Hi

My first post. Hope this is the correct section to post this question.

I've recently gotten hold of a old suffolk punch petrol lawnmower. Was running ok and was looking forward to using in on my lawn.

Pulled it out of the shed at the weekend and thought i'd give it a good clean for the season. I decided the best thing to do would be to spray the engine, in fact the entire mower, in enginer degreaser, leave it running for a while then pressure wash it. On reflection probably not the best idea. The old saying goes "if it's not broken, dont mend it!"

Not long after i'd started pressure washing, the mower cut out and now has about as much life in it as a dodo!! There is just no spark at the plug.

I had assumed that water must have gotten into the ignition system and hoped that if i left it for a few days it would dry out and everything would be fine and dandy. But no! Three days later and still nothing.

Can anyone help? Do you think i have broken anything or do you think it is still simply damp and needs more time to dry out? Is there anything i can do to try and solve the problem or help dry it out? I have read about megneto coil but not sure what this is?

Any help much appreciated!!

"paulbed4d" wrote
My first post. Hope this is the correct section to post this question.

I've recently gotten hold of a old suffolk punch petrol lawnmower. Was
running ok and was looking forward to using in on my lawn.

Pulled it out of the shed at the weekend and thought i'd give it a good
clean for the season. I decided the best thing to do would be to spray
the engine, in fact the entire mower, in enginer degreaser, leave it
running for a while then pressure wash it. On reflection probably not
the best idea. The old saying goes "if it's not broken, dont mend it!"

Not long after i'd started pressure washing, the mower cut out and now
has about as much life in it as a dodo!! There is just no spark at the
plug.

I had assumed that water must have gotten into the ignition system and
hoped that if i left it for a few days it would dry out and everything
would be fine and dandy. But no! Three days later and still nothing.

Can anyone help? Do you think i have broken anything or do you think it
is still simply damp and needs more time to dry out? Is there anything i
can do to try and solve the problem or help dry it out? I have read
about megneto coil but not sure what this is?

Any help much appreciated!!

Probably still a water problem, if the ignition lead is as old as the
machine it's probably cracked and porous so if you can replace it you may
solve the problem. A spray with WD40 over the old lead may cure it (until
the next time).

--
Regards
Bob Hobden

In message , Bob Hobden
writes

"paulbed4d" wrote
My first post. Hope this is the correct section to post this question.

I've recently gotten hold of a old suffolk punch petrol lawnmower. Was
running ok and was looking forward to using in on my lawn.

Pulled it out of the shed at the weekend and thought i'd give it a good
clean for the season. I decided the best thing to do would be to spray
the engine, in fact the entire mower, in enginer degreaser, leave it
running for a while then pressure wash it. On reflection probably not
the best idea. The old saying goes "if it's not broken, dont mend it!"

Not long after i'd started pressure washing, the mower cut out and now
has about as much life in it as a dodo!! There is just no spark at the
plug.

I had assumed that water must have gotten into the ignition system and
hoped that if i left it for a few days it would dry out and everything
would be fine and dandy. But no! Three days later and still nothing.

Can anyone help? Do you think i have broken anything or do you think it
is still simply damp and needs more time to dry out? Is there anything i
can do to try and solve the problem or help dry it out? I have read
about megneto coil but not sure what this is?

Any help much appreciated!!

Probably still a water problem, if the ignition lead is as old as the
machine it's probably cracked and porous so if you can replace it you may
solve the problem. A spray with WD40 over the old lead may cure it (until
the next time).


It *does* sound like it's still a water problem .... or the lead may
have become disconnected inside the machine as happened to me with my 15
y.o. ATCO. I took it to the local specialist who fixed it in no time at
very little cost.... a bit of a nuisance but worth the hassle.

--
Gopher .... I know my place!

It *does* sound like it's still a water problem .... or the lead may
have become disconnected inside the machine as happened to me with my 15
y.o. ATCO. I took it to the local specialist who fixed it in no time at
very little cost.... a bit of a nuisance but worth the hassle.

--
Gopher .... I know my place![/quote]

Cheers guys that is what i thought. im going to remove the electronic ignition until this weekend and give it a good dry out.
Prob is that it is located behind the flywheel. Anyone have any ideas how to removw the flywheel?

Ta

"paulbed4d" wrote
It *does* sound like it's still a water problem .... or the lead may
have become disconnected inside the machine as happened to me with my
15
y.o. ATCO. I took it to the local specialist who fixed it in no time at

very little cost.... a bit of a nuisance but worth the hassle.

Cheers guys that is what i thought. im going to remove the electronic
ignition until this weekend and give it a good dry out.
Prob is that it is located behind the flywheel. Anyone have any ideas how
to removw the flywheel?

The flywheel is normally on a tapered shaft with a key so tapping it gently
around the edge with a wooden or leather mallet should loosen it once you
have loosened the nut (don't take it off or you could damage/break the
flywheel as it hits the ground!) and don't lose the key.
Something else whilst behind the flywheel, the ignition is usually activated
by a pushrod working on a cam and sometimes this pushrod gets stuck (rusted)
in the up position, so make sure it's free and working OK.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden

In article , Bob Hobden
writes


The flywheel is normally on a tapered shaft with a key so tapping it gently
around the edge with a wooden or leather mallet should loosen it once you
have loosened the nut (don't take it off or you could damage/break the
flywheel as it hits the ground!) and don't lose the key.
Something else whilst behind the flywheel, the ignition is usually activated
by a pushrod working on a cam and sometimes this pushrod gets stuck (rusted)
in the up position, so make sure it's free and working OK.

And if you've gone that far it would be a good idea to clean the points
and check the gap.

Roy.
--
Roy Bailey
West Berkshire.

"paulbed4d" wrote in message
news

It *does* sound like it's still a water problem .... or the lead may
have become disconnected inside the machine as happened to me with my
15
y.o. ATCO. I took it to the local specialist who fixed it in no time at

very little cost.... a bit of a nuisance but worth the hassle.

--
Gopher .... I know my place!

Cheers guys that is what i thought. im going to remove the electronic
ignition until this weekend and give it a good dry out.
Prob is that it is located behind the flywheel. Anyone have any ideas how
to removw the flywheel?


The flywheel needs a puller to remove it, and in any case you won't dry
anything by removing it that wouldn't have been dried by now. Have you taken
the plug out yet? turning over the engine with the plug out may disgorge
water from the plug hole. I think you've power washed it into the air
intake. I know you said there's no spark at the plug, but are you sure? It's
not a big spark and easily missed in daylight.

Steve

Hi Steve, thanks for the response.
I didn't power wash top of the engine, carb, air filter, only around the base of the engine block.
There is deffo no spark. I'd heard that the magneto coil etc benefits from a good dry out. Is that not your experience?
The mower has been in the shed. Its dry in there but its been pretty cold. I suppose is possible it still could be damp?
I could be coincidence and just need a new spark plug. I'll get one first before i start dismantling!
Flywheel puller? I'll google it see what one of those is.
Thanks again
Paul

Dont suppose anyone could tell if this is the flywheel puller i need?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Briggs-and-Str...2%7C240%3A1318

You should be able to hire one from a hire shop, you will need to know the f/w diameter. But as Bob Hobden said taping around the edge using a mallet or a hammer with a piece of wood between it and the f/w should do it if it's not too tight.

"paulbed4d" wrote in message
news

Hi Steve, thanks for the response.
I didn't power wash top of the engine, carb, air filter, only around
the base of the engine block.
There is deffo no spark. I'd heard that the magneto coil etc benefits
from a good dry out. Is that not your experience?
The mower has been in the shed. Its dry in there but its been pretty
cold. I suppose is possible it still could be damp?
I could be coincidence and just need a new spark plug. I'll get one
first before i start dismantling!
Flywheel puller? I'll google it see what one of those is.
Thanks again
Paul


You can make your own puller fairly easily, it's just a flat strip of steel
with three holes in it. One is for the end of the crankshaft, two for bolts
to go into threaded holes in the flywheel. Note that the nut on the end of
the crankshaft is left hand threaded (3/8" UNF IIRC), and the holes in the
flywheel are likely to be UNC. This may have changed on later models, but
was the case surprisingly recently.

As for the sparks, the best way to test is by holding the plug lead near the
head whilst pulling the starter cord. It gives you a bit of a surprise, but
nothing dangerous. Of course, if there's a small child nearby who'd like to
yelp, sorry, I mean help.......

Steve

Update
Right folks.
Here is what i did.
New spark plug. New HT lead cap.
Recoil starter off. Flywheel off. Used a wooden spoon of all things to prize it off.
Removed magnito. Half an hour on it with wife's hair dryer.
Dried out inside of flywheel. Reassembled and hey presto!!
Started first time!!
Thanks for the help guys