Buying Advice Sick and tired of low quality riding lawnmowers

ETD66SS · Jul 7, 2019

So I attempted one more fix on the Kohler SV735S. I made a .010" thick shim for the starter, because it seemed like the issue was when the engine was hot, the Bendix would kick out and walk up the flywheel and bend the shaft.

I let my Dad cut lawn for about 45 minutes, then took the shroud off and took out the spark plugs to try and crank the engine over to check starter pinion to flywheel gear clearance. It worked fine, but it was turning pretty slow for an engine without spark plugs. I decided to put the plugs back in and try to start the engine when hot, see this vid: Kohler SV735S when hot - YouTube

The engine when hot is very tight, hard to turn over. The shim may have helped the issue of bending the starter shaft, but as seen in the vid, this is hardly a solution. What is going on here?

searcyfarms · Jul 7, 2019

the engine is obviously binding up the starter due to the compression stroke of the engine, i just replaced a starter on my son in laws deere ( 17hp ) briggs engine and it does the same thing, new battery, even with car battery it will lock and slip like that - this wont be a solution for your dad but i have my son in law rotate the engine backwards away from the compression stroke and it wheels the engine over fine and never stalls, the engines seems to stop right up against the compression stroke when rotating to a stop and then you try to start them, these little weak starters dont have enough torque to roll past it. I wonder too if because the new elements of lean emmisions there isnt some pre ignition detination going on that causes it?

its aggravating on his machine also we didnt bend a starter shaft that i know of

ETD66SS · Jul 7, 2019

searcyfarms said:
the engine is obviously binding up the starter due to the compression stroke of the engine, i just replaced a starter on my son in laws deere ( 17hp ) briggs engine and it does the same thing, new battery, even with car battery it will lock and slip like that - this wont be a solution for your dad but i have my son in law rotate the engine backwards away from the compression stroke and it wheels the engine over fine and never stalls, the engines seems to stop right up against the compression stroke when rotating to a stop and then you try to start them, these little weak starters dont have enough torque to roll past it. I wonder too if because the new elements of lean emmisions there isnt some pre ignition detination going on that causes it?

its aggravating on his machine also we didnt bend a starter shaft that i know of

The starter works fine when the engine is cold, cranks it over no problem. I'm wondering, do these engines have a compression relief valve? Maybe that valve isn't working when the engine is hot.

searcyfarms · Jul 7, 2019

i dont know if they do or not, i dont know about the briggs/kohler but i havent seen one on any i have ever owned over the years other than my ATV or 2 cyl. john deere!!!!

I have had two different type on my ATVs, one is part of the cam the other was a manual external lever.

4570Man · Jul 7, 2019

ETD66SS said:
The starter works fine when the engine is cold, cranks it over no problem. I'm wondering, do these engines have a compression relief valve? Maybe that valve isn't working when the engine is hot.

I’m guessing they do. I had a 18 hp Briggs vanguard on a generator that did. I got it for free because it was supposedly locked up. After I put a breaker bar on the crank shaft it wasn’t locked up anymore but then I could easily spin it over by hand. I thought it was junk because it had no comparison but after hitting the starter it started and ran perfect. It had to have had a compression release although I couldn’t hear it bleeding pressure and I didn’t see it.

tomplum · Jul 7, 2019

The drive is slipping, the starter is the old version. Once again, the new starter has 20% more torque and doesn't break the shaft. I left the OEM number in my last post. Buy the OEM should the machine be worth it to you to replace. The compression release is ground into the cam for what its worth.

Ricn · Jul 8, 2019

So does anyone know about that 2018 husky mower with Kawasaki engine? any experience? Wonder how good it is at that price point. Junk like others in that range or not? How about the transaxle, any good? My dealer has several so not flying off the shelves here...The factory sales wright up says they are about bullet proof but do we know anything different?

Ricn

ETD66SS · Jul 8, 2019

tomplum said:
The drive is slipping, the starter is the old version. Once again, the new starter has 20% more torque and doesn't break the shaft. I left the OEM number in my last post. Buy the OEM should the machine be worth it to you to replace. The compression release is ground into the cam for what its worth.

I understand about the new style starter. But before I spend money on that, I'm wondering why this current starter can spin (and start) a cold engine just fine but not a hot engine. Does this point to some other issue at hand?

Bocephous · Jul 8, 2019

ETD66SS said:
Is that a 2018 model? On the Husqvarna website and no Kawasaki for 2019.

It must be an '18 if Husqvarna isn't making them in that configuration anymore. I got the impression from what my friend told me that that is how they order them.