Dead Spot on Starter?

[OH10]

I have a 2009 Troybilt Lawn 'tractor wih a 17.5 HP Briggs and Stratton engine. I thought I was having battery problems cause after sitting for a day or two it wouldn't start. It would bump the flywheel forward about 10 degrees and then stop. Today I charged the battery full and tried it. It did the same thing. Flywheel advances about 10 degrees and no further. Does the same thing every time. If I move the flywheel by hand it will start. Is it possible to have a "dead spot" on the starter? Or is there something else going on?

Thanks,

Mikey

 

[Soundguy]

does the starter literally do nothing, or making a spinning/humming sound ( untill you advance the ring gear )

 

[ozley]

Some Briggs and Stratton engines the valves act as a compression release when starting. If not working it sound like you are having a weak battery or bad starter. The cure is to adjust the valves. I don't know your engine is like this just saying.

 

[kw22614]

try jumping a good battery straight to starter. could be a bad solenoid. think your 17.5 hp has B&S overhead cam, if so adjusting the valves (only 1 intake & 0nly 1 exhaust), as ozley mentioned, might also work. good luck, post pics and let us know the outcome.

 

[OH10]

does the starter literally do nothing, or making a spinning/humming sound ( untill you advance the ring gear )

Well, it advances the flywheel about 10 degrees and then quits. If I bump the key again it does the same thing. It seems like the battery just doesn't have the power to crank it over and over until it fires but I just put a full charge on the battery. Of course it could be a bad battery I guess.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Soundguy]

Guessing and volt meters lie when it comes to batteries. Load test them

 

[zzvyb6]

Bettery could be OK. A bad cable or a corroded ground or post connection could be high resistance and thus no power to the starter.

 

[skyhook]

Like others have stated, check for good connections, especially at the "starter solenoid", before replacing the starter, I would replace the solenoid, there fairly cheap.

 

[warment]

I had a B&S motor on a cheap Poulan Pro lawn mower that did the same thing. It is either compression release (adjust the valves) or the carb is leaking fuel into the combustion chamber and the starter doesn't have enough power to compress and ignite. Does yours leak/blow fuel out of the exhaust pipe? Mine did until I rebuilt the carb.

 

[Dave M7040]

My experience goes in two directions.
As the engines get older they need a higher CCA battery. At least 350 or more.
The cheap batteries with a rating of 230 just wont do the job as the engine ages.
Starter solenoids are also prone to fail. I replace them with automotive ones I buy at either NAPA or a starter repair shop.
Dave M7040

 

[warment]

Is this the motor your lawn mower has? Troy Bilt Pony Getting Ready For The Sea - Youtube Downloader mp3 If so (same as mine was), pop off the airfilter lid, look down into the circular intake, and tell me if you see fuel pooling in there.

 

[Walt 2002]

Most likely the valves need adjusting. I have detailed instructions for doing this plus a test for the compression release IF you would like them, address below, put in proper format and remind me engine model number and what you want.

Walt Conner
wconner5 at frontier dot com

 

[OH10]

Thanks for all the tips. I did clean the battery posts and I replaced the starter last year because it was doing the same thing then. The battery, a Walmart Easy Start, was purchased in Spring 2014. I will get it load tested because like you say anything is possible. I like the idea of the compression release being a problem. I downloaded the shop manual and will check into the valve adjustments. When I first tried it this morning it started right up, then I drove it from the barn to the garage and tried it again. Here is a clip of it (if it works).

 

[OH10]

Dave, I think you are right, this cheap battery is only 2 years old but I think it just doesn't have the guts to turn it over any more. I'm gonna do what you recommend and get a 350 amp battery.

Thanks to everyone for great advice.

Mikey

 

[mitch becton]

what youre doing by turning engine by hand is getting it past compression as stated before adjust valves is most common problem that fixes this had sears mower did did same once it was cranked up would work okay rest of day turned it pass compression for 2 years finally mower died now use push mower great exercise but hard during summer good luck

 

[OH10]

It was a valve adjustment. Thank to everyone for the comments and suggestions. For the life of me I couldn't imagine how a valve mis-adjustment could cause that. Besides, I didn't really want to get that far into it. But I had to bite the bullet, buy a feeler gauge and go to it. Took me two times but when I got it right it fired right up. Thanks again to everyone on TBN.

Mikey

 

[k0ua]

It was a valve adjustment. Thank to everyone for the comments and suggestions. For the life of me I couldn't imagine how a valve mis-adjustment could cause that. Besides, I didn't really want to get that far into it. But I had to bite the bullet, buy a feeler gauge and go to it. Took me two times but when I got it right it fired right up. Thanks again to everyone on TBN.

Mikey

If it is any consolation, I have a brand new starter still in the foam box. It was installed for about a minute. Enough to determine it was not a starter. Yes it was the valve adjustmet just like yours. Two batteries later and a spare starter to just find this out. You fared much better.

 

[k0ua]

By the way for those of you that don't know, all of the OHV Briggs engines have the "problem" They require periodic valve adjustment. It is easy to do. Small engine shops all make their living by doing this adjustment for engines that will not start. Some of them sell batteries and starters and then do this adjustment.

Batteries do go bad, (a good solar or trickle charger will help a lot with this) but starters seldom do. The starter relay contacts fail, but they fail because of this no start condition draws excess current and burn the contacts. If you mower won't start, DON'T think battery or starter relay or loose connection or starter first. THINK valve adjustment first, then if that is not the problem go down the list, with the starter being on the very very bottom of the list.

Switching to a battery with a larger current capacity may make it start, as well as getting a new battery may make it start, BUT the original problem is the valve adjustment..and you still have that original problem.