Small Motor Seasonal Starting Saga Solved?

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I suspect that a portion of it *was*. I also suspect that Alyeska had access to lots of cheap motor oil. He never mentioned details, though it would not surprise me to learn that there was a system of valves allowing the change to be done *fairly* safely and efficiently.

--Winston

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As I learned from my former boss's boss: "I got away with it, therefore it was proper, moral, legal and safe."

:)

"*Do not* light the C4 with your remaining hand." :)

--Winston

Here is what I found. One of my mowers has a Briggs and Stratton engine with a plastic diaphram carb and a primer. I have rebuilt the carb cleaned the tank, changed the plug and the oil and it is a pig to start cold. Once warm however it restarts easy.

My other two mowers have Tecumseh engines. I added a fuel shut off valve and an inline filter below the carb to trap any water. With clean carbs these start cold really well. 5 squirts on the primer and away she goes. Unless of course I have run it dry then it takes a bit

Champion has a new plug out now touted as the "one tug plug" more resistant to fouling and a more focused spark is the claim. About 2 bucks more than the standard plug, might be worth a try.

One of these days I am going to modify an engine to make the spark timing adjustable. I suspect that a little more retard on the spark will make it easier to start, after all it worked on the model T.

Naptha in the tank would probably make the gas more volatile, but it would also cause pre-ignition of the fuel and that would be awfully rough on these little engines with no bearings, so you might need a start tank and a run tank, not easy if you have a tank mounted carb.

Roger Shoaf

WHY????

All it does is burn.

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That was my weak attempt at humor, Rich.

Note smiley.

Don't blame me, I'm sick! :)

--Winston

You had me laughing si hard I screwed up!

It is not that uncommon a feat. You use a pump to pump from the drum into the engine and drain until the oil looks clean. If it has a very big drain hole just stick the handle of a ratchet, or something, in the hole to slow things down a bit.

I was thinking somewhat less grandiosely, or a does-not-creep clamp for the throttle cable.

Ditto.

My latest kitchen-support mini-project was to adapt a HDPE cutting board to fit snugly over the kitchen sink, allowing my wife to cut food over the sink. Details in a newr thread.

Joe Gwinn

I have had mowers with these engines, and never had any trouble starting them, so I never needed to become creative.

Although my first Briggs and Stratton was when I was maybe 15, and I learned about small engines on that mower engine. I didn't fancy going back to a push mower, and my father was willing to buy any parts I needed, so that mower got all the repair it needed. I even did valve jobs on it.

This appears to be it:

Although my problems with starting the Honda have never been solved by replacing the sparkplug.

At least on the Honda, the advance is adjustable as a repair activity, so one could certainly retard the spark a bit. But it would stay that way.

Gasoline already has some naptha in it - the question is how much. There should be a happy medium.

Joe Gwinn

I never had this problem with automobiles, probably (I guess) because I always bought the largest battery that would fit, all the better to crank with.

Joe Gwinn

In support of your old boss, I did have to replace the carb on the Honda because the original model couldn't handle the ethanol now in gas. And, yes, it was the rubber that went. The dealer said that they had has a rash of such failures. The new carb wasn't too bad, about $15 if memory serves.

Joe Gwinn

Only Oregon would be a danger in that list. I don't think I've ever had the problem either.

I have never run the carb dry, but given the volatility theory it might be a good idea. Can't hurt, anyway.

The choke does work properly, now, but has been a problem in the past. The clamp that holds the throttle cable tends to creep over time.

Or better, call your congresscritters and tell them to stop wasting your taxpayer dollars on such things.

The farmers know what market they are growing stuff for, so they won't bother making corn intended for ethanol production be food grade.

I'm not sure I believe this, as prices are set by the open market, and are largely set by the world oil market.

I think Congress figured this out a long time ago. But nobody wants to take the ag lobby on.

I can't see the population taking to the streets over ethanol subsidies, no matter how foolish. Historically, it took famine to cause the population to rise in revolt. But our problem is too much food.

Joe Gwinn

You're a model husband, Joe, and an inspiration to men everywhere.

I also make sure to keep my wife supplied with chocolate, for emotional emergencies. d8-)

Well, I sure hope the wife also agrees.

Beer. Great after Chorus, and after mowing the lawn.

Joe Gwinn

A loose choke cable is a sure way to have trouble starting it.

Ayup. Both might even be better.

Twue.

Huh? I was primarily talking about ethanol's lack of efficiency and you pick up on the pricing? Well, gas station owners make a set price per gallon, so they're selling at least 12% more gallons due to the efficiency, so they're making at least a 12% higher profit. It's the oil companies who really cash in on the futures markets, selling it between themselves up to 100 times (on paper) before it's sold to the market (if one article I read was true.)

Uckfay the ag Obbylay.

No, but that's merely one of 1,000 cuts the bastids wound us with on a daily basis. I'm wondering which one will finally be the last one to be accepted before the carnage starts. Which will be the one which sets us over critical mass?

I guess fat sheeple aren't revolting. ;) (Hmm, would that be an oxymoron, a double entendre, or both?)

-- Woe be to him that reads but one book. -- George Herbert

Easy for you to say, as you aren't running for office.

It may have already begun, with the Tea Part revolt against spending.

Hmm.

Well, Shakespeare broke the code:

Caesar: Antonio!

Marcus Antonius: Caesar?

Caesar: Let me have men about me that are fat, Sleek-headed men and such as sleep a-nights. Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look, He thinks too much; such men are dangerous. Julius Caesar Act 1, scene 2, 190-195

Joe Gwinn

Someone's numbers are off. E10 makes for a 5% difference in consumption, not 12%. And the service station guy makes the same amount per liter or gallon regardless of the selling price. Depends whether it is self serve (in most places, virtually ALL is self serve) or full service. When I last operated a service station we gor 3.5 cents a gallon on the self serve pumps and 5 cents a gallon on the full serve. That was a few years ago, of course, but the oil companies have not been overly generous as of late.

Well, my carburated cars would turn over and start properly. It's just that cold weather running required a lot of 'foot nursing' on the skinny pedal to keep them from konking out until they were warm enough to effectively vaporize fuel. It took a couple minutes at most but it was still an irritation.

I *love* fuel injection.

--Winston