OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Engines Questions On Tecumseh / Kirby Engines Giving up on Tecumseh!

Why are Tecumseh engines so problematic, finicky and extremely unreliable?

I recently purchased two late 1970s Tecumseh engines that were NOS "new old stock", still packed in their boxes. I realize that NOS engines can be suspicious, as often there is a very good reason why some engines have been shelved for 50 years and never used. But in both cases the engines ran for me. Then after a few days problems began to appear. Failure to start. Erratic running. Idling but not picking up. I think I've made millions of adjustments, even reset the timing, which seems to keep changing like the weather. Now they will not run at all, and worse still, they are leaking oil badly out of the governor levers. I had two earlier Kirby-Lauson VK-30 engines which both broke down shortly after being reconditioned. One ran for a total of half an hour then died. I've never had this problem with the many Briggs and Stratton and Southern Cross engines I have restored.

Is there something I am not aware of? Did Tecumseh start taking short cuts with their parts by the mid to late 1970s? In one case the crankshaft actually broke off below the key taking the flywheel with it. The metal in the crankshaft looks extremely brittle and crumbly. I think I could actually break this crankshaft in two with my bare hands if I tried. Extremely weak material. Also I have yet to see a Kirby or Tecumseh engine casing that is not as thin as paper and does not have thousands upon thousands of cobweb flaws that you just never see in other engines from the period. These engines were clearly made fast and cheap.

Anyway I'm not sure if I am just cursed when it comes to Tecumseh, or if there are other factors I am not aware of? Whatever is the case I am through with Tecumseh forever! After spending over a thousand dollars on old Tecumseh engines and parts, I still have not actually had one running for more than half an hour. I note on many other internet forums that Tecumseh have developed a bad name generally. Many people will no longer touch them with a ten foot barge pole. And I now join their ranks! The worst thing is I have tried to sell parts and get no offers. Clearly I am not the only one who is not interested! I will have to dump the lot, including a stack of old obsolete VK-30 parts. Nobody wants them.

Sorry vint_ mow I cant help, I do get the occasional Tecumesh on an alloy base Victas that are in good condition, dump the motor and keep the base. Can't say I have ever bothered to even see if they will run, always something wrong/missing on them usually with the carby so I don't waste my time.

Hi Vint_mow,

I totally feel your pain. Those leaking governor shaft seals that just never lasted. If you find a good going one you've hit the jackpot but the rest are simply good for recycling and not much else.

Basically every SB 45 I receive with a Kirby on it ends up with a Chonda put on it and now when you can get these import engines for around $135 delivered to your door, why would you ever waste your time on a Kirby.

The Briggs power plants are far easier to work on and that stupid design of destroying the crank seal when gaining access to the inner workings is just such a stupid concept.

I understand that a SB45 20 inch looks far better with the original Kirby and the large one quart tank mounted on them when restored but the Briggs is just way more reliable.

BTW I've got about 4 Kirby's that are just sitting around doing nothing and aren't good for much else apart from stripping down and using bits and pieces off of to keep other failing units going only for that one to eventually fail as well.

Yes I totally get where you are coming from.


Cheers,
BB.

And that is why the 2 stroke Victa is a far superior motor because it can also be used as a vertical shaft or horizontal shaft motor and will outlast all the 4 strokes by years Environmentally the demise of the 2 stroke leaves the world in a poorer place regardless of what the goody two shoes claim, it is a big con

You would have loved the Victa mower I saw abandoned on a street corner recently. It looked promising until I got out of the car and found the handles rusty, the base with rust bubbles all over it and a Tecumseh motor with missing fuel cap and busted pull starter. The nylon bearing wheels were badly worn and tatty as well. Absolutely nothing useful to be had from this mower.

Hi Norm,

I hear what you are saying but cylinder cut mowers are better with slower engines while 2 strokes are generally used in high revolution situations where power is what its all about while cylinder mowers require more slow and constant thus the 4 stroke is used in this environment.

BTW the 2 stroke was used on earlier SB's and Victa imperials but without much success, thus the move to 4 strokes until the end of their production.

Cheers,
BB.

2 strokes operate at lower revs too. I reckon a Powertorque would work fine on a Scotty, if the shaft could fit.

agreed, but they are designed to operate to their optimum in their powerband aren't they ?

I have only worked on tecumseh push mower engines. It was always the acursed carburetor that killed them for me.

The Vortex series from the 80s were designed to operate at lower revs by setting the poppet valve to a different set position indicated by a marker. You could just emulate that setting. I would love to see a Scotty c sporting a Victa PT with one of their distinctive plastic covers fitted, or even just the naked engine! It would certainly be unique.

MF a PT could be fitted but it requires a manifold to be made so the carby can be turned because the motor needs to stand vertical. Manifold can be made without too much trouble but fitting it to a Scotty is probably a bit out there

MF............Your mission if you choose to accept it is to fit a PT to a Scotty, I challenge you to do it and prove me wrong.

BB you are pushing the limits there, I would say I am probably the only one stupid enough to have done these modified manifolds. It was a total waste of time just to prove to myself I could do it

I came in late on Tecumseh line just as the manufacture went under in 2008-09 but of the engines that I have been able to repair as parts are hard to come by I did have any problems repairing once I had the parts. It seems that the Vector carburetor was a bit of pain. Now I do have one customer that has a TVT691-6008108 V-twin with twin carbs on a 2003 mower. It hasn't been a problem at all other than one carburetor wasn't choking correctly which lead to hard starting. Other techs that worked on it couldn't figure what was wrong with it. It was a simple teak of the inter carburetor choke linkage that resolve it.

Now when I was growing I had a guy behind my home that just hated Lauson and Tecumseh engines.But as I said of the engines that come into my shop I don't have problems with them except for getting parts.

If I was offered the opportunity to buy an NOS engine I would still turn it down due the parts issue. Just don't make sense to me to invite a problem of no parts. It sort like me having an old McCulloch chainsaw that was a great saw but I lost the chain oiler and had run around with a sprint can to keep the chain oiled all because they went out of business too. Now there is a new McCulloch company out there but they don't support anything the original company made.

It is actually a shame as most of the older equipment was made a lot better than today's equipment. Some of today's equipment is just junk even before they sell it.

I resorted to taking one of the engines to a mechanic who spent some time on it but, like myself, he eventually gave up. He simply shook his head at it. He said there is no reason why it should not go, but it won't.

I've got a couple of old H. G. Palmer bases here that I've lovingly restored to the best of my ability. I was determined to get at least one older model Kirby-Lauson or Tecumseh engine working on one of them, but constantly ran into problems. The carbys seem to be the biggest hurdle with these engines. The funny thing is I found an old Zenith carby here from a Southern Cross mower which was in bad shape. I fitted it to a Tecumseh engine and made up a wire and spring for the governor. It kicked off first pull and ran. I thought I was all set. Of course next morning I tried to kick it off and it coughed and spluttered. I finally got it running but it sounded really erratic. Next day I tried to start it and no go.

So I've bought a couple of old 200 series Briggs off of old Rover mowers and got them running. The bolt pattern is identical. I just had to buy some spacers to raise the engines a bit, as the shafts on Rovers were a fair bit longer. The great thing is the blade disks fit the Briggs shafts perfectly. Even the keyway is the same. I only needed a different centre bolt. My H. G. Palmer restorations will not be what I had hope for, but at least will work, and the bases and handlebars are all original. I can even use the old Conwire control levers for the Briggs engines. So all was not lost!

Looks like the Tecumseh bashers I have read from were right. Just a second rate Briggs useful only as a dinghy anchor!!

Not even heavy enough for that as there's too much cheap alloy in them

I don't like Briggs, but I don't like Tecumseh more.

For me it has become a case of "better the devil I know" than the one I don't. lol!

It was a small mercy that they are no more then!

Then you're going to have a real hate for those TTI 4 cycle handhelds that loves to burn up due lack of proper oiling.