Laid Motor Down, Now Can't Pull Starter Rope!

[Sleepergal]

I am a newbie divorcee, trying to figure out what the heck I'm doing. I have a Bearcat chipper/shredder with an 8 HP Briggs & Stratton motor. In order to put the belt on, I had to take off the engine bolts, and the engine fell about 18". It landed on soft ground and cosmetically looks fine, but now I can't pull the starter rope (it used to be easy and would start like a dream!). My dealer said I probably had oil filling the cylinder (makes sense), but when I pulled the sparkplug, I still couldn't pull that starter rope! It's more than stiff. It feels like it's mechanically locked. Is there something I should do after removing the sparkplug to decompress the cylinder? Is it something else? Your help is much appreciated!

 

[kebo]

If you pulled the plug, that removes any "normal" compression that it might have had. Did you try and pull the starter rope WHILE the plug was removed?? That would be the way to clear it. If not, I suggest removing the plug again and cranking it over with the starter rope with the plug out and see what that does. If there is still oil in the chamber, that should allow the piston to pump most of it out. Let us know.

 

[Fixemall]

Did it fall on the crankshaft by chance?

 

[SSdoxie]

Take the starter rope recoil assembly off then try to pull the rope and try to trun the flywheel by hand or with wrench on the flywheel nut (leave spark lug out). If engine runs and rope doesn't something in the recoil is bound up. If engine doesn't trun you have a more serious problem.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

You may have dropped it on the recoil assembly. It doesn't take much of a lick to make it stick. Take the cover off that has the recoil in it. Then, try to pull the rope with the cover off the engine. If it does not move, then the problem is in the recoil unit. If it does move, then problem is in the engine, which I doubt it is. I think your recoil assembly is out of kilter a little bit. Just one small dent or bend can lock it up. Figure out if it is in the recoil or the engine, and we will go from there. RB

 

[Sleepergal]

I did try pulling on the rope with the plug out. Still locked stiff. I'm going to take the recoil unit off (again, sigh) and try turning the shaft by hand with th plug out. Maybe that and its 24 hour rest will help.

 

[Sleepergal]

No, thank heavens, it fell on the recoil side.

 

[Sleepergal]

Did that. Recoil rope turns fine. I can turn the crankshaft by hand, though it is not easy to do.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

Slide the cover back on loosely, don't put in any bolts. Pull on the rope and see if everything works without the bolts in. If it works, then it means it is binding when properly installed. I would put it on some type of support, recoil side down, and have no support under the recoil part. Then I would give it a few love taps from the inside toward the outside and see if I could alleviate some of the stress in there. Try it on the engine again, and see if it helps. Eyeball it real good and make sure you didn't rick it to one side or the other. Like maybe instead of smushing it down against the crank, it got bent over to the side a little. I have beat the heck out of many of them to make them work properly, and I have never had to buy a new cover.