I need a small engine mechanic

[maxwelhse]

I need to find someone here as well. I have a Kohler Courage engined mower. Won't start. Has spark, flywheel key good, valves adjusted, has compression, carb solenoid working. Tried 2 batteries. It turns over but won't start....

Will it run on starting fluid?

 

[Jaybird1980]

I need to find someone here as well. I have a Kohler Courage engined mower. Won't start. Has spark, flywheel key good, valves adjusted, has compression, carb solenoid working. Tried 2 batteries. It turns over but won't start....

Not to thread drift, but what was the compression reading?

 

[patience0830]

Air, gas, or spark. One of the three ain't there.

Sling blade comes to mind. In there gas in the tank.

 

[EyeCarry]

Will it run on starting fluid?

Not to thread drift, but what was the compression reading?

No on the starting fluid, tried that. Gas in the plug hole too.
I don't have a compression gauge.
Not looking to take it to a large shop. Any shadetrees here in Bloomington?

 

[EyeCarry]

Yes, fresh gas in the tank.

 

[Jaybird1980]

Air, gas, or spark. One of the three ain't there.

Sling blade comes to mind. In there gas in the tank.

You forgot the fourth, compression.

 

[maxwelhse]

No on the starting fluid, tried that. Gas in the plug hole too.
I don't have a compression gauge.
Not looking to take it to a large shop. Any shadetrees here in Bloomington?

Just from Google image searching, it appears that the Courage series are single cylinder vertical shaft motors. A bunch of those don't run actual cams and just have lobes on the crank that run the lifters. Since the cam lobes are on the crank, they have push rods that are insanely long and will sometimes bend just through the course of regular use, thus not operating one or both of the valves properly.

If you pull an exploded diagram for your engine and you have silly long push rods, I'd almost bet one or both is bent.

The only things you haven't verified for certain are timing, air, and compression. I'm venturing a guess that it has no air (intake rod bent). I would still expect it to pop-pop-pop with gas in the plug hole, but, I've seen weirder things.

 

[Bigtanker]

Air, gas, or spark AT THE RIGHT TIME . One of the three ain't there.

Sling blade comes to mind. In there gas in the tank.

That too

 

[Gluemanz28]

Sounds like most people have the options cover to try but here is a little humor.

A preacher was making his rounds to his parishioners on a bicycle, when he came upon a little boy trying to sell a lawn mower. ''How much do you want for the mower?'' asked the preacher. ''I just want enough money to go out and buy me a bicycle'', said the little boy.

After a moment of consideration, the preacher asked, ''Will you take my bike in trade for it?'' The little boy asked if he could try it out first, and after riding the bike around a little while said, ''Mister, you've got yourself a deal.'' The preacher took the mower and began to try to crank it. He pulled on the string a few times with no response from the mower. The preacher called the little boy over and said, ''I can't get this mower to start.''

The little boy said, ''That's because you have to cuss at it to get it started.''

The preacher said, ''I am a minister, and I cannot cuss. It has been so long since I have been saved that I do not even remember how to cuss.''

The little boy looked at him happily and said, ''Just keep pulling on that string. It'll come back to ya!''

 

[jkaetz]

Sounds like most people have the options cover to try but here is a little humor.

A preacher was making his rounds to his parishioners on a bicycle, when he came upon a little boy trying to sell a lawn mower. ''How much do you want for the mower?'' asked the preacher. ''I just want enough money to go out and buy me a bicycle'', said the little boy.

After a moment of consideration, the preacher asked, ''Will you take my bike in trade for it?'' The little boy asked if he could try it out first, and after riding the bike around a little while said, ''Mister, you've got yourself a deal.'' The preacher took the mower and began to try to crank it. He pulled on the string a few times with no response from the mower. The preacher called the little boy over and said, ''I can't get this mower to start.''

The little boy said, ''That's because you have to cuss at it to get it started.''

The preacher said, ''I am a minister, and I cannot cuss. It has been so long since I have been saved that I do not even remember how to cuss.''

The little boy looked at him happily and said, ''Just keep pulling on that string. It'll come back to ya!''

Good for a laugh. The preacher should've taken the mower for a test run.

Having just switched from a 21" to a 30" push mower I now have no choke, no primer, no on/off switch (Technically it has a momentary switch to shut it down), yet it starts on the first pull nearly every time. I don't know how they've managed that black magic but I hope it continues. The outgoing mower needed to have some serious stabs (just pushing it wouldn't do it) on the primer bulb to start on the first pull. Never an issue after that though.

 

[Clay Pigeon]

You forgot the fourth, compression.

Lincoln Tech graduate?

 

[Jaybird1980]

Lincoln Tech graduate?

No sir, just a millwright in the powerplants, but grew up working grandpa's junkyard

 

[TangoFoxtrot]

Everything im.reading the starter is not.getting power.. bad ignition switch, safety switch

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

 

[Clay Pigeon]

No sir, just a millwright in the powerplants, but grew up working grandpa's junkyard

Ok Millwright, What would cause no compression in a combustion engine that was running fine and has not had massive internal engine damage when it was shut off a week or two ago?

 

[TangoFoxtrot]

Ok Millwright, What would cause no compression in a combustion engine that was running fine and has not had massive internal engine damage when it was shut off a week or two ago?

Stuck valve. Rolled rings are a few

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

 

[Clay Pigeon]

Ok Millwright, What would cause no compression in a combustion engine that was running fine and has not had massive internal engine damage when it was shut off a week or two ago?

Stuck valve. Rolled rings are a few

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

Those would be engine damage....

 

[maxwelhse]

With an aluminum head engine, almost anything is possible on cool down. Could have finally lost that head bolt that was just hanging on, the gasket, dropped a valve seat, etc. Could have run it out of gas and leaned it out that one time too many last time too. We simply don't know.

I wouldn't drag Jay over the coals here for that suggestion. The entire point of trouble shooting is that it's a process and that's one of the only things OP hasn't been able to check. He already did everything that made sense, so it's time to start looking at things that don't make sense, IMHO.

 

[Jaybird1980]

Ok Millwright, What would cause no compression in a combustion engine that was running fine and has not had massive internal engine damage when it was shut off a week or two ago?

2 stroke or 4?

Edit: I'm assuming you mean low compression, it's pretty hard to get no compression.

 

[TangoFoxtrot]

Those would be engine damage....

Yes they would.. seem it a.dozen times. Engine is fine when running and parts are expanded but as soon as they are shut off they go to hell. Not saying that's what happened those are just.common compression issues

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

 

[Jaybird1980]

Oh you are talking about Eyecarry, I must of missed the part of the post that said it was fine and then stopped running after being shut off. In that case I would wonder about broken valves or rings, things crack when they get hot and then cool down. I can post a pic of a piston that is trashed in my garage right now that was running fine and then wouldn't restart.