GardenKit

Thank you for finding that information Paul, I should probably have delved a little deeper myself!

I am still a little confused as to what Motomix actually is. The UK Stihl website is vague and only describes it as an ethanol free unleaded petrol that is premixed and will stay fresh for 5 years. Thats fair enough, but nowhere does it mention that the fuel is an alkylate (except on the Californian spec), and if this is so then the fuel still contains solvents, benzene and sulphur, as well as many other nasty chemicals. The UK still site does say that Motomix varies according to the market country. If this is true Motomix is every bit as bad for health as standard petrol, and also massively overpriced. Can anybody enlighten me on what Motomix really is?

If an engine will not start on FRESH petrol it certainly will not start on Aspen as Aspen is very slightly less volatile than fresh petrol (but far more volatile than old petrol), so in this instance do not waste your money, but save it for when you have your saw fixed, then use Aspen to go forwards. There is a certain amount of truth in that some engines will benefit from a carb overhaul prior to using Aspen, but in most of these cases the carb needs overhauling anyway, even to run on petrol. The vast majority of quality, modern engines will convert to Aspen with no issues. Some fuel lines and grommets will harden, as others have said, but not all. Better quality rubbers such as the more recent green Stihl ones, and Ethanol proof Tygon will likely not have suffered from petrol damage and will not shrink or harden when the petrol is removed/ Cheap, chinese products tend to use really rubbish fuel lines and grommets which fall apart in 12 months anyway when exposed to petrol, but last indefinatley if only subjected to Aspen from new. Just putting the record straight?

Back in the 60.s Aston Martin's had revolving 4 sided ones.

Are you sure the belts is Ok? Make sure it's tight, also ensure that it's not contaminated with oil from a leaky engine. Also check that's it's a genuine belt. Only worry about the axle after being really sure of the belt

Don't believe everything you read. I have sold many hundreds of transaxle driven mowers (many on JD) yet only replaced 2 or 3. The ones I did replace were down to gear failure of the differentials on machines that were being used for towing trailers of soil on sitework where a lot of wheelspin was experienced. I have never replaced a transaxle on a 100 series JD and still look after some 20 plus year old machines on original axles. Anyway, Doobin, you have bought one, is the transmission OK in yours?

The X165 is an excellent 48" cut machine, but best suited to side discharge or mulching. It will collect if fitted with the optional rear mounted 2 bag collector, but just like all side pipe collector machines it will be prone to blocking if subject to high volumes of grass, or high density (wet) material. If collecting keep the speed down and don't cut log grass. Avoid damp grass. Not quite sure what you mean by "a high lift bag", only the one option of collector is available for the X165, but if collecting make sure you have the "high lift" blades fitted. On a used machine watch out for rust in the deck, especially around the deck hangers and the belt tension pulley mounting. The bearings in the blade spindles can get very noisy and the bearings in the belt pulleys need checking. The chassis and engine are generally no problem and transaxle issues are rare. The front wheels rotate on bushes rather than bearings and need regular greasing or the bushes wear, as well as the stub shaft, which makes the wheels lean out and upsets the steering camber angle The front axle is cast iron, but has a tendency to bend if the mower is used over rough ground. The king pins bend rearwards at the bottom and effect the caster angle, as well as the alignment, making really hard steering. Hope this helps.

Mike. Inlet valves 5-7thou, Ex valve 7-9thou. The primer does not suck fuel on these engines, it applies some pressure directly into the carb float chamber which pushes down on the fuel level, which in turn squirts some up into the carb throat. The bulb needs to seal in its housing, and the housing needs to seal against the carb or some pressure can be lost. Also, if the primer is in the housing, as I suspect, rather then the remote type, some pressure can be lost through the little white hose tail on the right of there carb, just above the fuel hose. This hose tail can be removed and sealed by melting the tip with a lighter flame (do it away from the carb) before reinserting into carb. The tail is just there for when remote primers are used and the pump pressure pulse is fed to this tail by a pipe. Hope this helps

Testing saves time and frustration. The first thing I would do is run it until it cuts out, then do a spark test. Failed coils give exactly these symptoms and are the quickest to diagnose.

I would simply be doing a carb service first. Sounds like its not getting fuel, most likely a blocked gauze inside the carb IMO.

I could be wrong, but it looks like 494191 is correct after all.( a supersession of 260860 Cobalite exhaust valve.) This uses the 292259 rotator (disc), 230127 sleeve retainer and 230126 pin. My Briggs suppliers show no stock, but have the valve priced up at £57 plus vat. I do not know availability though.

I would be checking that the carburettor has been correctly overhauled and the fuel pump diaphragm and gasket is in good condition, in the right position and sealing against the cover. Then check that the manifold gasket is good. These things can have an effect on the efficiency of the fuel pump whilst doing the first few 'priming' pulls.

Mike, I am not too sure that 494191 is correct, as its not listed to fit that engine. Also, the Briggs dealer portal does not recognise 100232 0514-01, as a model and code. ( its the 01 bit that is not recognised, although there is a 99) The rotators were not standard on all engines and could be fitted in lieu of standard. Be worth a bit more checking before ordering.

Hi Mike, gee,that's an old engine, don't see many like that these days! Openspaceman is right, you need to compress only the spring, possibly with one half of the compressor outside of the engine (over the top of the valve box,) and the lower half squeezed in above the washer, if that makes sence. It looks to me like the 'washer' is actually a 'rotator' and may be held in with split colletts. Once the spring is compressed gently tap the rotator upwards and the split colletts should drop out. (the rotator, if it is one, turns the exhaust valve a little on each lift, wiping away deposits that otherwise lodge in the seat) As for getting a new valve, you will need to find the model, type, and code. They were usually stamped on the engine cowl, although I seem to remember that back in the old days they were stamped on the side of the block. Can't do anything without those numbers.

I actually never drain oil, instead I use a vacuum extractor to suck it out through the dipstick. Don't think you could siphon it though Beau. Best to just remove the petrol tank support. Alternatively tip the machine to the left and drain it from the dipstick tube. Sounds crude, but it will work.

You need to look on the other side. The plug will be in the side of the sump just below where the dipstick fits.

I cannot see the need for the valves, just let them fill each other's tanks and equalise the pressures.

Then a few quid a week to someone paying minimum tax would leave a much bigger hole in their market than the same amount would in yours, yet some, like me, would still be happy to pay. I would still be happy to pay the same amount if I suddenly got rich.

I am not a high earner, so pay tax at the standard rate. A few more quid a week would not hurt me, or many others, and if we all paid a few more quid a week there would be a lot more in the pot to run the country. The trouble is that most people demand more but want to give less. I am more than happy to pay for the services I use (or may need to one day). OK, some of what we pay may be spent unwisely (such as funding Brussels) and that needs sorting. One of the things we can concentrate on when we are not wasting time and money on the EU.

I hope that all those who moan about paying tax never moan about the lack of police, deficits in the NHS, education etc etc. I am very happy to pay tax, and would happily pay a little more to improve the services we rely on.

Sometimes you just need a little trust! I cannot understand the "harsh" comment, as in fact Aspen is just the opposite. Aspen is 95 Ron just like petrol yet contains only around 10 chemicals none of which are solvents, as opposed to over 100 in petrol, of which 35% ish are "harsh" aromatics ( solvents). Aspen FRT oil is not over rich in detergency, it has no need to be as it does not have to clean up the products of combustion from the clean burning Aspen. As there are vertually no carbon deposits laid down by Aspen in the combustion chamber, there is nothing to clean up, so no abrasive material being scavenged. Petrol however, is dirty burning and the oils have to counter this, hence high detergency. It is true that carboned saws converted to Aspen will slowly clean up, but this is because Aspen lays down no further carbon and the original carbon is slowly cleaned up during the heat of combustion. The man from Aspen is an infrequent visitor to this site, but he will surely respond in good time, but I doubt you will find a spec sheet on the FRT oil. It's not available on the retail market as a bottle of 2 stroke oil so does not need a spec to print on the bottle. FRT is only found in the mixed Aspen2 fuel.

Fair play, and I respect the opinions of others. But I have to say any good quality 2t oil will leave a coating on the internals of an engine that has been stopped in normal use. JASO FD oils only need to meet 6.5 min VI and that figure is considered sufficient. Each to their own though and as long as it works for you that's great.

The only issues that can possibly occur when switching between fuels may be a requirement to retune. To be honest, this is no more of a problem than in the pre-alkylate days, when switching between various mixes of pump petrol could also cause slight tuning differences. Back in those days I sometimes had to retune a machine I had serviced using my own fuel mix after a customer had taken it back and used satisfactorily until he reverted to his own mix. It is no different now with Alkylates, most operators will not notice any difference though, but some finicky machines may possibly just need a little tweak to achieve perfection. In my opinion its much simpler just to stick to one fuel, its fairly easy to do, just buy Aspen2!

Whilst respecting that many users have a personal preference for one oil or another ( Redline, Ipone, etc) i feel it important to mention that there is really no need to rush out and buy this stuff. There is simply nothing much wrong with most of the main brands. Those branded by, or endorsed by, the manufacturers are perfectly good oils, as is Rock Oil, but I personally would steer clear of the universal two stroke oils sold in garages, DIY stores etc. I feel its also very important to dispel any stories of the Aspen2 FRT oil causing problems, this is certainly far from true, and the FRT oil is certainly very high grade, and as stated by AspenOIl, it does exceed the quality of most other oils. The thing with Aspen FRT is that the oil has been developed by Aspen to provide the very best protection and they can only ensure that, if they exceed the exceptions of all the machine manufacuters. Aspen carry out exhaustive testing in their own labs, not just in test tubes, but by running identical engines on both their own oil and others, before dismantling and inspecting in fine details. The future of Aspen depends on its quality, and they will never compromise that quality. Rest assured that Aspen2 fuel offers the very best in protection for your powered equipment, there is no need to complicate matters with other oils or ratios. It is very easy for any oil to exceed the JASO standards, the bar is set quite low and by no means covers all properties of the oil, some oils can exceed the FD requirements but still be quite poor oils. With regards to the mention of the VI values in a previous post, where oils were being compared on their Viscosity index. This looks good on paper, but the viscosity of a two stoke oil at temperature is not particularly conducive to its performance IN MY OPINION.

On the subject of circlips (not e clips) there is a little tip to share. You know those pesky circlips that simply will not stay on the circlip pliers long enough to open them and install over the shaft? Try turning the circlip over, the pliers may grip better. This is because the little holes in the circlip are punched through in manufacture and tend to be a little tapered, so, as your plier tips are a bit tapered too the ciclip just slides off. Turn it over and the reverse taper causes a sharper edge to grip the plier tip. Installing the circlips the right way up eases subsequent removal too.