More engine trouble

[FIRESMOKE]

Some of you may have seen my earlier post in the chainsaw section about my 046 laying an egg, well now my splitter has died a slow painfull death as well. My splitter is White brand with a 9 horse tecumseh. I have been battleing with it for almost a year, had the carb rebuilt new , fuel line , the valves checked and the cylinder looked at. I had it at two different shops and also a guy from work tinkers with engines and him give the once over as well, and it still ran like s*%!. It will not start unless you take the plug out and put a few drops of gas in. Then when it starts it will not idle and will not run at full throttle either. The only way to keep it running was to have the throttle on wide open and the choke half open . Set like this it ran at about half the RPM's and revved up and down. Even when warmed up still had to go the same steps. Now my questions should I do a complete top to bottom rebuild replace the engine with a new one or...... I have a Honda 5.5hp motor with a slightly smaller shaft size that I can adapt with a coupler that I could put on it. I would have to have somene else do the rebuild but a swap i could do. I forgot to mention that this machine is about 10 years old.

 

[Aaron B]

I have a Huskee 20 ton splitter that had a 5 hp Tecumseh with the same problems you described. If it sat for a long time, you would have to remove the plug and then put it back on, then it would fire up. I finally got tired of messing with it and put a 5.5 Honda engine on it, as you are thinking of doing. I would recommend it, I haven't had any problems with it since.

 

[FIRESMOKE]

My only concern is that changing from 9 horse to a 5.5 will slow down the cycle time alot or be under powered for knotty , twisted pcs.

 

[John D]

My only concern is that changing from 9 horse to a 5.5 will slow down the cycle time alot or be under powered for knotty , twisted pcs.

The China Honda knock offs are cheap enough to try a 9 or 11 hp .

Here is a 9 for under 2 bills
http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?UID=2009012207384517&item=28-1676&catname=engines

Here is an 11 w electric start for just over 2 bills.

http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?UID=2009012207384517&item=28-1677-E&catname=engines

Either would give you enough power to run what you got. A lot of guys are buying the 13hp version,splitting the cases,machining the crank to fit the factory clutch,removing the governor gears and fitting them to golf cars with worn out 9hp Kawi and Yamaha engines. The China hondas have been holding up great in them,even with the governors removed,and revving them well over 4000RPM.
BTW surplus center iso ne of my favorite places,along with Baileys and Northern.:greenchainsaw:

 

[FELLNORTH]

i would say replace the tecush:censored: t engine aud put on a honda.
there is also the honda clone thing, there are 3 or 4 companys copying honda stuff. they seem to go allright and are alot cheaper.

 

[FIRESMOKE]

I already have the 5.5hp honda , I bought it from one of my customers at work. It came from a snowblower that he hardley used. My guess is that it is a Home depot model. It only cost me $50.00 so i figured I can't go wrong.

 

[beerman6]

John D,are there any forums to check out the Golf Cart motor swaps?
I've been thinking about doing that to my Yamaha.

 

[FELLNORTH]

I already have the 5.5hp honda , I bought it from one of my customers at work. It came from a snowblower that he hardley used. My guess is that it is a Home depot model. It only cost me $50.00 so i figured I can't go wrong.

do you know if it is a gx5.5 or a gn5.5?
the gx is a long life engine and is high quality.
the gn is more a lesser quality piece

 

[John D]

John D,are there any forums to check out the Golf Cart motor swaps?
I've been thinking about doing that to my Yamaha.

try buggies unlimited. I am a member there. I am a golf course superintendent FT,so I have lots of golf cars and 157 acres worth of woods.


There is a member there ,his user name is bihmo123, send him a pm and read his posts,he does the machining on the cranks,and offers complete kits.


http://server1.buggiesunlimited.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=48861&highlight=china+clone

 

[beerman6]

Thanks,I'm a member there also...if only I could remember my screen name... :monkey:

 

[John D]

do you know if it is a gx5.5 or a gn5.5?
the gx is a long life engine and is high quality.
the gn is more a lesser quality piece

Either way it isnt enough power,esp when he hits a knot,it will overload the engine,probably stall it if he dont let up on the lever. A GX 160 is great engine,but its only 160cc. Sell the 5.5,and buy an 8hp minimum(240cc) OHV.

 

[Zodiac45]

I know you said you had the carb rebuilt but your problems really sound like fuel issues. Have you tried adjusting the carb's needle valve? After the rebuild was it better, same or worse? I'd try another carb before trashing the engine. There should be loads of them around.

 

[Stihl310]

I work at MTD, and originally the Tecumsah's were being used, however from what I heard they quit manufacturing them. So MTD is now having to use these China engines to get by. However I have heard nothing but good things about the engines. You should be able to get on MTD's website and do a search for the engine you'd want to upgrade to. Like I said there are a ton of those engines out there and there haven't been any problems yet, after all they are an older Honda engine design.

Good luck

 

[FIRESMOKE]

Right after the rebuild it did work better but only took a week or so for it to go bach to the same thing. I am going to try and get in my Dad's garage this weekend (heated) and spend some serious time with it. Thank's for all the replies so far.

 

[beerman6]

Kinda sounds like its sucking air from someplace other than the carb.

 

[Zodiac45]

Right after the rebuild it did work better but only took a week or so for it to go bach to the same thing. I am going to try and get in my Dad's garage this weekend (heated) and spend some serious time with it. Thank's for all the replies so far.

Good deal. I'll bet you're gonna find it's carb problems. I had a nieghbors snowblower acting similar (wouldn't run worth a dang with the choke completely off) and that ended up just being a carb tweak on the float bowl needle. I'm sure you wish your was that easy but it might turn out too just be a bad carb. Good Luck

 

[WetBehindtheEar]

I know you said you had the carb rebuilt but your problems really sound like fuel issues. Have you tried adjusting the carb's needle valve? After the rebuild was it better, same or worse? I'd try another carb before trashing the engine. There should be loads of them around.

:agree2:

Also consider the fuel tank... It's possible that in replacing fuel lines and all of the monkeying around with the carb, some debris got in the system that has clogged a jet. I had a motorcycle that kept doing a similar thing until I took the tank in and had it sealed on the inside. What a pain in the azz. I got REALLY good at dismantling carburetors.

Also consider that they MAY have put the carb gasket material on incorrectly and there's a chunk that is in the way or not getting you a good seal - thereby leaning out your air/fuel mix.

Bottom line,

Take the carb off, make sure the gasket is good (ideally get a new one) make sure the mating surfaces are without major defects (gouges, deep pits), drain the carb bowl and see if you can't remove the jets and either soak them in carb cleaner (wear neoprene gloves!) or try to blow them out with compressed air. Ideally both.

Drain the fuel tank and rinse it if you can with fresh gas - you can always filter out the junk and re-use the fuel.

NEW SPARK PLUG! It's one of the cheapest things to replace on a motor and if you've never done it, it's probably time.

There. Good luck and let us know how it goes!
Tony

 

[WetBehindtheEar]

Oh Yeah..

Also,

Depending on how much you use it, a 10 year old motor like that shouldn't have too many needs for a rebuild.

If you're running it 4 hours a weekend every weekend for an entire summer and into the fall... maybe. But most guys are splitting for about 4 hours once-a-month...

Not ALL of you I know there are a ton of dudes/dudettes on here that are addicted to the scent of hydraulic fluid, gasoline (two-stroke and 4), bar oil, and exhaust fumes.

But the aggregate of users out there are more the monthly/once-in-the-fall types.

 

[bigjake]

Its a 4 cyl you say the valves were looked at these things are aluminum and
mechanical lifters sometimes the seats get beat into the head and dont seal
until its warm the motor is low on vaccum do a leakdown test it will tell you
istantly if its intearnal .they also have fuel pumps that are no more than
a diaphram that uses crakcase or exhaust pulses to move it .if the dirt gets
to thick on the atmousphere side they dont work.One thing to try run it as
hi rpms as you can and put your hand over the carb air intake sometimes
this will suck air through the carb.and another thing the pickup in the
tank may have a hole in it .very comon problen for your complaint .