craftsman mudder

i have a craftsman lawn mower with blaster tires and i use it for mudding and climbing hills i just put a 8hp briggs and stration and it wont start does anyone now whats wrong with it

fetters18 wrote:

i have a craftsman lawn mower with blaster tires and i use it for mudding and climbing hills i just put a 8hp briggs and stration and it wont start does anyone now whats wrong with it

does it turn over? is it getting spark? is it getting gas? if all are true does if have compression? if not you may need new rings. we need more info to help you

Check the inline fuse to the ign switch from the battery ( thats for a no response turn of the key) - use a wrench and tap both starter solenoid terminals- if it cranks, then its a bad solenoid.

Could be a bad ign switch, check the battery voltage, bad starter - any bunch of things wrong.

it gets gas , it has copression and spark

check the wiring and then double check it again! personally ive never had many problems with wiring but i know wires are sometimes the cause is there any noise when it turns over (AKA you can here the fuel igniting) make sure all the safety swiches are pressed down, there is usually one on the seat one for the brake/clutch and another for the deck blade clutch, on a RER (rear engined rider) its usually on the clutch/brake and built into the gearbox to make sure it starts in neutral. sorry for being patronizing but you really have to check everything.

If none of the above works take the sparkplug out and put a long screw driver into the chamber, then turn it of with your hands and see if the piston move out and in, check the oil level and make sure it doesn't smell of petrol, after all that try putting some stater fluid into the chamber to start it. I am also Presuming you have a starter motor not a pulley - rope setup like i have.

make sure the carb is below the fuel tank, make sure the fuel tap is on, im being patronizing again but u HAVE to check every little thing,and if it STILL doesn't work after all that clean the carb out and check the gasket round that seals it to the engine, mine was cracked so it allowed air in after the carb so there was to much air going into the chamber, meaning that it simply wouldn't combust.

check the battery charge and make Sure you are getting spark. hope something works!
P.S try a brand new sparkplug my mini quad wouldnt start with the old sparkplug even though it got spark.

bigbleuboy wrote:

check the wiring and then double check it again! personally ive never had many problems with wiring but i know wires are sometimes the cause is there any noise when it turns over (AKA you can here the fuel igniting) make sure all the safety swiches are pressed down, there is usually one on the seat one for the brake/clutch and another for the deck blade clutch, on a RER (rear engined rider) its usually on the clutch/brake and built into the gearbox to make sure it starts in neutral. sorry for being patronizing but you really have to check everything.

If none of the above works take the sparkplug out and put a long screw driver into the chamber, then turn it of with your hands and see if the piston move out and in, check the oil level and make sure it doesn't smell of petrol, after all that try putting some stater fluid into the chamber to start it. I am also Presuming you have a starter motor not a pulley - rope setup like i have.

make sure the carb is below the fuel tank, make sure the fuel tap is on, im being patronizing again but u HAVE to check every little thing,and if it STILL doesn't work after all that clean the carb out and check the gasket round that seals it to the engine, mine was cracked so it allowed air in after the carb so there was to much air going into the chamber, meaning that it simply wouldn't combust.

check the battery charge and make Sure you are getting spark. hope something works!
P.S try a brand new sparkplug my mini quad wouldnt start with the old sparkplug even though it got spark.

good tips, my mower wouldnt start so i bought her a new plug and she started right up. if the gas is really old i would drain the tank and fill it with fresh gas.

thanks i just hope one of them works! LOL

Fetters18: So it turns over then - diagnosing issues is a bit hard w/o information..... in addition to other suggestions- check the flywheel key - if it snapped, itll crank all day long with spark, gas and compression .

dangeroustoys56 wrote:

Fetters18: So it turns over then - diagnosing issues is a bit hard w/o information..... in addition to other suggestions- check the flywheel key - if it snapped, it'll crank all day long with spark, gas and compression .

well it would have spark but not gas or compression because its not turning the crankshaft just the flywheel no gas is getting sucked in or compression being made

JareeB wrote:

dangeroustoys56 wrote:

Fetters18: So it turns over then - diagnosing issues is a bit hard w/o information..... in addition to other suggestions- check the flywheel key - if it snapped, it'll crank all day long with spark, gas and compression .

well it would have spark but not gas or compression because its not turning the crankshaft just the flywheel no gas is getting sucked in or compression being made

youll sure as hell know it if its spinning just the flywheel, plus i have NEVER seen that

theboredredneck wrote:

JareeB wrote:

dangeroustoys56 wrote:

Fetters18: So it turns over then - diagnosing issues is a bit hard w/o information..... in addition to other suggestions- check the flywheel key - if it snapped, it'll crank all day long with spark, gas and compression .

well it would have spark but not gas or compression because its not turning the crankshaft just the flywheel no gas is getting sucked in or compression being made

youll sure as hell know it if its spinning just the flywheel, plus i have NEVER seen that

same here i dont know how you could even break a flywheel key

Ive seen it - i had a 5HP briggs RER dynamark, i bot it with a broken flywheel key, had gas, compression, spark BUT it sucked air in the muffer and spit gas out the carb - was 180 degrees out of time- the flywheel and crank still turned together at same time- when a flywheel key breaks, it doesnt loosen the flywheel/crank nut, the flywheel just spins enough to break the key when the end of the crank stops- called inertia . If you bolt a flywheel down w/o a flywheel key at all, itll still turn together like it had one, till you put a load on the motor. Thats why when a flywheel is pulled off you hear a 'bang' .

The flywheel mounts on the tapered end of the crank to create a 'press fit' - it wont spin freely unless the crank nut hasnt been tightened properly. Thats the purpose of the flywheel key is to protect the motor if the crank hits something hard- or supposed to anyway.

I also had a 14.5HP OHV briggs that kept snapping flywheel keys due to an internal problem- it didnt even run, just cranking it over snapped the keys.

Flywheel keys are only made of a lightweight material to shear if needed. So yes, ive seen it happen.

dangeroustoys56 wrote:

Ive seen it - i had a 5HP briggs RER dynamark, i bot it with a broken flywheel key, had gas, compression, spark BUT it sucked air in the muffer and spit gas out the carb - was 180 degrees out of time- the flywheel and crank still turned together at same time- when a flywheel key breaks, it doesnt loosen the flywheel/crank nut, the flywheel just spins enough to break the key when the end of the crank stops- called inertia . If you bolt a flywheel down w/o a flywheel key at all, itll still turn together like it had one, till you put a load on the motor. Thats why when a flywheel is pulled off you hear a 'bang' .

The flywheel mounts on the tapered end of the crank to create a 'press fit' - it wont spin freely unless the crank nut hasnt been tightened properly. Thats the purpose of the flywheel key is to protect the motor if the crank hits something hard- or supposed to anyway.

I also had a 14.5HP OHV briggs that kept snapping flywheel keys due to an internal problem- it didnt even run, just cranking it over snapped the keys.

Flywheel keys are only made of a lightweight material to shear if needed. So yes, ive seen it happen.

yeah i see