OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Engines Questions On Victa Two Stroke Engines Victa Charger 1983-84: Not used in 20 Years.

NormK, it's a shame geography prevents me from replacing a few hi arch alloy frames with badly worn left hand edges. It's tragic that you take ones in such sound condition to the tip, while I have to resort to using Selleys knead it to hide flaws in mine. It's very good stuff, but nothing beats original aluminium.

MF a pile of good high arch bases have gone to a good home and not to the scrap bin, but I found another 2 later in the afternoon. Just means now I have a pile of motors that I need to check, but the motors don't take up as much room as complete mowers so that is a bit of a win.

Well NormK, I tested the spare module I scavenged from a seized PT and we finally have a spark. Not a particularly strong one, but better than non.
We shall see how it goes in running the engine.

MF, when I tested the spark the other day on the full crank with the PT module the spark didn't seem strong but it certainly worked fine

That's funny that guy bringing back his mower Norm because it had no fuel,he will probably never check his oil level
and then bring it back when it won't start.

Any Victa alloy bases in reasonable condition I don't mind picking up Norm,I'm getting a collection of good thumb latch catchers just have to
swap out all the damaged bases.

Cheers
Max

Hi NormK, Maxwestern, fingers crossed it will fire up.
Wow Maxwestern I have spotted two I would love to get my slime riddled hands on (bottom right & 3rd from right middle row) and am wondering if there is a thumb latch self propelled and VC auto drive catcher among your lot.

Gidday Mowfreak and all, not sure whats a good abbreviation of Mowerfreak, Mowk,let me know if there is a preferred one.

Yes I have the thumb latch catcher for the self propelled and VC auto drive ,that image was taken a while ago when I gave a few catchers a wash.

3rd from right middle row, I should have the mower for that one somewhere.
It will fire up,just takes time getting everything right.
Cheers
Max.

Hi Maxwestern,
MF seems to be the consensus .

The replacement module has been fitted. Second picture shows the old one.

Well there you go MF, the old module was from a PT anyway. The original full crank modules were much bigger and used the 2 mounting holes.

NormK I don't think this mower got much use at all, going by the firm front axle, and the well preserved labels all over it. All the non rusting components look almost new, so unless someone straight fueled it in the past, the motor has plenty of potential life ahead.
Thurs is a very solid machine indeed and the rust is purely cosmetic. I might christen in Macca because I'm lovin it lol.

Only alternative is that Victa had run out of the modules they were fitting on the full cranks and these were the modules for the soon to be released or just released PT's and they just started fitting those

There was a window of time when they were part of the same catalogue. It stands to reason they plonked them on both engines at the time.

Hello Norm and MF, yes the larger 2 hole modules were found on both the Full Crank and the PT engines. They eventually went to the smaller single hole unit.

Hi BT, I have not studied it enough but I assume it was when they started building the PT's in China that they stopped using the module, only way I can tell the difference is on the non module type they have a black/white wire from the coil, with a module they use the brown/black combination

What do they use then?

MF the coil has the ignition trigger built into the coil the same as Briggs and all other small engines have had for umpteen years, Victa was slow to pick up on the design

Oh, neat. I might just keep my sole working Chinaman's Powertorque for collection purposes. That must explain the super strong spark it has.
I keep learning more and more on these things.

Well Normk, I put it together and finally got it going after discovering silt clogging the float chamber. After swapping the primer cap it fired up like it was used last week. Only thing is the cap o ring is allowing fuel to drip slowly, so will have to scavenge a better seal off a spare carby or order a couple of new ones. Where can I get them online for a good price, anyone? I'm running out of carbies to scavenge off.

I got dudded by an ebay seller in Melb when I got a packet of "O" rings from him, they were too thin and they would not seal up. When I bought all the primer caps and needles they came with "O" rings and I also bought another 50 or 100 from China and they were pretty cheap, can't remember the size but I wanted the thicker ones and they seem to work fine. I never reuse them,they always leak

*sigh* off to the mower shop then.

Have fitted a new primer cap seal fixed rattling blades with fibre washers.
Mower should run nice when I get the chance to try it out..

Hi folks.
It is now a runner. I mowed the nature strip with it. The weeds in the first pic were very overgrown and were the best part of a foot high.
Only problems are it over revs slightly at full throttle and it doesn't rev as low as I'd like at low throttle, but it has a sweet harmonic sound to it, which suggests this engine hasn't seen much use since new, in keeping with the unworn, though rusty body.
It's like having an old mower with rebuilt engine that hasn't been rebuilt.

MF, did you modify the carby, if it is still revving to high at idle it needs another washer under the cam.I sold one yesterday that had the same top, I had completely stripped and repaired the body and as you say it felt like a brand new mower because everything felt so solid and smooth

No Norm, just as it left the factory. It's not too bad really. I would rather just leave it alone until it gets worse, but throttle control requires very ginger movements. I'll put up with it.
I'm thinking of parting it out. It's a good mower but this model doesn't attract bids in Ebay (I have watched a couple), even though it's a good workhorse. Probably it's looks only a mother could love.
It has so many pristine body parts such as the hubcaps and bushes. The rear axle still has shiny new looking metal.

MF I was watching the bloke mow his lawn with the one I sold him the other day (same as the one you have) and it looked like any other mower that was working as it should.Most people I deal with are not impressed by what it looks like but how it performs. The sidepulls are a bit of a ratty design, but as long as they start the motor that is all they want, a cheap mower that cuts the grass. Most of the time I just put these motors on big slashers or little sidethrowers. Even if I end up with some of these that are trashed, there is always a bucket of parts I can scavenge, coil, module,snorkel,carby, handelbar bolts, blade carrier, often with good blades.

I found this YouTube clip of the same model as mine.

G'day everyone,

Cheers Mowerfreak for posting this video of the beast, it's just like my mower only the fuel tank cowling is slightly different. I reckon they are an awesome mower, well I am a bit biased as you could imagine..lol. Listen to that beefy tough engine mate there is nothing like it!

This thread was a great read for me Mowerfreak as my mower is very similar to this one you have, I used that link that Cyberjack added to the Victa codes at the start of this thread and I found my own Victa code in there. My original Victa code is "VJ165A1". It says it's a "1982-83 Commando". Which is spot on. Because I remember as a kid me and my dad picked it up from the local Myer store back then brand new.

I'm wishing I still had the Waltons store brand Celestial 160 my dad bought in the late 70s. It went missing in 2001 sadly, during a move.
After looking up the code book Cyberjack linked to, I found out this mid arch alloy deck mower dated from 1976 and I have vague memories of dad unboxing it, probably in 1977 sometime when I would have been a four year old attending preschool. The last time I used it would have been about 1996 after having mowed our lawn and others with it since about 1987 when I was first allowed to use it, and then it was stored thereafter. It was a reliable machine but would never start first pull. It always required at least a second pull. It had a carburettor overhaul at A&E mowers in Epping NSW (later Vince Duffy Mowers before closing down in there 1990s) in the early 1980s after it wouldn't start. This included receiving the white primer cap to replace the grey primerless cap. That would probably explain why it wouldn't start lol.