Hi group. I'm trying to get the neighbor ladys old Yard King rider
going for at least one more season.
It has a 11 HP B&S vertical.
It's almost impossable to start. It spits and pops while cranking.
I've cleaned the carb, and the fire is bright blue and strong.
My thoughts are, that the valve clearance has gone to nothing with all
the hours.
Can someone give me the clearances for the old 11 HP B&S Vertical ??

Thanks

Johnny

if it is a L head style the valve clearance is intake 0.005" - 0.007" and
exhaust is 0.009" - 0.011". if you need more info provide the model# type #
and code# off the engine.
with the L head engine the valves usually don't go out of adjustment but
the valve become burnt and fail to seal requiring a valve servicing.

I am not an expert, but with all the time I have invested in my Deere with a
K321, I have a little advice.

Make sure the Point Gap is correct, I found if the points are out .0025 that
it changes the timing. If they're out any further, you may not get a good
spark.

Make sure the fuel lines are clean and unobstructed.

just my 2 cents.

"Johnny" wrote in message
om...
Hi group. I'm trying to get the neighbor ladys old Yard King rider
going for at least one more season.
It has a 11 HP B&S vertical.
It's almost impossable to start. It spits and pops while cranking.
I've cleaned the carb, and the fire is bright blue and strong.
My thoughts are, that the valve clearance has gone to nothing with all
the hours.
Can someone give me the clearances for the old 11 HP B&S Vertical ??

Thanks

Johnny

Johnny,

Before you mess with the valves, you might want to check the
compression, then squirt a little oil into the cylinder,
crank a few revs w/o the plug to whet the rings, and check
again. If compression is poor it's either rings or valves.
If compression improves after squirting in that oil, its
localized to the rings. Of course, if the compression is
good, the problem is elsewhere.

Your problem could also be timing, which is essentially
dependent upon a good flywheel and key (ZERO damage to
both), the ignition coil air-gap, no rust filings on the
laminations (just clean them off), and correctly set points
- if there are any. Before pulling the flywheel I suggest
obtaining a new key - they are cheap and you might need it
for reassembly.

A new plug is also cheap insurance if in doubt.

If you are not an expert, it is also possible you missed
some deposits or something subtle with the carburetor. I
had a "master mechanic" do that with my Quadrajet a few
decades ago.

I'm sure I left out some stuff, but the above should be a
decent start.

Good luck,

Steve

Johnny wrote:

Hi group. I'm trying to get the neighbor ladys old Yard King rider
going for at least one more season.
It has a 11 HP B&S vertical.
It's almost impossable to start. It spits and pops while cranking.
I've cleaned the carb, and the fire is bright blue and strong.
My thoughts are, that the valve clearance has gone to nothing with all
the hours.
Can someone give me the clearances for the old 11 HP B&S Vertical ??

Thanks

Johnny

"Dr. Doctor" wrote in message ...
if it is a L head style the valve clearance is intake 0.005" - 0.007" and
exhaust is 0.009" - 0.011". if you need more info provide the model# type #
and code# off the engine.
with the L head engine the valves usually don't go out of adjustment but
the valve become burnt and fail to seal requiring a valve servicing.

Thanks Doc. I'll get into it and check the clearance this afternoon,
If it's not the clearance I'll pull the head and replace or reseat the valves.

As for the point gap . It's solid state ignition.

Johnny

Steve,

Do you know what a good compression number may be?



"Stephen Kurzban" wrote in message
...

Johnny,

Before you mess with the valves, you might want to check the
compression, then squirt a little oil into the cylinder,
crank a few revs w/o the plug to whet the rings, and check
again. If compression is poor it's either rings or valves.
If compression improves after squirting in that oil, its
localized to the rings. Of course, if the compression is
good, the problem is elsewhere.

Your problem could also be timing, which is essentially
dependent upon a good flywheel and key (ZERO damage to
both), the ignition coil air-gap, no rust filings on the
laminations (just clean them off), and correctly set points
- if there are any. Before pulling the flywheel I suggest
obtaining a new key - they are cheap and you might need it
for reassembly.

A new plug is also cheap insurance if in doubt.

If you are not an expert, it is also possible you missed
some deposits or something subtle with the carburetor. I
had a "master mechanic" do that with my Quadrajet a few
decades ago.

I'm sure I left out some stuff, but the above should be a
decent start.

Good luck,

Steve

Johnny wrote:

Hi group. I'm trying to get the neighbor ladys old Yard King rider
going for at least one more season.
It has a 11 HP B&S vertical.
It's almost impossable to start. It spits and pops while cranking.
I've cleaned the carb, and the fire is bright blue and strong.
My thoughts are, that the valve clearance has gone to nothing with all
the hours.
Can someone give me the clearances for the old 11 HP B&S Vertical ??

Thanks

Johnny

Briggs & Stratton gave me such a wide variance on it that I
didn't bother to write it down, telling me it depended upon
the temperature and so many other factors that the number
wasn't all that important.

I believe it was 60 - 110 or some such for the 11 hp motor I
had called about. What I do know is there should be enough
of a difference in the reading between wet and dry readings
to make a determination if the original posters problem was
worn or broken rings.

Best,

Steve

Justbrilliant wrote:

Steve,

Do you know what a good compression number may be?

"Stephen Kurzban" wrote in message
...

Johnny,

Before you mess with the valves, you might want to check the
compression, then squirt a little oil into the cylinder,
crank a few revs w/o the plug to whet the rings, and check
again. If compression is poor it's either rings or valves.
If compression improves after squirting in that oil, its
localized to the rings. Of course, if the compression is
good, the problem is elsewhere.

Your problem could also be timing, which is essentially
dependent upon a good flywheel and key (ZERO damage to
both), the ignition coil air-gap, no rust filings on the
laminations (just clean them off), and correctly set points
- if there are any. Before pulling the flywheel I suggest
obtaining a new key - they are cheap and you might need it
for reassembly.

A new plug is also cheap insurance if in doubt.

If you are not an expert, it is also possible you missed
some deposits or something subtle with the carburetor. I
had a "master mechanic" do that with my Quadrajet a few
decades ago.

I'm sure I left out some stuff, but the above should be a
decent start.

Good luck,

Steve

Johnny wrote:

Hi group. I'm trying to get the neighbor ladys old Yard King rider
going for at least one more season.
It has a 11 HP B&S vertical.
It's almost impossable to start. It spits and pops while cranking.
I've cleaned the carb, and the fire is bright blue and strong.
My thoughts are, that the valve clearance has gone to nothing with all
the hours.
Can someone give me the clearances for the old 11 HP B&S Vertical ??

Thanks

Johnny

Stephen Kurzban wrote in message ...
Briggs & Stratton gave me such a wide variance on it that I
didn't bother to write it down, telling me it depended upon
the temperature and so many other factors that the number
wasn't all that important.


briggs doesn't publish compression specs because they have a
compression release and the number mean squat.
the valve face and seat wear, causing you to lose clearance. check
the clearance set them at .006 and .010.


as for the guy with the quadrajet, did the tech forget about the
famous secondary metering well leak???
Chip

Chip,

On an older 11 HP vertical B&S engine, are you sure there is
a compression release? Pulling a head on motor with good
compression sounds like a lot of work even if you have a
good mechanical background... .

Maybe rotating the flywheel with the plug in will give a
decent indication by feel on that compression, and if there
is a release you might just "detect" that too?

Most of my piddling has been on cars, but I would think
compression is as compression does where engines are
concerned - no? At any rate, I hoped my experience with
cars would carry over enough not to mislead the original
poster.

(...Quadrajet) did the tech forget about the famous secondary metering well leak???

He left the discharge check ball in the accelerator
passage. I believe that foam insert in the carb kits cures
a lot of leaking plug problems without the tech ever knowing
what fixed the problem ;-)

Best,

Steve

Chip Stein wrote:

Stephen Kurzban wrote in message ...
Briggs & Stratton gave me such a wide variance on it that I
didn't bother to write it down, telling me it depended upon
the temperature and so many other factors that the number
wasn't all that important.

briggs doesn't publish compression specs because they have a
compression release and the number mean squat.
the valve face and seat wear, causing you to lose clearance. check
the clearance set them at .006 and .010.

as for the guy with the quadrajet, did the tech forget about the
famous secondary metering well leak???
Chip

chip is right there is a compression release effecting readings at starting
rpms and that is why Briggs give no spec for compression. Instead you do a
cylinder leak down test.

Not only that, but when I re-read the original comment, it
didn't say the engine had any problems while running, just
in starting. I must have dismissed that point, so while the
problem effects compression, my suggestion to do a
compression check was a waste of time. What you and Chip
indicate is far more relevant.

Thanks for correcting me :-)

Best,

Steve

"Dr. Doctor" wrote:

chip is right there is a compression release effecting readings at starting
rpms and that is why Briggs give no spec for compression. Instead you do a
cylinder leak down test.