OT; 3-wheeler doesn't start

Plug is new and I tried more than one. Low compression should lower power but should not prevent starting. I have driven cars with lower

220 0 article Path: finder4.readnews.com!fnd01.iad01.newshosting.com!textbe01-ams!hwmnpeer02.ams!hw-filter.ams!hwmnpeer01.ams!hwmnpeer01.lga!hwmedia!news.highwinds-media.com!newshub.sdsu.edu!elnk-nf2-pas!newsfeed.earthlink.net!stamper.news.pas.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net.POSTED!e78e3015!not-for-mail From: Nick Hull Newsgroups: rec.crafts.metalworking Subject: Re: OT; 3-wheeler doesn't start Organization: farm References:

User-Agent: MT-NewsWatcher/3.1 (PPC) Message-ID: Lines: 39 Date: Sun, 09 Apr 2006 02:01:27 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 66.19.140.86 X-Complaints-To: snipped-for-privacy@earthlink.net X-Trace: newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net 1144548087 66.19.140.86 (Sat, 08 Apr

2006 19:01:27 PDT) NNTP-Post> Nick Hull wrote:

Plug is new and I tried more than one. Low compression should lower power but should not prevent starting. I have driven cars with lower compression, all I need is for the engine to fire and idle at no load.

Reply to
Nick Hull
Loading thread data ...

My son had a 1974 Honda 100 that we did some work on and afterward it wouldn't start. We had a similar situation to yours except that it was a

4-stroke and I'm getting the impression yours is a 2-stroke.

We had good fire. We obviously had fuel because the plug was getting wet. We also had great compression though. No matter what we did it just wouldn't crank.

We finally found out that the cam that lifted the points could be either 180 degrees out or 120 or 240, I can't remember whether it had 3 positions or 2. At any rate, we moved it to another position and it fired right up.

But with the compression so low it seems like maybe you have a valve hanging open.

Best Regards, Keith Marshall snipped-for-privacy@progressivelogic.com

"I'm not grown up enough to be so old!"

Reply to
Keith Marshall

My spark checker is home made. I took a spark plug, removed the tang, and soldered a washer with the hole sized so that the spark had to jump 1/8" (spec for checking Briggs engines). There is a wire soldered to the side of the plug with a clip for grounding. I have a pvc pipe with adapter screwed to the spark end to shield the sunlight (I used to do all my engine work outside). I've used this for many years of small engine work with my only problems being the wire soldered to the side breaks eventually (even with a zip tie as a strain relief).

Reply to
Wayne Cook

Darn, I would have bet the farm on a bad coil...been there, somebody here figured it out for me. It seems a bad coil can put out a great spark until under pressure. Bury chicken guts in the back yard under a full moon and chant something ominous.

Reply to
Tom Gardner

Check the valve timing and the cam chain tension. If the cam chain had skipped it would explain the low compression. A badly clogged muffler can prevent starting too.

Fred

Reply to
ff

I did check the valve timing, the sprocket marks are all correct and the chain looks good. I suspected that myself for a while until I looked inside.

I can feel flow coming out the muffler when I crank.

Reply to
Nick Hull

My Kawasaki is a 4-stroke

No cam, no points, just a pickup coil like a magneto but the coil is battery powered thru an electronic coil driver and it all 'seems' to be working great.

I'm guessing I've got some crud/dirt/fibres under the valve seat from stuffing rope in the cylinder, hoping it will blow out when it starts.

Reply to
Nick Hull

I already tried the unlit propane trick, it's always one of the first things I try.

Reply to
Nick Hull

Check the key in the flywheel . Sounds like it might have sheared , and the fattest , bluest spark in the world ain't gonna do squat if it don't happen at the right time . It only has to be off a few degrees ... and yes , I saw where you said you checked it .

Reply to
Snag

Nick Hull wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@news.east.earthlink.net:

Nick, Does this thing have a compression release mechanism for ease of starting? If so...it might be stuck.

Reply to
Anthony

No compression release ;(

Reply to
Nick Hull

Greetings Nick, Didn't I see a post of your's that said it would fire when the plug was loose, but still threaded in? If this is true, then it's a pretty good bet that insulation is breaking down somewhere before the plug can fire. My point in my post, which I failed to make clear, is that this breakdown can happen anywhere in the high tension circuit. In my case it was a bad, though brand new, rotor. In your case it could be the plug, wire, or coil. Even though all these components are new. A friend of mine had a coil go bad on his boat motor. This motor is an in-line 6 built in the 40s. He managed to limp it to a marina and bought the only coil they had. Since he had upgraded the old six volt system to twelve volts, and the coil he bought was a six volt, there was a problem. The arc would jump from the coil to the block. So this path was easier than through the plug wires at the much higher voltage. He put a light bulb in series with the coil and fixed the problem. Can you use a different coil? Just for a test? ERS

Reply to
Eric R Snow

Did someone put some carbon tet in your fuel? April fools joke.

John

Nick Hull wrote:

Reply to
john

Try a new plug.

*** Free account sponsored by SecureIX.com *** *** Encrypt your Internet usage with a free VPN account from
formatting link
***
Reply to
clare at snyder.on.ca

let me second the "replace the plug" suggestion - I've seen this happen several times, and plugs are cheap. if you have compression and spark, some ether (starting fluid) sprayed into the intake as you crank should make it fire pretty much no matter what else is wrong.

Bill

formatting link

to contact me, do not reply to this message, instead correct this address and use it

will iam_ b_ No ble at msn daught com

*** Free account sponsored by SecureIX.com *** *** Encrypt your Internet usage with a free VPN account from
formatting link
***
Reply to
William B Noble (don't reply t

You are POSITIVE the flywheel key hasn't sheared?

*** Free account sponsored by SecureIX.com *** *** Encrypt your Internet usage with a free VPN account from
formatting link
***
Reply to
clare at snyder.on.ca

You can expect low compression when cranking many of these engines because they have a compression release - like Briggs and Stratton with their "EZEE SPIN"

*** Free account sponsored by SecureIX.com *** *** Encrypt your Internet usage with a free VPN account from
formatting link
***
Reply to
clare at snyder.on.ca

PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.