It all balances out

Nimrod · #1 04/12/15, 11:03 PM

It's always fun to have a project that goes as well as or better than planned. Kinda makes up for those times when a project goes straight in the pooper.

Today I checked out the 8 horse Briggs engine on my backhoe/trencher. It sputtered to halt last fall just before I put it away for the winter and i couldn't get it started again. I put the spark tester on it and it had a good spark. The compression was good too. I got a very weak spark when I hooked up the actual spark plug and it looked sooty. I went on the computer to find out what plug it took since the one that was in there had no brand name and only the number C11. Turns out it is the exact same plug the snowblower takes and I put a new one in it last fall. I never took the snowblower out of the garage last winter so I put the new plug in the backhoe and it fired right up. Didn't have to go to town for a new plug. Tomorrow I will lean out the gas mixture and it shouldn't carbon up again.

farminghandyman · #2 04/13/15, 09:03 AM

on small engines, (I have done this with reasonable success) take the plug out and clean it if needed, put the plug in an oven and let it heat @300 for 30 mins or so, and cook out any moisture or other,

(what I have been told or read, was that the plug can get moisture in it or other, and on a mulity cylinder engine, usually there is enough to get the engine running and as it warms up it will dry out the other plugs and that is why at times you will hear cylinders start in and soon all running smooth,

on a single cylinder engine open does not have the ability to get a poor plug warmed up to run, (why replacing a plug helps so many times),

Nimrod · #3 04/13/15, 10:33 AM

Thanks for the tip but in this case the engine was running and just quit so it was hot.

Nimrod · #4 04/26/15, 04:24 PM

Serendipity strikes again. Since the plug for the snowblower and the backhoe were the same and so cheap I thought I would check out the ones in the lawn tractor. Woohoo, exact same plug as the other 2.

I was on a roll so i checked the one in the rototiller. The bad news is it is different. The good news is the tiller started on the first pull after sitting all winter. Next, the boat.