OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Engines Questions On Victa Two Stroke Engines Victa Full Crank Side Pulls (FCSP)

Hi,

A couple of these FCSP 's came up near me on Gumtree recently. These are so rare in Brisbane I went and picked them up.

One started up straight away with fresh fuel and in it I can get all three of the starter screws undone. Second one would not go and I can not get the lower starter screw undone. I have had this before and I think the problem is if the mower has been out in the weather water gets in on top of the flywheel and rusts this screw in from the inside. These were both full of water.

I did get it undone once before after cutting the cap of the screw off then, after breaking the screw trying to get it off was able to drill it out without only a little damage to the thread. Its usable now but not perfect. I used plenty of inox first.

I am faced with this again and before I do any damage I thought I would ask if anyone has found a way of getting these off without damage.. If it won't come off it effectively its the end of that engine as you can not replace the starter rope.

This FCSP would not start even with fresh fuel but seems to have some compression. Should I give up on this one? I have one good one.

All the best

Hi Jeff do you have an impact driver, if that doesn't work then you would have to resort to your previous method. Do you have a drill to spin it over? If you can spin it over check to see if you have spark. Then put a teaspoon of fuel in the plug hole and give it a spin. Then if it doesn't fire try a squirt of starter fluid in the plug hole and it it makes no attempt to fire, it very likely has been straight fueled and you can verify this by pulling the head off. Then you can decide if it is a give up one. Just remember they sell those pull starters for $50 and I know people who have paid that for them so that is worth salvaging. Coil is worth keeping as they are specific to the side pull and so is the module

Thanks Norm,

$50 really? I only paid $40 for 2 complete mowers, I might have another look. Not sure if I can get the starter off without damage if I can not undo the bottom screw . I did damage the last one slightly by cutting it off with the angle grinder. Its still usable but not worth $50. I do have a couple of good ones here though.

I'll try my mates impact driver. That's the one you hit with hammer isn't it. Probably should pull off the flywheel and try to get some Inox into the thread from the inside first. I should see if the motor is a goer first by trying what you suggested.

Thanks Jeff

Hi Jeff,

You can try the hammer style impact driver, but if you can get hold of a battery impact driver it's easier. They're like a battery drill but have an impact function - makes cracking flywheels nuts etc. easy so might be able to do what you're after.

Cheers,

John

Jeff as the last bloke who came here to pick up a sidethrow he needed another mower because his sidepull had broken and he had ordered one off ebay for $50 but it was going to be a week before it arrived. His wife liked the one he had and thought that for $50 to get it going again was a good deal. Not being able to start it meant it was a useless piece of equipment that might as well go to the tip

Thanks Norm & JDS,

I had a go with my Milwaukee driver. No problem at all it just undid straight away. Not having to turn it and the size of the driver makes it easy to hold the bit in the Phillips slots. I have had this driver a while but I have only used it for driving screws into timber which it does very well. I did not think it would have enough grunt to undo this screw which was pretty tight but it did.. I have broken off a few coach bolts etc with it over the years so it must have a bit of go.

I had a quick look at the rest of the mower. Its not the best, no spark at all even after I reconnected the low tension wiring.. Its actually on a PT base complete with the usual rust holes in the top corners. There is a rusty adapter that's been made up. It might go and I do have a couple of coils and modules here. There is some compression not sure about crankcase compression. The start compression relief valve is no good either but its just stuck on full compression. All in all not a high priority at the moment. Be better to sell the parts if these starters are worth that much.

All the best
Jeff

Hi all,
a battery impact driver, while primarily a driver will also make light work of undoing most fasteners.
Must make sure you select the right bit that will grip securely to the head, as a stripped Phillips screw is no fun.
Some penetrant is a good precaution if it looks extreme.
The main advantage is you have great control with downward pressure at the same time as twisting off.

I recently got a Victa Charger going. Very underrated mower.
https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/u...harger-1983-84-not-used-in-20-years.html

Hi MF,

That Charger looks very like the FCSP's that I have.They are "Silver Streaks" Nice to get them going as one of mine did easily.What then? Trouble is anyone that knows a thing or two will avoid them like the plague Old,. rare, difficult to get parts for and all the rest..

I guess that if you painted it up (one of mine has a perfect FC base) you might get someone who thinks its a Powertorque . Interesting one of these takes a PT catcher and even has the dimple for the 4th bolt but its undrilled. Must be a transition model.. Yet the specific parts are as rare as hen's teeth. Not hard to see what makes sense, depressing though it is.

Thanks all for the tip on the impact driver. Worked a treat.

Jeff

I found one two years ago and took the starter and wheels off it. It was in very rough condition so didn't want the whole thing taking up room.
Another time I found one complete and in very good cosmetic condition, but the handle knobs were seized so couldn't load it up in the car. I was going to go back later in someone's ute bite didn't bother. Wish I did as a source of bits if nothing else.

**Reason I didn't bother is because as a Victa enthusiast, I am passionate about the thumblatch high arch models and didn't appreciate how great these side pulls are and how hard they are to find, and I seemed to be coming across a few of these ungainly looking steel body models, giving the false impression they are a dime a dozen which they are apparently not. I have warmed to this model as they are made of thicker steel than PT bases and catchers are easy to get for them as so many fit it. Plus it's the last of the full cranks and the only one to be fitted to a steel body. Very historic model when you think it through.

Another point is that any of the catchers from the first of the steel bases will fit, even a catcher from a sidepull will fit the Tornados

Hi,

So the early side pulls had alloy bases and the thumb latch catchers. We had one at a holiday house once. A great mower that started really well when new but did get a bit temperamental later. Spark issues that were never solved, needed to clean the plug a lot.. One of the relatives dumped it.

Ah well,
Thats the way it is

Jeff

Jeff, I'm wondering if all those spark plug issues that used to be a problem with those early 2 strokes was caused by the quality of the oil being used in the mix. The occasional plug gets a hair across the electrode these days but I don't see the heavy soot build up that they used to get

The steel deck and alloy high arch versions were offered almost throughout the four year run of the side pull series FC. Only during the transition period in 1984 when the FC was sold alongside the newly introduced PT was the SPFC only offered in the entry level steel base I believe, from a brochure CyberJack linked to (see topic I linked to on 20 yo Victa Charger).
Another thing I like about the SPFC is it allowed for a very flat cowl to be fitted, resulting in a sleeker looking mower. This is probably why some people mistake them for a PT.
BTW JfB, any pictures of your finds?

Maybe Norm,

My brother swears by the Aldi Gardenline fully synthetic 2 stroke oil. No smoke at all he reckons. Trouble is being Aldi its only rarely available. I had a look at Repco the other day. Only fully synthetic 2 stroke oil was Penrite MC2T. Mainly for motorbikes I think but it says OK for lawn mowers. Its almost 3 times the price of their mineral oils. Take me a lot of convincing that its worth it. They have semi synthetics as well and the "Race Castor".

Of course Aldi is probably cheaper. I just buy BP whenever I fill up my tin at the local servo. Do not use much 2 stroke fuel except when I am trying to get one of my project machines going.

Thanks MF for the SPFC history. The steel deck looks just the same for both PT and SPFC except the PT has the centre cut out. Same die I think.

All the best
Jeff

Ok so here is a question to ponder, the F/C's had 2 depressed ribs down the length of the chute, some P/T's have this as well, but most P/T's have the recessed section running down the length of the chute. Are these the ones that were the start of the Chinese bases and the P/T ones with the ribs the last of the Aussie bases?

Hi Norm & MF,

Both these new ones the SPFC and the PT have the 2 ribs. The SPFC base is perfect but the PT base which had been converted to FC is rusted completely out. Just different circumstances I think and care in use. The PT base had been converted to take a SPFC with an adapter that looks like it was made from a sundercut disc without an oxy cutter too.. Very heavy, thick and rusty. But it would have worked I guess. Sorry MF no photos. I might try to borrow the wife's smart phone to see if I can. Unfortunately there has been some disassembly.

All the best
Jeff

I have a sidepull F/C that starts and runs fine but it has a strange noise, sounds like something is hitting, like the fan on the cowl but with the cowl removed the noise is still there. I removed the coil and fitted another one, no change, I changed the flywheel, no change. Any thoughts?

NormK, I suggest you try putting a length of card between the coil and magnets of the flywheel before refitting the coil, then remove the piece of card.
Maybe it's to do with the blades striking an obstruction under the base, like a lump of compacted grass clippings.

Coil isn't hitting MF and I have had the blade carrier on and off several times, I also spaced the flywheel up 2mm thinking it might have been hitting somehow but no improvement. I think it might have to become a parts motor, pity because it runs well, I guess it could go on a 24 slasher, noise doesn't matter too much on those.