Im thinking Ill "grab her snapper" - toss the sears tractor (but keep the tecumseh motor just in case). And work the Briggs motor/carb into something usable.... QUESTIONS: -- - - - - -- - - - - - - 1. Do any of you happen to know if theres enough meat on the back of that funky looking Snapper tractor to mount my crumy little ball hitch to drag around my trailers? The Snapper Im talking about looks roughly like this one http://www.snapper.com/rear_engine_riders.html except older i did not think to look for that when i was looking the snapper over... 2. Do any of you know if the engine mounting bolt patterns for a 8HP Tecumseh and a 8HP B&S engine are the same??? Granted the snapper has the mowing deck (but I got a scotts 2046 for mowing). The sears is a good slow mule for my intentions of moving trailers, moving stone and logs around the property Plus im gonna have to take the pully into consideration (that sounds messy)... im guessing crank diameters dont match... 3. Do you think the Snapper has a torque-y transmission transaxle (whatever it has under there) to do roughly what Im doing with my Sears? The Snapper Im talking about looks roughly like this one http://www.snapper.com/rear_engine_riders.html Im thinking the Snapper might be a good choice Your thoughts please Mucho Thanks - Dave

That's some pretty good information to work from. Let me start with the handling complaint, and work from there. A vehicle drifting to the right could have an alignment issue, a tire issue, or could simply be following the crown of the road. Roads are not flat, they are high in the center to help water run off, or they could be sloped all the way across as in a banked turn. There are specs that have a technician check for just how quickly a vehicle leads to one side. If the lead is less than a given amount, then no repairs are indicated. This is somewhat subjective, but can in fact be proven by an experienced tech. As far as why didn't they start the truck and drive it in? I have that answer right away. I can just hear someone saying, "WE TOLD YOU XXXX WAS LEAKING, WHY DID YOU START THIS UP???" You see sometimes no matter what the tech does, he/she is going to be wrong somehow, to someone. But think about it, if the tech is wrong no matter what they do, then that is not fair and if you were the tech you'd be the first to protest. I don't know what was wrong with the truck, but the fact that it had to be towed, and pushed into the shop suggests the leak was serious, and maybe the truck didn't even run. Turning the wheel without power steering assist is a hard thing to have to do. Ford knows this, and has built the system to be able to do that if necessary. Having to push it into the shop, without the engine running will NOT hurt the steering on the truck. Read this next sentence and stop for a second and think about it before you go on. "I never noticed the truck pulling to the right, before the truck went into the shop last week." Does that sound like your friends current statement? Tell me where in that sentence does it say that the truck did not in fact actually lead to the right before it went into the shop? The answer is, it doesn't. It simply says he didn't notice that it did and in that you are likely to find the greatest explanation of what is going on. Once the truck went in for the last repair, what ever it was. Now your friend is looking at the truck closer and noticed something he does not like. From there it's not a big stretch hor him to assume that turing the steering without the engine running had something to do with this percieved difference. Which brings us to the last part of the post. The steering wheel lock only applies in one position. If you want to test to see if it still works, jack up the front of the truck so both front wheels are off the ground. Now with the keys in your pocket, turn the wheels side to side by hand and see if the column locks.