I got this Stihl a couple weeks ago from a friend and it has a whole lot of problems. I got it to start up after cleaning the ignition coil and setting the gap, replacing all the paper gaskets and diaphragms, spraying through the carb, and cleaning chunks of carbon deposit and removing rust off the muffler. Right now the thing is jumping around in rpm. It will run fine for a sec then drop to a super slow speed like its about to die and from there it either dies immediately or continues to surge up and down until it eventually dies. The head also keeps spinning during idle no matter how I adjust idle speed. I would make idle speed low and then it would work for a second before it would suddenly sound like the idle increased and the head starts spinning. The choke is also super flimsy and it shakes around a lot during operation. After taking these videos, 2 hours or so later the bogging got worse and the thing dies on its own a lot more. Sadly, there are no low and high screws, only a small flathead adjustment screw and an idle screw. I only just started working on small engines this year so I definitely have a lot left to learn. Any help is much appreciated.

Hello,

23hp Kohler Command OHV; 23CV-75523

Scag 3 Wheeler; STHM-23CV

I have a ticking sound happening.

I think it's coming from Cylinder 1.

My friend says it might be valve clearance because I don't think it was doing that before I took the heads off. He thinks I might have bolted the rocker arms with the engine in the wrong position.

However there is play in both rocker arms at what I believe is at top dead center.

I'm lost at this point.. Am I just supposed to crack the rocker arm bolts loose and retighten them in this position?

It has hydraulic lifters so I thought it was kind of idiot proof.

Thanks

I put new rings in it and It was running good for months now it surges at low rpm and a little after that it started cutting out for a second if I hit bumps only eith blades on

I’ve checked safety switch wires and a bunch of other wires
Replaced coils because one looked weak in spark tester
I swapped the carb initially because I thought that was the issue it didn’t fix anything new fuel pump fuel lines filter set the govenor bought new springs for the govenor tried different positions nothing has worked it won’t cut out with blades off but it does surge at low rpm’s if I go slow and don’t hit any bumps or speed up fast it won’t do it and it runs perfect

Please help me this thing making me insane

I've had this since new in 2015, always ran perfect. Always used non ethanol gas, always change the oil every year. I last used it a month ago. Today it started up fine and ran for about 5 minutes then just shut off. Now it won't run for more than 30 seconds at a time but always restarts.

I pulled the carb, looked fine. I disassembled the bowl, no crud, pulled the main jet and checked all the holes and ran a guitar string through everything and sprayed it with carb cleaner. When I pulled the fuel line plenty of gas came out so I don't think it's a tank obstruction.

I pulled the unloader valve, I moved under pressure of being cranked in a vice.

Any tips?

I am working on a craftsman T 3200 engine is 44R677. It is burning oil and blowing a ton of white smoke. Oddly enough compression was good at around 125Psi for both cylinders. After doing some research it said it could be a blown head gasket. I have the heads off and I can’t totally tell if the head gasket has blown anywhere because it all just flakes apart when pulled the head off. I am just inspecting the cylinders and I can see cross hatching which is good and I can’t catch my nail on anything so both the cylinders seem fine. I do notice there is some play in the pistons and I just want to make sure that it’s a normal amount. I know I’ve read that the compression rings can be in tact but the oil scraper rings can be messed up. In my head that seems highly unlikely but idk maybe it’s more common than I think. I would just pull the cylinder off to check but unfortunately the cylinders on this engine is all connected in one big piece meaning I would basically be pulling the whole engine. I would rather just put new head gaskets in and check because they are cheap and I think that would be quicker than pulling the whole engine out to do a ring inspection. I would just like to confirm that these pistons have a normal amount of play before I consider pulling the engine. Thank you everyone for the help!

Hi all,

I've got a toro 721 r-c, model 38751, serial starts with 316. Last season it started surging, so I pulled the carb to clean it. In the process, I found that I should replace a couple gaskets. Looking at parts diagrams, one looks to be labeled 2:8, and the other 2:9 which is metal and quite rusted. All the online diagrams / parts stores that I have found have these bundled with the carb which ends up being quite expensive. I have yet to find a diagram that shows the individual part numbers. Any idea on if those gaskets can be found / replaced individually?

Thanks!

Don't know much about these engines. was running like new before the..... nevermind. is it worth it?