Attex Tecumshe Engine

[bkeith]

Hey guys, its been a while since ive been here and I really havent got a chance to work too much on my Attex......but last night I was working on it, just wanted to see if I could get it too fire up.

With the spark plug in, it doesnt crank very good or will get to a point where it just stops and makes a winding noise, with the plug out it cranks over great. I dumped some stuff down the cylinder to help it move more freely and I was able to start the engine by spraying gas in the carb. That was pretty sweet.

Im going to change the oil tonight, but I was wondering what I can put down the cylinder to free up the gunk and whatever other crap is in there. What should I get for that????

Thanks

[racerone3]

STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! you need to pull the head off the engine and inspect, or shove a boroscope in the plug hole and have a look. you'll probably find that a lot of carbon buildup on the inside of the head has caused the compression ratio to go up, thus making it hard to crank. the other thing you might find is debris, or corosion in the bore. either of those need to be removed before you try to run the engine, or you could do a lot of dammage. a head gasket is really cheap compared to a rebuild. if the problem is just from carbon, take a wire brush in a drill and clean the head before reinstaling.

[bkeith]

Thanks, I will take the head off and take a look at that. Do you think it could be a problem with the starter itself?

I did end up starting it again and ran it for about 3 minutes before my spray bottle ran out of gas and the motor sounds really good.

I dont think the fuel pump is working either, I hooked a hose up to it and put the other end into a jug with gas and it wasnt sucking anything up it. Ill have to do some more researching on it. Its coming along slowly, but surely.

Im done working on it for a while until i get some more parts for it, but any advice that anyone has for me, would be greatly aperciated.

[racerone3]

it very well could be the starter. if you find an old local auto parts store, they can usually test/ rebuild the starter pretty cheap. if you ran the motor for 3 minutes and nothing catostrophic happened, your probably ok as far as having debris in there... it all went out the exhaust pipe. sometimes if a fuel pump dries out, it will stop working, it's like a sump pump that looses it's prime. if you can get fuel back in it, it might just start working again. i have a gas tank from a riding mower that i use. it's mounted on a stand up high, so that it gravity feeds. if you have any old tank laying around with the fitting in the bottom, give that a try. hook a line to the tank and the pump. raise the tank as high as possible and try running it. if that won't run, remove the line from the pump and try hooking it directly to the carb. if it still won't run, then you need a carb rebuild. once you get the engine to run on it's own, there is a really redneck way to clean out carbon deposits. with the engine running, pour a little ATF down the carb. stop pouring when the engine starts to bog down... you need to keep it running. the detergents in the ATF and the temp it burns at will remove the carbon and helps clean the valves. WARNING: this will make a TON OF SMOKE and you need to leave the machine running and walk away till the smoke clears!!! neighbors will hate you, but it has helped any engine i've ever done it to. as for your cranking issue... i know this is a dumb question, but are you sure your battery is good? it can read 12V but not have enough amps to turn the engine over... any auto parts store should be able to test it for you.
there you go... some low buck ideas to get you back out in the shop! good luck and keep us posted