Hey Guys
I’m 15 and I have a problem(I know this may not be your specialty but I’m hoping you can help me out). My father and I had recently purchased a custom ‘Mini-chopper’. When we had bought the pint sized death-wish it had run great with it’s tiny little 5 horse power engine, it could reach about 30 mph with no problems. Recently though my Dad had been riding it and it had just all of a sudden stopped running on him, he had to push the 200 pound chopper back home (about half a mile from where it broke down and up our incredibly steep drive-way) and he had immediately concluded that he had blown a piston, about a week later we opened up the engine and found that the piston was intact, he was relieved that it wasn’t the piston but soon found out that neither the exhaust or intake valves were working.(the valves are almost sticking at the top refuse to move up or down)he had noticed that there is no compression or anything for that matter.
and so my question is what is going on with this??? (the engine is essentially taken off of a garden tiller and thrown on a horizontal mount) is this going to cost more than going to a store and buying a new engine or should we fix it. and if fix it how?
Is your engine a 2 stroke?
Sounds like the problem is oil and/or heat related.
I’m not completely sure but I think it’s a small 4 stroke
yeah we had pulled out some brackish oil looked like it hadn’t been changed in years
Broken CamShaft / Bad Camsahft Gear / Bent Valve Stems?
Is this a Tecumseh, Briggs & Stratton, unheard of brand or what? You need a manual and or parts exploded view.
CSA
It’s called a chore king or it’s a Tecumseh, so kind of unheard of, we also have no access to a manual(that I know of)
Could you have run low on oil, or put the engine at a slant so oil was not pumping?
I’m assuming it has an oil pump and not just a splash oil system.
If the valves are seized solid in their guides, the engine may be toast. If the engine ran without oil, the bearings may be shot as well.
They sell the manuals at the auto parts stores. If they don’t have one for this car on the shelf, they should be able to order one.
Is Chore King Made By Tecumseh? Find The Engine Model Number And Serial Number.
There are parts suppliers, including the engine manufacturers online that have manuals available and usually have engine exploded diagrams right on their site.
Is it made be Tecumseh for sure? Is their a plate/tag with the numbers? What does it say?
CSA
Earth To Ron-Man, Earth To Ron-Man . . . Come In, Ron-Man!
This “car” happens to be a fifteen-year-old’s 5hp mini-chopper motorbike.
Beam me up,
CSA
If you have the engine apart, you should be able to rotate the piston, cam shaft etc by hand. It shouldn’t take all that long to figure out which part is at fault. There aren’t that many parts. I’m the last guy in the world anyone would send out to fix an engine, but I didn’t have much trouble identifying a broken camshaft in the lawnmower after the kid tried to mow a large rock. (And he had such great luck mulching the garden hose, who cuddaknowed the rock would be a problem?)
The good news is that parts for small engines seem to be a lot cheaper than similar parts for automobiles. The bad news is that the rods and springs bolted on the outside of the engine to control speed, etc. tend to be pretty hard to figure out. Not too hard to get the engine apart. Not too hard to get it back together. But getting it back together right … that’s another story.
If the engine is also used in garden machinery, Sears Parts or some similar web site may well have an exploded parts diagram on their web site.
I’m not completely sure but I think it’s a small 4 stroke
I would guess you really need to know if it is 2 stroke or 4 stroke BEFORE adding fuel, since using the wrong fuel could damage and/or stop the engine.