GardenKit
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Everything posted by GardenKit
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This horrible mess came in today in a Mountfield mower. The carb had a long hot bath in the US cleaner, the tank was flushed and all is now OK. It could have been avoided by good fuel management, ..........or by using.........(who can finish this sentence?)
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Good fuel management , even of pump petrol, could have saved this problem we saw on a mower today. A large quantity of water had settled out in the bottom of the steel float bowl. Where did it come from? It could have been bought from the petrol station with the petrol, this does happen. It might have been rainwater entering the can or the mower tank. Or it could have been water attracted into the petrol by the ethanol content. Lesson. Check your cans for water, it is easy to see in the bottom. Never drain your cans right out into the machine tank. Or better still,(as this is my Aspen thread) do as this owner is now going to do, use Aspen, which comes on clean, sealed cans and will never draw in water.
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I have recently had a Mtox saw in for service. Now, I sold this one a couple of years ago to a local log merchant. He needed a large saw quickly, to replace a totally shot Stihl, but at the time did not want to spend too much. Neither of us really expected too much from this 60cc 20" saw, for £269, but he has now got through 4 chains and is chuffed to bits with it. It always starts well, cuts well, and has been 100% reliable ( well, except for a sticky recoil) I just serviced it and was amazed by its condition. An unworn clutch, no broken plastics and best of all, not one loose screw or bolt. Chinese?, yes. Rubbish? certainly not.
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Not sure if its actually a Mountfield. But whatever it is, it is definitely a Castel mower. These are cheap Italian produced steel deck mowers which are marketed under various names, in various colours and with various engines. Mountfield is just one of the names. The steel decks have an average life of 8-10years before they rust out, The Honda engine, even though only a GCV will easily outlive the deck. Only single speed transmission. If the deck is solid it would be worth £70, but no more. If the deck is rusted then its only value is for the engine.
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Bit of a mystery then Pat. Keep us posted if you find the cause.
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This is very interesting and more than a little concerning. I would love to have seen that machine myself. I know that you have used Aspen for a while now Pat, have you had any trouble before, or in any other machines? Normally when a technician sees a residue of any description in a fuel system he will clean the whole fuel system out and refill with fresh fuel, so when your guy cleaned it the first time, what did he refill it with? Did the second clean fix it, or were there any other faults. In other words was the stickiness the problem, or was it only noticed during a repair? I probably have more experience of Aspen than any other member of this forum and have never seen anything in the way of residue from it. In fact I have a test machine that has had Aspen in for 18 months and no sign of any residue. Sorry to ask so many questions, but I would really like to understand this.
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Aspen is sure sweet, certainly much better than the 3yr old petrol I drained from a generator this afternoon. Just cant get rid of the smell. Glad the 391 is OK.
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Richard loves a chellenge. Glad its not on my bench though.
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If it actually submerged there is no way it was running when it was pulled out. Without air it would have stalled. If it was still running then it did not go under so my previous comments re quenching may not be relevant in this case. The rattle is therfore a mystery./
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On the subject of compression. A new customer, local guy, came in with a Huskie 262. "stopped mid cut" he says. "Just been somewhere else and had a new 'electric box'" (guess he meant coil) " not much wrong, got good compression" he says. It was quite hard to pull, and would not 'drop', but I tested it anyway. 80psi! Pulled off the exhaust, and sure enough, there was a very scored piston. Lean seize I suspect. The resistance that he thought was compression was in fact the piston scraping up and down. Proper testing is essential IMO.
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Not being funny, but how do you know the compression is good? Just pulling the rope does not give an indication of compression as these engines are fitted with a valve lifter (decompressor) The most you will generate from a vigorous pull (1000rpm minimum) is 110-120psi, which is quite low. The actual working pressure needs to be around 150psi, but you cant measure it unless the valve lifter is broken. Valve clearances are critical to the operation of these engines too, so worth checking.
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Check that the pump is being driven properly. The drive arm is friction frip on the worm gear. They do become worn and loose, losingsome drive. The pumps can also block with a little plug of sawdust in the neck of the in pipe, take the pump off and blow it through backwards whilst turning the pump element. Do this over a clean sheet of paper and you may see the sawdust plug come out.
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Exactly!
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It would have been the sheared key that caused the first bang.
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Flywheel, yes. i had one on a brushcutter recently that was spinning on the crank. At times it would catch in just the right place and start and run fine. At other times it would stick in the wrong place and the thing wold either not start, or backfire. Then it would be OK again for several starts. And, Rich's has been off to do the seals. Hope there was no oil on the taper.
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Sure, of course its worth a try, its easy to do. Its a question of quite what it will prove, but it may help to diagnose. I still think from the OP that the problem is caused by the Right cylinder, so I personally doubt its ignition timing, but thats just my opinion.
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A hot engine suddenly quenched can cause the pot to shrink quickly. This can distort or crack the pot, and maybe pinch piston momentarily, bending the con rod. The engine need not actually stop, but the damage may be done. The engine can stop under water without ingesting water through the carb if the the air filter is good. It will just suffocate the engine as the filter blocks.
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Surely if the timing is out it will effect both cylinders, so taking the plug lead off on "that side" wont help anything. On a belt driven machine its very unlikely to be a sheared key, but not unheard of. I would still look inside the rocker cover first, its so easy to do, if the valves are ok then at least that can be discounted. Just a quick thought. When it locks up, does it need to be turned backwards a bit to free up, before continuing round by hand?
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That MS200T, Rich. Its possible that the coil is breaking down and the spark intensity is not sufficient to get a start at tickover on a normal air/fuel ratio. Just possible... maybe???
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With great effort I suspect, as he forces the pressure past the rings slowly.
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I wish I had not read that Stephen, because I am guilty on 5 counts. My 3 daughters since the 80's when I worked on large farms. And my 2 grandchildren who currently live with us. And I should ask for another crime to be taken into consideration, the neglect of my very patient, very lovely wife. I will probably keep offending though.
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I do not like to disagree with Spud, but I have never had any issue with Helicoil. It is the standard spark plug thread repair method and easy to do. It makes a much stronger thread than before as it has a larger contact area with the aluminium, and the steel plug now screws into a steel thread every time it is removed. Any good chainsaw repair shop should be able to do it.
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hahaha, It wont effect you Matt, you service your own kit! I just get your repairs.
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hahaha, nice one Eddie. No rush though, not doing too bad without a sign:biggrin:
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They may be telling the truth (but I doubt it) I am amazed by the number of customers who bring kit in for service before they sell it. I often try to talk them out of it, especially with the low value items because they just will not see their money back in many cases.
