OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Engines Questions On Victa Two Stroke Engines Starter not catching - Engine not kicking over

Hi NormK,

I did spray starter fluid and try the plug which I know did spark previously (Out of the head), but when I attempted to pull start it at that point, the pull start mechanism started giving me grief. When I mentioned above trying the starter and it looking like it's working OK, that was before putting SYB in.

From memory, when I looked at the skirt yesterday I saw what looked to be normal vertical wear marks up and down the piston, no gouges, scrapes or damage, but I'll confirm tonight and send through a picture.

Any idea about what's plugging up that port/vein in the starter? Ever seen that before?

Paul any vertical marks on that part of the generally mean the motor has been straight fueled I'm afraid. As for what is in the starter I can't help, if I have a starter problem I just grab another one off the shelf, I don't bother looking at them

Hi Normk,

Please see the images below, one before and the other after wiping away a bit of the oil on the piston. You'll see that my finger didn't get all the way to the edge of the piston but you should see that most of what's there isn't bad and is wiping off, I don't imagine those would cause any major issues.

As for the starter, I don't have a spare, I might need to get one, but I will try oiling the one I have as well, see how it goes, maybe replace the seal on the starter shaft.

Cheers,

pau13z

Paul, something makes those marks even if they are only oil marks, they just don't happen. I guess you will have to pull the head off again and thoroughly inspect the bore, sorry but it is the only way to put it to rest one way or the other

On the flip side, here's my mower's piston in the photo attached.

Mega scoring, carbon buildup and discolouration. 80 psi and runs like a champ. Starts first time, every time.

Going to clean it up over winter and replace the piston and rings, "just because". 😊

It is always something that has confused me with these motors that won't start that have been straight fueled, they often have reasonable compression.

They certainly have character, both in operation and in trying to diagnose problems!

They are a superior/more reliable motor than the full crank, but they have greater issues once they have been straight fueled. The advantage of the full crank for me is that if a motor has been straight fueled, I can swap over a good barrel and piston, give it a hone, new set of rings and away it goes again. Makes it easy when you have a lot of motors to mix and match with and time no longer means anything to you any more

Hi all,

Fyi, I tried drilling out that vein that was blocked in the starter and it looks like there was a manufacturing fault. Drilling though, a lot of it seems to be solid alloy.

Still working to resolve this one. At this point I'm thinking it's the spring, or that the starter plate (Between the starter body and the spring/spring housing) isn't there.

I'll let you know how I go.

Cheers,

pau13z

OK, so an update.

As per my other post, I had some issues with the flywheel. I believe these issues were what was causing the pull starter to slow and become difficult to pull.

Also, I added the plate to the starter, under the pulley, to stop the spring catching. I haven't fired it all up yet, but so far so good...ish.

I found when testing it dry, the pull start will rotate all the way if pulled slowly. However, if I pull the pull starter too quickly, it locks up and completely stops moving, almost like a car seat belt, OK when slow, locks when fast.

Has anyone experienced that or does anyone have any ideas as to what might be happening?

I'll test the mower when it's not 3 AM and let you all know how it goes.

Cheers!

that plate is necessary.
speedy

If the blade carrier is loose or not fitted it can dislocate you fingers

G'day everyone,

I have a powertorque mower sitting outside that currently has no blade carrier fitted. If I try the pull starter I get the exact same description as you are saying Pau13z, If I pull the starter slowly it will rotate, but if I go fast it will lock up like a car seat belt.

As NormK mentioned also, I think you have to make sure all the weights and the flywheel and also the blade carrier assembly is all fitted and secured properly, as this is the balance for the engine. It's also needed for the starter to work properly.

I tried removing the spark plug from the engine oustide as a test and it turns over real easy with no spark plug fitted and no blade carrier fitted.

If you have installed the flywheel, weights and the blade carrier securely and you still get these symptoms, maybe try removing the spark plug to eliminate the compression in the engine and see if it still locks up at all while using the starter.

Cheers!

I guess as a long shot and the motor had really good compression and the decomp valve was stuck shut ( I have never seen one do this) this could cause the symptoms described but I doubt it very much

Hi Converse and thanks for everyone's replies.

I fitted the blade carrier and the engine rotated normally and I got it to fire. So it looks like the issues in this case were the plate not being in the starter, the flywheel weight being loose, and the blade disc not being on.

Thanks for everyone's help :-)

Cheers,

pau13z

G'day everyone,

Hi Pau13z that's great news mate! Glad to hear it's working great now.

Cheers!