Here is a riddle for you

[Al 6]

Hi, Yesterday I was plowing snow with Henry my 861 Ford and loader, when a customer that had just gotten a 14.5 hp Snowblower from us this fall, drove up and told me the following. I was blowing snow and ran out of gas. Filled the tank and it won't start either by pulling the rope or the electric start. He changed the plug and no change. I said, "I'll be up in about 20 minutes and look at it. Went up and verified his complaint. Brought it to the shop. Clues, checked spark excellent, unhooked his fuel line and connected our test tank with our gas. On electric start, I sprayed some carb cleaner in the carb while cranking Still dead. Checked compression about 60 lbs, was still cold. Leak down test OK. At this point I stopped and went to eat lunch about 3pm and I had been plowing all morning, missed church and then this showed up. Guy just bought a 1400. snowblower from us and the first it really gets used about 2 hours and it dies. I needed to help him out. This let it warm through and de-ice. After lunch came back to the shop and fixed it. Briggs snow engine. I will keep adding clues until we fix it. Al Eden

[goatfarmer 817]

Water in the gas that froze?

[D-17_Dave 12]

Well, he had a touch of ice as Kenny said or he suffered some typr of component failure shutting it down just as it got very low on gas. Sheared key or wire shorting the kill circuit. 60lbs sounds a little low t me with an electric starter. Stuck or burnt valve? I know, you did a leak down test. But there could be some carbon or something on the valve stem.

[olcowhand 0]

My guess is that when it ran out of gas that it backfired as they usually do as they start running lean...sheared the flywheel key.

[B-16_IC 1,029]

Does that 14.5 have a fuel pump? If so, that is my guess.

[Al 6]

Hi, Was suspicious the flywheel key was sheared. Removed the blower housing and ckd the key. OK. Had to remove carb to get blower housing off without removing the engine. Dumped the fuel from the carb through the primer line and bowl vent. No water. Using our test tank earlier should have ruled out dirt in tank. Reassembled and tried again with shrouds off. Cranked on electric starter and tried to spray carb cleaner in intake to get it to run on carb cleaner. No Effect. Carb cleaner ran out on the ground. Al Eden

[StanD 0]

Defective Muffler!

[BLT 715]

Bad plug. Even tho customer replaced it doesn't mean that it can't go bad again.

[tec2484 1]

I'm with Stan Plugged muffler

[Al 6]

Hi, Next clue. Noticed the carb cleaner running out of the carb and dripping on floor. Al Eden

[SimpleTom 4]

The engine is not "sucking" the fuel into the cylinder. Bad intake valve or camshaft?? Tom

[D-17_Dave 12]

Broken lifter or cam.

[Jac 0]

Bad float in carb

[jdm 0]

Al said,"After lunch came back to the shop and fixed it. Briggs snow engine." Do these engines have some kind of special intake for cold weather that might have malfunctioned?

[Al 6]

Hi, After noticing the Carb cleaner not getting sucked in, put my hand over the carb, no suction. Pulled rocker cover and push rod was off. Rocker stand bolt was loose. Cleaned bolt and head threads with carb cleaner and reinstalled push rod. Valve being held slightly open. This told me that the rocker stand was not tight when they set the tappets on the line. Reset tappets. Fixed. The engine never ran out of gas, it was almost out when it quit from this problem. Sometimes we jump to conclusions. Merry Christmas. Al Eden Received an e-mail a little bit ago from Biggie Rat. Bingo he got it.

[9934059 10]

My compliments to Biggie Rat for figuring out this brain teaser!! Indytractors (aka Lynn from Indianapolis)

[biggie_rat 0]

^

[callwill 1]

So where was this line that was to set those tappets? Does Quality & control have any meaning any anywhere any more?

[Storm7012 0]

Way to go rat man.

[Al 6]

Hi, Judging from where the tappet was set when I tightened and locktited the rocker stand down. The stand was never tightened completely at the factory. So someone set the clearance with the stand not tight. When I tightened the rocker stand, it then held the valve open. This compensated for the clearance under the stand. Had I had my head out of my whatever, I would have paid closer attention when spraying the carb the first time and noticed it was not getting sucked in. Then I would not have pulled the shroud and ckd the flywheel key. This is what happens when one doesn't stop and think about the evidence one has and jumps to conclusions. A little wiser now. Al Eden. Happy New Year

[skunkhome 0]

Murphy's Law!

[B-16_IC 1,029]

quote:

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Originally posted by Al
A little wiser now.

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And so are we!^^ Educational as always Al, thank you for sharing. Oh, and keep 'em coming!:D

[andrewk 0]

Very interesting Al- Reminds me of a similar problem I chased down on an early Kohler Courage... Had a broken keeper, but acted like a flywheel key, like so many of them had suffered from. Didn't find out until after I took the flywheel off. There is a great lesson to be learned from the experience. Thanks for sharing! Andy

[mooseman3210 0]

it had to be a Monday or a Friday engine .

[skunkhome 0]

quote:

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Originally posted by mooseman3210
it had to be a Monday or a Friday engine .

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David, Isn't it a shame we all know exactly what you mean?sm02