OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums General Discussion Forum Power Equipment...Mishaps and Funny Stuff "Serviced regularly"

I would like to show some of the things I see at work, I think you may be shocked at some of them, or not. I will post them gradually.

I always like reading funny stories. Post away with photos!!

i have to admit i am guilty of such abuse also ( not nowadays though!)

Actually that 2nd photo is not abuse just stupidity. The blade and bolt is conpletely upside down. Thats the funny thing.

The story with these 3 pictures is a funny one. The carby is off a Briggs and Stratton generator. (Vanguard I believe). Anyway, he said it had been sitting for 15 years with fuel in the carby. He wasn't wrong. As soon as I opened the fuel cap, the whole workshop was filled with the dreaded stale fuel smell. Needle valve was welded onto the carby, had to be drilled out, all fuel line neeeded replacing, fuel tap needed drilling out, swapped with a second hand carby and now runs like new.
I remember comming home from work that day and still smelling stale fuel on my hands, even after washing my hands several times. Just another day in the business of small engines.

boy i hate that smell of stale fuel. best thing for stale fuel is use it to kill weeds, or start your bonfire.

Wow I must be sad then I love the smell of dead fuel,just makes me want to keep playing around with mowers more.

i have to agree with blumbly i love the stale fuel smell ,

Cool I'm glad I'm not the only one.

Rust in fuel drum = bypasses fuel filter = orange coloured fuel in carby.

Interesting photos! Before I learnt about small engines I used to get the mower serviced. It would sometime come back with loose cowlings or screws missing. I never complained because usually the mower had stopped working and I was happy to get it back so that I could continue to cut the lawn. I now realise that the place I took it to probably spent a few minutes blowing out the gunk from the carby and just slapped it back together. The bloke called it a service and I guess it was sort of.

Yeah some mower places are very dodgy. Be careful.

As for the pictures, there is plenty more to come.

This is what happens when you run an engine wihout oil. At least the customer admitted it.
Topping the oil back up, was not enough to save this engine.

This picture is off a brushcutter that came in for a service.
Once I pulled on the HT lead even slightly it broke in two.

Well That's Not good!

I've seen Machines that haven't had an Oil change since new.. And That were 10 or 15 years old.. When You drain and do a flush Lumps Come out... Amazingly though.. Both of the Engines (Briggs obviously) Ran Great and kept the oil Clean..

Kori

Stored in a Chook House??

Poor Old Honda




Picked this up Yesterday....looks like its been used as a chicken roost??

I doubt the guano has done much harm - less than would have been done if it had been stored out of doors - but it looks as if its best years were behind it before it was turned over to the chooks. For the base to be plated up like that, on a 4 height lever Honda, it has really done some work or picked up a rather big rock. Should be good for spare parts, though. Pity it only has one hubcap - those things are rare and expensive for that model. Mine runs around hubcapless, like a 1950s hoon's car.

Mine runs around hubcapless, like a 1950s hoon's car

hahaha good one , you need hubcaps ? or just a can of red paint !! i think i have some here from a few wrecked honda's . if you want them let me know i'll send 'em too you

Thanks for the offer vccomm, but that is a 4 height lever Honda - in other words, a Made In Japan one. The Australian-made Hondas (in other words, all of the single height lever ones) have different hubcaps that are not scarce. I understand Honda no longer supplies the hubcaps for the original 4 height lever model. I once saw an American on ebay with a few NOS ones for more than $20 each, but other than that I haven't seen them. Here is what they look like: the Australian one is on the left, the "real" one on the right. (That is the only real one I've ever had - it isn't much use by itself.)


If you have the "real" ones, I'd be very happy to PM you to discuss.

Having seen the carburetor with the dirty float bowl earlier in this thread, I can't resist talking about the one I just found this morning. I bought an old Honda GXV120 engine yesterday, because I wanted a few external parts from it. The seller (on Gumtree) said that it wouldn't start, it might be something simple, he didn't know. After stripping the bits I bought it for, and using them to complete and test another engine, I noticed that the air cleaner element and the interior of the filter box were oozing with black engine oil (it was far too thick to drip), and the operating lever for the coupled choke had been bent out of the way so the choke didn't operate. This made me suspect it had been burning a bit of oil. The sump wasn't dry - it had about 20 ml of thick sludge in it, but no actual liquid oil. However I don't think the oil burning was the main reason it wouldn't start. This morning I took a look at the carburetor:


The float bowl was more than half full of that black granular stuff in the picture, and if you look at the underside of the float, you'll see it was being held up by the pile of stuff so it couldn't lower the needle and let fuel in. I suspect that was the immediate cause of it finally giving up the ghost. I'm not completely sure of that: the idle mixture screw was missing as well, but that shouldn't have prevented starting. Incidentally, the bore and crankpin were worn far past Honda's service limits, and the top piston ring had a gap of 5.58 mm. The valve seats had worn considerably, and the keyhole valve retainers were worn to the point where they seemed to be at risk of dropping the valves. The whole cylinder block, head and crankshaft all had to be scrapped.

That poor Honda was like a loyal old dog that stays with its master even though he abuses it every day. If it had just quit running ten years ago instead of recently, it would have been in a lot better shape when I bought it, and the previous owner would have avoided producing a vast amount of blue smoke.

I work at a mowershop too, just finished my apprenticeship last year, I'll post up some of my favourites,

Improvised air filter on a Honda




Cuts lower in the middle than the outside


Leaves a strip up the middle


I love this one, This guy had a later model rover ranger (auto drive), he said he had put a greenfield disk on it. That was worrying enough, anyone who knows greenfields will know the disk is welded to the spindle I thought maybe he was confused with his makes. I looked under the mower and I found this...



Yes the spindle had been cut off (very roughly) and he had drilled 2 holes - off center at that!

This is my favourite, A quad bike came in, no complaints about the brakes but after a test ride i knew something was up, it was severely pulling to the left. after a closer look I couldn't see the inner pad. I pulled the caliper off and found this!



Yes they had worn through the pad, worn through the 4mm backing plate, and then worn about 4-5 off the piston.

started taking apart a Victa Powertorque I throught was siezed because the blade plate wouldnt turn. It turned out to be a pretty easy fix after a couple of hours work.
Check out how much crap was jammed in the flywheel and plastic cowling. I took engine apart and cleaned it all down. No scoring on the piston or rings so an easy fix. Thought you guys might appreciate it!


It amazes me how people dont look after there gear

Love the condition of this Suzuki.

Hi Mark,
Obviously a pre-loved machine!
I've seen better examples on a tip.....
Mark,