Garden tractor acquisition

Mower trouble? Are 2-cycle engines the bane of your existence?
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Garden tractor acquisition

Post by kevm14 »

Got back to the 18hp engine today.

Removed old stator. This looks decidedly like a small aircraft engine like this. Side note, you can see the undrilled boss (middle left of the block) that would be used for the oil dipstick with this engine as a horizontal crank. And that cooling plate on the side is where the sump would bolt in that configuration.
20200525_115626.jpg
20200525_115631.jpg

Blew everything out again with compressed air just because I had great access to all the cylinder head cooling fins. I also took this opportunity to install the rebuilt starter because of the unimpeded access to the inner bolt without the flywheel in the way.

Installed the new (used) stator, plate, flywheel and grill. Yes I remembered to install the flywheel key. I just cranked the 1-1/4" nut with my impact until it seemed tight enough. Which was probably only like 2-3 seconds.
20200525_122021.jpg
20200525_122023.jpg
20200525_122028.jpg

Engine cover and bolts reinstalled. Done. 30 minutes to reassemble taking my time with the air gun.
20200525_123050.jpg
20200525_123052.jpg
20200525_123057.jpg
I'd like to test run it but I may wait for my remaining harness and see if I can actually wire up the regulator and observe output. Or I could just measure the raw output of the stator and ensure it is to spec per B&S. I think it wants like 28VAC or something at full RPM. I have no idea where to mount the voltage regulator, also.

I'll get back to it when I can.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Garden tractor acquisition

Post by kevm14 »

Last harness came in. Just need to figure out if I can mount the regulator to the engine. Unless there is an extension harness (or I make one) it will have to go pretty close to the stator plug. Not much wire there. It also has to be grounded to the engine/chassis but that would happen when bolting down.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Garden tractor acquisition

Post by kevm14 »

This is about the only possible mounting location if I leave the wire lengths stock.
20200526_130842.jpg
The good news is there's a pretty good ground to the air cleaner stud so if I sand off a section of the bottom air filter housing maybe that would work. Or, since it's so nice, just wire a ground jumper to one of the mounting bolts from another area of the engine. Maybe that's a better plan. And I need to choose the right places for my holes because the air filter is just on the other side. But this is a good location I guess. Fairly protected and high air flow for cooling, too. Just need a couple short nuts and bolts and that ground wire jumper.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Garden tractor acquisition

Post by kevm14 »

Or I could put it here. Back side of the cover should already be raw metal so I won't have to feel bad removing paint.
20200526_171422.jpg
20200526_171315.jpg
20200526_171407.jpg

If the connection at the back side of the bolts was good enough I'd only have to drill two holes. The air filter housing is better only because it could live there without ever having to touch it. On the engine cover I'd have to disconnect the regulator to remove the cover. Not that hard of course....
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Garden tractor acquisition

Post by kevm14 »

kevm14 wrote: Mon May 25, 2020 3:27 pm Side note, I mowed again with the Simplicity. It runs great after I blew out the main jet and adjusted the low speed mixture last time. My idle and full throttle RPM settings have maintained as well.

Also I have seen zero oil consumption so far since switching back to my coveted Delo 400 SAE30. Old Briggs side valve engines just want straight 30.
Still zero oil consumption. I overfilled it a little when I changed the oil (on May 2nd) and figured it would use a little and get down to the right level. Nope. Not consuming a drop. So this thing will just get SAE30. And I think the generator is going to get it next oil change as well. Still running the synthetic 5W-40 in the Deutz and the jury is out how that really behaves in the cold since I barely used it this past season...
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Garden tractor acquisition

Post by kevm14 »

Had some difficulty starting the Simplicity. No click, no crank. I used a screwdriver and was able to short across the solenoid terminals (same as jump starting the starter itself, just easier) and get it going. Later it cranked just fine.

So I guess I need to look into this. This is not the first time this has happened.

The parts Simplicity has a different style solenoid and while I may be able to adapt it I'd rather get the right one even though they all do the same thing.

I also need to identify all the parts in the area. Obviously there is the solenoid itself. But there is also a device with one wire in and one wire out. It has a label "12V 20A."

I believe it to be a circuit breaker, I assume for the solenoid itself.
https://www.amazon.com/Circuit-Breaker- ... 7226&psc=1

Looks very similar to that.

Then there is another device with wires running into it. It's like a small cylinder. No idea what that is. To Partstree!
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Garden tractor acquisition

Post by kevm14 »

Breaker:
https://www.partstree.com/parts/simplicity-1665238sm/

I don't think it's the breaker and it would be easy enough to bypass for test purposes anyway. It is normally closed.

OEM solenoid, 1686981SM or 1686981YP:
https://www.partstree.com/parts/simplicity-1686981sm/

Ah, that other part is the "interlock module."
https://www.partstree.com/parts/simplicity-1686667sm/

I guess this is the smartest thing on the machine. Because safety. Well, I guess I don't know which problem I have. The solenoid is cheap so I guess I will start with that.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Briggs-Stratto ... SwegNdYKrT

$22.28 shipped w/ tax. I could get generic for less but for $20....why.

Now that I think about it I should have done a minimum of testing...like does the solenoid get the 12V power on the relay side. If not, then it ain't the solenoid. Well this won't be in for a week or two so I may have time to diagnose a little further.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Garden tractor acquisition

Post by kevm14 »

kevm14 wrote: Sun Jul 26, 2020 4:07 pm Now that I think about it I should have done a minimum of testing...like does the solenoid get the 12V power on the relay side. If not, then it ain't the solenoid. Well this won't be in for a week or two so I may have time to diagnose a little further.
I think I've gone a long enough time (19 years) without a damn test light. So I ordered this:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003YNHVQQ/re ... hFbQJAQBF5

It would take two seconds to test for input/signal power to the solenoid while attempting to crank. This is exactly what this is for.

This will also help me determine if I need to splurge on a Power Probe (or similar). I say splurge because it's almost $150 for the kit but this is legit.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005MVB3S0/re ... hFb631D423

The genius of the Power Probe (and there are certainly knockoffs available) is that not only is it a test light, but it will read voltages (like any DVM) but also allow you to instantly apply power or ground at the flick of a switch (unlike a DVM). When testing circuits this is, well, genius. Because I could connect it to good power/ground (i.e. the battery), check the solenoid input lug for a signal from the ignition switch just like with a test light. But then I could simply rock the switch to 12V and feed the solenoid 12V input and bypass everything else. All without rewiring anything, using a screwdriver to short across terminals, etc. It would have taken just a few seconds to determine if the solenoid was faulty or not. Speed of diagnosis is of particular value when dealing with intermittent issues. And that's just one example.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Garden tractor acquisition

Post by kevm14 »

Threw the new solenoid in this evening. No trouble, just swapped the wires over and tried not to arc as I was wrenching on the hot. I didn't disconnect the battery. The battery lugs were arranged vertically on the old one and horizontally on the new one. There's no polarity there (it's just a switch, open or closed) so I wired it so the right lug went to the battery which was on the right. Makes sense.

It even came with a new lead that goes to that 20A breaker so I used it even though it looked smaller gauge than the original one. Typical.

Wired it up, tried the key, worked first time.

It clicks more noticeably than the old one. I guess that's good. Actually I kept trying the starter just to see it all work. Eventually it just started and ran at full idle with no choke. lol

I guess time will tell if this fixed it because...the no click no crank won't happen again. If so I'll use my test light to figure out what the issue is but I should be able to rule out the solenoid at least. And if it wasn't the solenoid then....I have a spare for the Deutz.

Old one
20200807_185856.jpg
20200807_185901.jpg

New one
20200807_185907.jpg
20200807_185913.jpg
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Garden tractor acquisition

Post by kevm14 »

I keep trying it randomly and it keeps starting like instantly at full idle with no choke. Double success?
Post Reply