Looked at the GT245 today - very nice rig. Concern is the 20HP Kawa. You can see that the inside of the right front wheel is blackened some I assume from the running rich condition. Not sure where this is going to take me. Looks like the GT245, GX255, and the GX335 all used the 20HP air-cooled Kawa potentially with this issue. Disappointing that these engines had problems, seeing and operating one of these - they are nice piece of equipment. Some of what I read seems to indicate it could be caused by the wrong air filter - air filter for internally vented carb installed on externally vent carb will cause them to run rich. See other bulletins though on having to re-jet, etc. which cause lean running issues.

*SIGH*... Y'know mownie, I really do think that the hard-to-turn-the-engine-over syndrome is related to the starter. Now I can't get it to turn the engine more than a single revolution at all even when it is cold (I have it uncovered so I can see what it is doing when cranking it), let alone turn it over to fire. This is what it was doing when it was hot. So can't try out the carb adjustments yet since I can't get it to turn the flywheel fast enough to fire the engine at all. What HAS been happening is when you turn the ignition key, the starter driveshaft pops up, the gear engages the flywheel, then it stops wmmph at a high compression point in the engine or something, and then labors and can't turn it past that point, like something is jamming up somewhere. At least once tonight though it cranked the engine a couple revolutions without incident but it wasn't seeming to get any firing action; that was right after I put the battery on the charger briefly. THEN, after that a couple times the starter drive shaft (or whatever it is) did not pop up at all upon turning the key; it sat there and spinned....so we know it is getting current. Tried a little WD-40 to the shaft under the silver disk-shaped part below the gear but did not make much difference...a and finally another time the shaft popped up, engaged, stopped (when it stops it is engaged with the flywheel and stays there after releasing the key; you have to turn the shaft to make it come back down), and then there were a couple of clicking noises coming from inside the starter too when the key was held in start briefly past the jam-up point. That also happened on one or two tries. Sooooo....Battery? Starter? Neither? Both? lol. I replaced a broken plastic part at the top of the drive shaft on the starter season before last; will have to look up what it is called but remember removing and replacing the pin that holds it all together to the drive shaft was next to impossible...so kind of hesitant to try to tear it all down again because it was such a pain. Way easier to just buy a new one, albeit a lot pricier.. Might make more sense just to put the battery on the charger to be sure it does have sufficient charge before blowing $125 on a new starter but will it hurt the battery if it DOESN'T need charging to do this? Can't afford the starter at this point anyway. Sorry to change this thread so late in the game, if you think I need to start another let me know. Dang dinosaur...it just doesn't want to do any work, that's all... :^\

Hi Adele!! Wow - talk about a great excuse. I used Disney to skip a day or two (even the weather there was not good for running outside) but your excuse is way way more exciting. Congrats to the two of them. I have been faithful to my Sun, Wed and Fri schedule. Last Sunday I went 45 min with only two 1 min walk breaks in between - I was pretty pumped. Using my past speed and distance as a guideline I am guessing I did about 7 km or so....way more then I thought I would be able to do by now. My biggest challenge is finding an hour (between stretching before and after and getting to the track to actually run) in which to run over 35 min at at time. I have been trying to go first thing in the morning but Dave has to get to work early many days which means I have to do the morning routine with Chance. Going on my lunch hour works for Wed, but I do not want to do that too often - not the best for running or work!! I can certainly tell I am losing weight and my endurance sure is increasing - so that makes it all worthwhile! Do your best to get back on schedule and check in when you can. Cross my fingers they get the house! Janet

Does anyone know how to fix a Sebo K3 canister vacuum that stopped suddenly while running and won't turn on? The cord is OK, because the power button lights green. The manual says there is a "manual reset" that happens if the machine overheats or is clogged or any number of other reasons. I have changed the bag and both filters, cleaned the brushroll, checked everywhere for clogs. The vacuum always feels quite hot the 3-4 times I've used it, but I have not seen the warning light go on (it is several years old, purchased by my MIL and recently given to me when she can no longer live independently).