OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Walk Behind Lawn Mower Frames Victa Lawn Mower Frames Is this a powerTorque? How old approx?

Hi,

I recently obtained this mower as we a re moving into our first home from an apartment! I need to repair the starter recoil, but before I order anty parts I want to make sure that I order the correct ones!

Yes it is a powertorque, it would be worth making sure the spring etc is broken before replacing it, the rope may have snapped and the person that replaced it has not tensioned it correctly.

Thanks, yes, the spring is definitely broken. I took the covers off, tried to wind the spring one revolution "click" next rev "click" rinse and repeat

Picked up a used starter assembly from the mower shop, stuck it on, and she started first pull!

It sounds like it is revving really high at the "run" position, I just throttled it back when I was mowing, and pushed it up a bit as required. Is that normal?

Does it deliver the proper amount of power at full speed? If it revs higher than you expect even at idle, and lacks power as well, you may have an induction leak. If the power is OK, it may just be that you are not used to the normal speed of a Powertorque: 2 strokes can sound faster than they are, because they fire twice as often as a 4 stroke at the same speed. This can give them a rapid exhaust beat.

It is normal to set a speed with the speed control that delivers the amount of power you need. For light mowing you would probably use a mid-range speed setting. The governor will then adjust the throttle setting to maintain that speed. If you hit heavy grass, there will not be enough power available even at full throttle, so the engine will bog down. To overcome that, you use a higher speed setting when you are mowing heavy grass: the power the mower can deliver increases with higher engine speed. The governor will then adjust the throttle continuously to maintain the higher speed you have set.

It's got good power, I mowed the lawn of our house yesterday, the grass was up to my knee in the back corner (just moved in), and it had no trouble for the most part at half throttle, except for the longest sections, where I had to push it up a bit.

I might take a video of it later at full tilt and see what you guys think!

Just about all of the mowers I have had in the past have been 4 stroke, usually a brigs & Stratton motor, so you could be right about the sound of the PT at full song.

For a mower that I have only spent $40 on, it runs and starts better than any other I have had! First pull starts, every time, hot / cold, doesnt matter! I'm hooked!

It sounds as if it is running properly, but it is always possible that someone has altered the governor and it is running faster than it should. However your description of it dealing with tall grass with no problems sounds like typical PowerTorque - it is a big engine at 160 cc.

It could be a useful move to find another PowerTorque in your neighbourhood and verify that its speed sounds about the same as yours at full song. However if it responds smoothly to the speed control, and it starts and cuts like a dream, it seems you got a good $40 worth. Please don't forget to mix the fuel correctly, if you are used to 4 strokes. It won't last at all well on straight petrol.

Yep, used to mixing 2 stroke, every weedie I've had was 2 stroke, and the 50cc motor kit I had on my push bike was 2 stroke as well, so this is nothing new.

I actually mixed it to something in the vicinity of 20:1 for the first can, as I didnt know how long it had been since this was run, just to make sure that it's properly lubed.

The bottle of Victa two stroke oil I have, says I can run it at 50:1 if I wanted... Not sure I want to try that...

Glad to hear that Keith, running straight petrol would ruin it very quickly, and it happens surprisingly often when someone gets his/her first 2 stroke. The PowerTorque Engine Manual says 25:1, and I suggest you stay with that - the oil manufacturer's ambitions may be valid but since he hasn't done the testing and development that Victa has, it seems best to disregard them.

If the mower is starting really easily, it sounds as if the spark plug is in good condition. They don't last all that long on 2 strokes, and cleaning them isn't completely effective, but if you just wait for the mower to get a bit harder to start and just a little sluggish compared with the way it is now, you can take action at the right time. Incidentally sick spark plugs don't normally damage anything, they just annoy you, waste a lot of fuel, and cause you to wear out the pull starter.

I'll wait until tomorrow then if no one has posted anything more, I'll close this thread.

The funny thing is the oil is Victa Branded! I'll take a pic of the bottle tonight

Feel free to lock if you wish

Victa doesn't make oil, Keith, they just make a commercial agreement with someone who does. I'd like to think they wouldn't do this if they thought the product was garbage, but they aren't in the oil business - that isn't their expertise. Someone posted a picture recently of a small sprinkler branded Victa: you could even see the raised up section where the interchangeable brand insert went into the die for the casting.

Agreed, which is why i went to the "heavier" side with the mix.

Still I'll post a pic anyway!

This is it...

Victa FormulaV

Hi KeithP, yes no problems with running Victa (made by Valvoline) Formula V 2-stroke at 50:1, that's what the label says and that's what I've used for the past 6 years or so without an issue. I believe it is a semi-synthetic 2-stroke oil, it costs almost twice as much a a standard oil so there's no cost benefit to the 50:1 mix, but it certainly runs cleaner with less deposits and smoke than standard 2T oil at a 25:1 ratio. Highly recommended!

I like the smell of 2 stroke smoke, i get pretty sloppy with the oil and usually end up with something in the vicinity of 20 to 25:1 mix, I dont really trust running half the amount of oil in an engine that was designed to run 25:1 and when standard oil is about $7 a litre or so i have stuck with that

I agree with Joe. If you think an oil company would import a batch of Victa 2 strokes to its American engineering lab so they could test their lubrication needs (along with the needs of a multitude of other odd local engines made everywhere from Russia to Brazil), then you and I have very different ideas of what it is economically feasible for an oil company to do.

Decisions on whether to put the Victa brand on a flask of oil or a sprinkler, or the Holden Racing Team logo on a red and white jacket, are made by the merchandising department, not the engineering department. They are made for logical business reasons, and they rely on the supplier of the merchandised product to know its business.

From the Victa website regarding the Formula V 2 stroke oil:

Valvoline and Victa worked together to develop a range of
high-spec synthetic fortified oils that protect your mower�s
engine far more effectively than standard mineral-based
products. Using high-performance Victa Formula V oils
maximises your engine�s power output and optimises its
working life as well.

I think the key point is that Formula V is a reduced friction, semi-synth oil as opposed to mineral-only regular 2 stroke, thereby allowing a 50:1 mix to be used safely in Victa 2-strokes. Valvoline also have a standard mineral 2 stroke in their range which needs to be used at the 25:1 ratio.

Interestingly, I remember the Victa Twin 170cc and Lightweight 85cc engines were set up to run a 50:1 mix on normal 2 stroke. Why was that? Was it the comparatively small component sizes? If so, then why do 30cc whipper snippers often use the 25:1 mix?

Normally the development engineer has been given an objective for things like power output, and the engine has to pass a durability test that is standardised by that engine company and seldom changes. If somebody in Marketing decided that it would be good to advertise 50:1 petrol to oil, the engineer would look at his design, say "Hmm" a couple of times, possibly make a design change or two, then run the durability test at 50:1 to see what happened. If it passes the test, Marketing wants to do it, and it doesn't cost any more so Finance doesn't object, it's a done deal. Occasionally in small companies like Victa the engineer will run it as a sort of private project for some new model then ask Marketing if they would like to advertise it, after he's made it work. Marketing will not automatically agree, because then it becomes embarrassing if some of their other models or future projects can't reach the same standard.

To make a higher petrol to oil ratio work, you need to have lower-than-normal friction loads on the sliding surfaces. Experienced engineers normally know where the weak links in the chain are, and they can concentrate on those bits if they are trying to reduce the amount of oil. However it should be, and usually is, a planned project to move in that direction: Marketing, Engineering and Finance have to agree to do it, and then it becomes a part of the project specification that the engineer has to meet.

Just had a quick read so forgive me if ive missed something.

Two things, i doubt the spring in the starter is broken. If its been wound the wrong way the spring can come off and will not hook back on to 'wind up'. Only way to tell is to pull it apart. I think ive had one broken spring, plenty of jumpped off one.

Second thing is, did you put a new O-ring seal on the bottom of the replacement starter before you fitted it??? If this is a bad seal it will over rev.

Will also do the same if the bottom crank seal (its part of the bearing) is no good. Sloppy bearing is usualy the give away.


The other thing would be to check over the carb for cracks or splits or wear in the diaphragm cover or body.