OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Finding and Swapping Tip & Curb Side Finds My Victa And Some Hard Rubbish Finds

Good work Converse stemming the attrition rate that tiny bit.
We need to educate people that four strokes aren't new technology. If anything, two strokes are. A good powertorque is better than a good full crank a far as performance, especially on a thumb latch base.

I have had the same no speed control issue with my standard 2.

Was the needle intermittently sticking.

Fitting a plastic needle is fraught with problems no matter how genuine it is supposed to be. These things are hard enough to get right without fitting known problematic needles

I have 13 functioning powertorques and five Full cranks both 160 and 125cc, that work reliably with plastic needles. The rest that don't start have other problems.

Granted MF the original plastic needles seemed to work but once they give trouble it a real dogfight trying to get any replacement ones to work.
I used to have this sort of problem rebuilding Enfield motors. The drive shafts on a factory drive shaft had no runout, any replacement one had 20 thou min runout . The replacement ones were obviously the ones the factory rejected so these ended up on ebay and wherever

Ahh ok, that makes sense NormK. All the ones I've replaced have been scavenged off a wreck, so no aftermarket nasties.

Many of mine still have their original opaque white needles - which work fine most times.

Unfortunately, I bought about 15 orange plastic victa needles for $15 a few years ago. Will get some metal ones next time

The yellow ones are a waste of time

G'day Mowerfreak, Tyler and NormK,

Thanks for all the help it's great! Yes this was a great find Mowerfreak, it almost feels like a new mower. This find was a lucky one I don't think I will find one again in such great condition.

I did test the needle and float just by hand before I installed it and the needle was going up and down fine when it was dry. The only thing I am thinking is there was a couple of little bits of plastic moulding edges hanging on the end of the hinge on the float. I just used some small pliers to clean it away a little bit but I didn't clean it up properly. Just maybe the float hinge could be slightly sticking to the plastic rod on the primer cap? I might have to take the cap off and make sure the hinges on the float are completely free of any plastic bits where it sits on the hinge.

It only started doing this when the engine was hot after running for over 30 minutes or so. First I will try cleaning the hinges on the float of any plastic moulding edges to see if it makes any difference. If it's the same then I will try the original faded Victa needle and float that were in this carby to see if it runs better with them.

Cheers!

Since I have been able to get the viton needles I have never bothered trying to use the plastic ones even if the motor will run with the existing needle in it. I just bin them regardless, they are not worth the issues they have caused me over the time

G'day everyone,

Yes NormK I am starting to get the idea now about these new replacement parts for Victa's. When I got a new cap, needle and float about 10 years ago for my full crank I must have been lucky that they all worked perfectly together.

This mower is a different story. I was reading through the forums last night and I sort of have similar symptoms to this thread here:

https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/89958

When there is more fuel in the tank it seems to run better. When the fuel got a bit lower in the tank sort of at the same height as the top of the fuel tap filter, I think that's when mine started to surge and rev faster on it's own, except mine doesn't cut out it just keeps revving, almost comes to a complete stop, then starts to rev up fast again.

Would running a slightly longer fuel line and directing it to the carby inlet from the bottom help with the flow when the tank is lower on petrol? I have tried to run the line as short and direct as possible from the tank to the inlet thinking this will help with the fuel flow.

I have installed a brand new yellow handle Victa fuel tap and filter which I bought from the mower shop. I told them that my original filter in the tank was the longer version. They told me that those older longer style filters were faulty and that these new shorter style gold coloured fuel tap with filter is the new Victa replacement.

One way of testing this is to get one of the red fuel taps that you can remove the filter from, clean the tank out and put a couple of hundred mm of fuel in it and see what happens, at least this will identify if the filter is causing the issue, if not I go back to the needle not allowing enough fuel to flow at a constant rate

G'day NormK,

Good idea mate I can actually just remove the old red fuel tap and filter from the other old powertorque mower that I have and try it out on this mower to see what happens.

Cheers!

Not a blocked breather in the cap by any chance?

Tyler I doubt it, it is this problem of using half a tank then it starts playing up that is confusing, vacuum lock would cause problems much earlier

G'day everyone,

Thanks again for all the help I will have a look at that Tyler, but yes as NormK said I am pretty sure it started to surge and rev up on it's own after about 30 minutes of mowing when the fuel level dropped a bit.

I might go out and have a look at it now. I will actually remove the fuel line from the carby and check how it's flowing with the cap on tightly then with the cap loose and removed to see if there is any difference in the flow of petrol.

I actually did think to myself gees I went through all that petrol pretty fast. So I had a look in the tank thinking it was empty and no it still had quite a bit of petrol left. The fuel level was about to the top part of the fuel filter in the tank.

Cheers!

G'day everyone,

Well I had a look at it and checked the flow of fuel with the petrol cap on tightly and with the cap removed. It seems to be flowing at the same rate. So I think the cap is venting ok. I did notice though as the tank was getting lower and lower the fuel flow was also getting slower and weaker, sort of like the filter is slowing it down somewhat.

I had a close look at the fuel tank on this mower and it looks like you can never actually use up all the fuel in the tank by design. It has like a lower moulded section which is like a little lake where some fuel will sit. This is lower than the section where the fuel filter sits and it will never be drawn into the fuel line.

Another thing I have noticed with this straight intake manifold Powertorque 2 engine is if you look at the height from where the fuel outlet is on the tank to where the inlet sits on the carby it's only just a little bit lower than the tank. I mean these things don't have fuel pumps they are really just flowing the fuel in as you would be siphoning fuel from a higher point to a lower point.

There is alot more height from the fuel tank outlet to the carby inlet on my 1982 Commando full crank. You would think this would help a little getting that fuel flowing a bit better than what they have on this later PT2 lawnmower setup. Also I know on my full crank tank you can pretty much use up all the fuel in the tank not like this newer design.

Anyway I installed another older style genuine Victa fuel tap with an orange handle which has the longer fuel filter on it as this tank originally had. I will test it out again one day and see if it's made any difference.

Cheers!

Hi Converse,

What fan shroud and top do you have fitted? When you use the straight intake manifold you need the higher fan shroud that lifts the petrol tank/top cover up be about 25mm so the top of the carby clears the underside of the tank.. If you don't have the right parts then you can just fit the off set manifold and then you have plenty of room and you then have enough height for the fuel to flow.

G'day everyone and thanks again for all the help with this, the great news is it's all sorted now. It looks like the fuel tap was the culprit. I changed out the brand new genuine Victa yellow handle fuel tap last night to an earlier type with an orange handle and the long white removable filter. Tried it out today and it just works perfect now.

Hi NormK I already had the top cover when I found this mower I just didn't have the original shroud for it as you said it was missing. I just bought a brand new shroud from a mower shop for about $12. It seems to be the correct part as everything lines up and sits in the correct spots with the shroud on the mower.

I took some photo's today of the mower now that it's all together and running. As a test I mowed another section of the yard with the fuel at the low level to see if it was going to surge and rev up again, I am very happy to say it never done it again at all.

This is the first time I have used another lawnmower to mow the lawn around here, and I must say this newer Victa powertorque 2 lawnmower just rips through the grass like a hot knife through butter! I don't know if it's the more power from these later powertorque engine's or if it's from the 4 blades on the bottom, it sure does make cutting alot faster and easier when compared to my original 1982 Commando full crank with just the 2 blades on the bottom! This mower is just tough and awesome!

I also took some video of the mower today and I uploaded a clip onto youtube, I filmed it at the lumpy tick over idle and a couple of fast revs before I turned the fuel tap off and stopped it.

Cheers and thanks again for all the help everyone it's awesome! Very happy to finally get this mower running perfectly!

Hi Converse,

it runs like a dream!! Thanks for putting up the video.
Tidy looking engine there. Excellent job resurrecting this into a near new mower! You've done really well!!
I noticed the whirr of the four bladed cutting disc.
Strange regarding the new tap and filter not allowing flow. Have you tried to get a replacement?

Glad it is up and running, it is those pesky little things that usually get these mowers dumped, people give up on them because of something simple, but as we know tracking the cause can be a problem and for most people it is too hard and generally mower shops aren't that interested, easier to sell them a new mower

G'day everyone,

Hey Mowerfreak thanks for that mate! Believe me I was smiling when I heard that engine running! I haven't even cleaned up the mower at all, it still the way I found it. I don't know about the fuel tap, I have used it now and I really can't be bothered going back to the mower store and asking for a refund, I don't want a replacement as they are all the same. It's funny as these are sold as genuine Victa fuel taps. But these new one's don't have any Victa stampings on them or any Victa part numbers at all. All they have on them is "Made In Australia" on the side. They are not like the earlier genuine Victa taps with the Victa stampings on them.

Also I noticed a little difference in the actual diameter of the hole where the fuel flows from the tap, the inner diameter of the tap where the fuel flows is just a tad larger on the older tap than on these new ones, it's not much really probably a bee's [Censored] difference. But who knows it's those tiny little differences and also a slightly less restrictive fuel filter that can make all the difference.

Hi NormK, yes when I saw it at the scrap yard I still can't believe how something in such good condition was just scrapped. I mean the deck isn't even rusted. I mowed my lawn with the blades that are on it they are that good. It has the longer style genuine blue aussie made Victa air filter in it. I don't have any long style filters here to change it out so I just left this one in it until I get some new long air filters. This mower also has a NGK BM6A spark plug in it as I found it. It runs great with it so i'll just leave it in there.

Cheers!

And I am very suspicious about that sort of thing with "Made in Australia" stamped on it. I remember years ago a friend of mine was in India I think it was at some factory looking to import some items and he was asked where he wanted it made stamped on the things

I'd rather made in New Zealand if I'm honest.

G'day everyone yes you'd think when you go to a mower shop and ask for a genuine Victa fuel tap and you pay that bit more for it that it will work perfectly. I have read on here that others have also had some issue's with the new yellow handle fuel taps being faulty.

Even with the one that I have used now it was luck that I even had it, I found a broken and crushed red Victa powertorque top cowl on the ground at the scrap metal yard and the only reason I grabbed it was because I saw that it still had the original fuel tap with the long white filter inside and the petrol tank still had the cap on it, as I knew the tap was broken off at the bottom on the red mower and I could possibly use this tap with longer style filter as my other scrap find was missing these parts.

Yes there you go anything you find for the old Victa's you should salvage, you never know when the parts will come in handy.

Cheers!

I've even used the bearing sets from worn out wheels. Even worn wheels can come in handy for temporary replacements for completely knackered wheels!

Hi Converse,
Without me going back over and reading the 5 pages on this, from what I recall with your new "Made in Australia" tap,was this the one that would allow half a tank to flow before stopping? If this was the case I would think the tap was not the problem if it allowed that much fuel through before the problem arose, my suspicion would be that the filter was causing a problem, allowing fuel to flow through the top of the filter while fuel was above it but not through the sides

Yep what Norm said or the cap breather is blocked.

G'day everyone,

Hi NormK you could be right mate, yes it was the brand new "Made In Australia" tap and filter I was using when this happened, like I said the mower was running fine up until the fuel level dropped a bit then it started surging badly and fast revving on it's own like it was running out of fuel or something. I checked the tank and the fuel level was about to top level of the fuel filter.

Hi Maxwestern, I did check the petrol cap that night after it happened and it seemed to be venting ok. I removed the fuel line to see how it was flowing with the cap tightly on and also with the cap removed. The fuel flow seemed to be running at the same rate.

But what I did notice was as the tank was getting lower and lower, the fuel flow was also getting slower and weaker, towards the bottom of the tank the fuel was just trickling out. No way near as much flow as it was when it had more fuel in the tank.

I took some photo's of the new tap and filter and also of the original broken one that was in my tank for comparision between the filter sizes. Also on the older style tap it's just a little bit longer in the thread area which actually makes it fit better in the tank when compared to the new one. These new taps are sold complete with the filter. You know I also have another new same yellow handle tap and filter which I haven't used, it's exactly the same as this one which I removed. I have a spare tank in the shed maybe I can try my own experiment on the bench to test the flow between this one and the other new one? Can you just use tap water for the test or should I use 2 stroke mix for the test?

Also forgot to mention the fuel tap and filter that I have installed in my tank now which works great is the same style as the broken one I removed and have pictured here with the long white fuel filter.

Cheers!

G-day Converse,
they have skimped on materials with the new one, for sure. Maybe try swapping the filters? They just slide off.
As for water, no no no no no no no. Fuel is a totally different viscosity with completely different flowing dynamics.

Hi Mowerfreak yes the older fuel tap sure does look more beefier in the plastic mould and it's got a slightly larger diameter pipe where the fuel flows. Also the earlier one's at least had "Victa" stamped on them along with the part number, the new one's are just delivered to the mower shops now in a large plastic bag with about 100 in each bag. I found a link to Bunnings that still has the older one's pictured that looks to be the same style as the one that I am now using except mine has an orange handle which is probably even older than these yellow handle ones. I don't know if they are still available from Bunnings stores though. It says you can special order it online maybe? I think I will check out my local Bunnings but I don't think they have these good old Victa fuel taps in the stores anymore.

https://www.bunnings.com.au/lawnkeeper-fuel-tap-and-filter_p3400383

Haha yes thanks for that on using fuel instead of water mate, that's why I thought i'd ask what I should use as I wasn't sure.

Cheers!