I got given this sad looking mower this morning..... Step 1, water blast to see what's under all the gunk..... It's got compression, I will clean carb up, and see what happens. speedy
........................Keep your blades sharp......................
Good wheels on the junker. Upon close inspection, I see that it is the cheapest grade base where it doesn't even have the metal divider under the front to form a round cutting chamber. The Lawnkeepers by Victa are all like this. That's why I take some off old rusted out bases to put onto these.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
I took the carb apart, cleaned it and put a new o-ring on the emulsion tube. I attached the throttle control plate which was laying on the deck...... Took cowl off the clean flywheel area and clean rust off coil ends and flywheel faces. and blow dirt out of starter cup. Found some data on ODK posts on Tecumseh ,which are excellant..... Watched a few youtube videos on cleaning Tecumseh carbs etc. It started forth pull, and ran at half revs.. I let it warmup and run for a while and mowed some of front lawn or grass seed stalks..... I've just gotta read up on throttle problem, but it's a good problem to give brain a challenge. As we get older , we have to never stop learning.............. cheers speedy
........................Keep your blades sharp......................
Nice progress you're making speedy and I for one will benefit from this as I have three dead Tecumseh Victas waiting for attention but just not inclined to play with these unkowns even though they're a nice motor when they're going. I get frustrated easily and that's probably been the biggest dread factor.
Your topic here will help.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
OK I screwed in the idle screw, now I have 3/4 revs, which mows the lawn pretty well, but the throttle doesn't make and difference. It's like a new Aldi mower ,one setting fits all. Maybe the chondas increase power under load, maybe they just die.... It would make a nice present for a lady friend..... speedy
........................Keep your blades sharp......................
Tiny tube with many small holes above the main jet. Honda has a brass one that gets clogged up quicksmart - basically allows better mixing of the fuel and air without needing really rich mixtures.
Technically, tecumesh has a pretty basic plastic one, but anyway...
In fairness, what I have normally found is the main jet clogs after the smallest holes in the emulsion tube. So what happens first is you get rough running, surging, stuttering. Then if you leave it longer the jet clogs.
Now most people will clear the main jet alright, but forget about the emulsion tube. So they will usually get it back working - will run rough because it can't blend the fuel with the air as efficiently.
I reckon of the 50+ people I have helped with Chonda carbs who sort of knew what they were doing only 10 had the emulsion tube out or knew about it.
By the way - don't try to get one out of a Quantum - they are fixed in. I don't know if you can even call them emulsion tubes on quantums as the fuel doesn't really disperse until it hits the throttle butterfly - very cheap
I made an emulsion tube from a ball point pen tube.... The mower ran, and I mowed my front lawn. But for more revs I had to jam half a wine cork between govner arm and frame. Just a bit of R&D. It leaks oil from valve cover...... so I'll keep it for my lawn. I couldn't give it away as it would be hard explaining how to keep it running..... One mower centre here said I couldn't get parts for old Tecumsehs....... Mum always said I was a bit rough. speedy
........................Keep your blades sharp......................
Rislone stop leak (silver bottle with blue bit) works really well for sealing leaks you can't be bothered fixing.
Can get it about $8 on special and get about 4 mowers out of each bottle. But give it a really good run and flush as you have to use it every oil change for it to work. You want a clean sump so the oil doesn't go dirty straight away
I just hope he doesn't straight fuel it or lend it to someone who does. Some people don't get that all engines need an oil supply...one way or another.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
I have one of those Tecumseh 4 stroke mowers, and it too leaked from the valve cover. I am not a huge fan of all those stop leak in a bottle products. You can just take the cover off and make a new gasket. Either buy dedicated gasket material, or weet bix box cardboard works fine in areas such as this where heat and pressure are not too great. Of course, don’t think that the cheaper method works for things like head gaskets.....
Last edited by twostroker; 07/01/2203:32 PM. Reason: Spelling fix
I am pretty sure it’s a 4 stroke so it should be safe from that old chestnut of straight fuelling... But even as an avid 2 stroke fan I admit to having done it myself once.... Started smelling a horrible burning smell, immediately realised what I had done- 10 minutes on a tank of one third 2 stroke , the rest straight fuel. It was on a Powertorque engine on a really hot day, but after some oil straight into the plug hole, it was fine.
