The mower has "gifted" to me by a friend who does not know maintenance from a hole in the wall. It sat a few years. Model #917257570 - Craftsman Lawn, tractor New battery, starter will engage the engine flywheel but, will not turn it. I took out the spark plug to avoid compression issues and went to turn the engine over (that is see if she's move thru the compression cycle) and, she will unhappily. Applying a pipe wrench to the shaft which drops out of the engine to the belt, I can (with some effort) crank the engine full cycle. My question: Should it require effort and how much? I can turn over the 8 HP snow thrower engine with the pull cord. Yes, this is twice the size but, it seems harder to do than I would have thought. - Is my battery weak? It was purchased new to start this effort - Could the starter be poor (that is, damaged and in need of replacement? - Could the engine be toast? Or, is it fine and would improve once fired up and run for a while ... as it has sat for a prolonged period? Because my friend knows no maintenance, I wonder if he caused some sort of engine issue. He thought he simply needed a new started. I don't have experience with assessing how "strong" a starter should be (this is a far cry from a car starter). As I said, It engages, just doesn't turn the flywheel I want to determine whether I go further with repair efforts ... I do not want to sink alot of $$ into this ... I'm at $100 and a days effort now ... and suspect that I will need a new carborator anyway. Thanks
Hi, it should spin over effortlessly. Check your engine oil level and pour a small amount of oil into the sparkplug hole and continue to try a spin it over. If the oil was low when you got to it, it may have bound up on the big end bearing. Regards Phil.
SOURCE: Lawn Tractor won't start Craftsman LT1000 17.5 OHV
you carburator just needs to be cleaned/adjusted, and if your original fuel filter isnt clogged and looks clean, leave it, but the air filter is a good idea to change at least once a year (grass shavings covered filters dont help the engine much).
SOURCE: craftsman riduing tractor turns over but won't
If you have spark and compression, the only thing left is fuel.
Check that fuel is being deluvered to the carb (remove fuel line to carb and make provision to catch ejected fuel. Crank engine. Fuel should be pumped from the tank and out the open line at a good rate.
If this checks out (or there is no pump fitted, but there is fuel issuing from the pipe), check the electrical connector on the bottom of the carb. There should be battery voltage on this conection for the engine to run - if not - that's the problem.
If that checks out, the cut-off solenoid (fed by the connection you just checked) is suspect.
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Likely for the same reason I can;t figure out my issue, I can't find the entry Longhorn294 is refering to ... Dhoa!
terrymboyer - thanks for the great advise .. wish I had it for myt snow blower ... as the repait guy said they'd clean it and when I showed up, they hit me for 189 for a new carb.
How hard or easy should it be to crank the engine by hand when the spark plug is removed. If it is overly difficult, does that point to an internal engine issue?
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