Two Toros, And They're Something Else

 First time I've worked on a Toro lawnmower, and this one was mated to a Honda GSV190 engine, and boy what a solid engine it is! I had worked on a GCV160 before, and it was a fairly easy engine to work on, with lots of power, smooth running, quiet, and easy to start.

This mower was no different, other than the fact that it had a slightly larger, and more powerful engine. It was just as quiet, and started with barely a pull.  My father in law (who's 85) could start it without much effort at all, and it brought a smile to his face when he started it.

The only issue with the Honda mower wasn't that it wouldn't start, but that the mowers both had broken wheels. It was annoying, but I found the parts, brand new, at a local Toro dealer.

Thankfully it was a pretty simple repair to get the wheel fixed. It was a broken height adjuster handle. 

However, this isn't about the repair, it's about the Toros.  Although the video centres on the one, it had a twin.
The second Toro was in a bit worse shape, overall.  I fixed the wheel on that one too, which had a similar problem. Even on the exact same side! 
The only difference between the two, was that one had a Mulch plug, and the other had a bag. That's it.

When I listed the first one I had repaired, the person that contacted me asked if I had more than one.
And if I work on them.  So I ended up with 3. He dropped off one for servicing. I tried and tried and tried to get the OEM carb fixed, I ran it thru the Ultrasonic, then blasted it out with carb cleaner, and finally, I just gave up and bought a new carb.

That's when it did something I was waiting for.... It idled.
That was the issue I was having with the original Carb, it wouldn't idle. I cleaned out the pilot circuit several times to try to get it to idle, but it just refused to idle. It would surge, then die. But at full throttle, it ran pretty good.

As for the second non-running Toro I had, well, that was a little different. It just needed a carb clean, and... A new spark plug!  I laughed when it actually needed a spark plug. I regapped it, no effect. 
So I took the spark plug, on a whim, from the customer's mower (I thought I was going to need to replace the carb on the second Toro), and popped it in, pulled it over, and it roared to life.
Dang! It's never the spark plug, but sometimes it is!

It happens from time to time.  In the end, customer was very happy with the transaction, especially when he heard his mower idle.  His words, "Wow! Now that it has never done before..."

So clearly it was in desperate need of attention. Very happy with the experience.

Definitely a mower I'll be on the watch out for!
The Honda GSV190 engine does a good job selling itself, however. The Honda reliability is legendary for a reason.

Anyway guys,

Chat soon!

Winterizing A 2-Stroke

2-Stroke engines, at least smaller ones, require a little bit more work when you're preparing them for winter. As they contain rubber diaphragms, which dislike ethanol, as it dries them out, not to mention the fuel likes break down with the ethanol fuel, faster than using regular fuel, and the UV rays damaging them. If you've ever seen rock hard fuel likes, or ones that fall apart just by looking at them, it likely means that it is Ethanol damaged, unless they're very old.

Opening the fuel cap on a Stihl BG30 Leaf Blower

A simple method to keep that from happening?  Add 2-stroke oil into the fuel tank, and pump it thru the carb.

Adding 2-stroke oil to the fuel tank

By doing this, you're essentially displacing the fuel, and keeping the diaphragm, and fuel lines, well lubricated.
This will help keep them from dying out, and falling apart.

The only thing is that, come summer, when you drain it all out, the first few minutes of run time, it'll likely smoke like a fire pit!  But that's okay, it'll help clear the air of mosquitos, and other biting pests!

When you have the fuel tank filled up, and you start priming the system, you'll notice that it gets quite difficult to get it to pump after a bit, this is because the oil is quite a bit thicker than 2-stroke fuel.
But that's okay, it's worth it in the end. The oil won't break down, it'll help keep the rubber lubricated and protected, and means saving money in the spring, when you get it out to use, and.... find that you can't get it started because the diaphragm has dried out.
It's either your time to fix it, if you're proficient, or your money, if you have to take it to a shop.
And if it's a home owner's model, well, then it'll likely be a "toss/sell" and get a new one, which means... more of your money!

Pumping the oil thru the system

Draining Out The Excess Oil

When you've finished priming the system, you can drain the excess out back into the bottle, or you can leave it in the tank, and pour it out in the spring when you get the machines back into service.

Anyway guys,

Chat soon!

Taking The Plunge In The Middle Of Winter

 Deciding to start tinkering with Small Engines in the middle of winter, with a 3000PSi Pressure washer, made by Briggs and Stratton.
Well, I figured it would be the easiest way to start, since the engine is open, with everything accessible.
Interestingly, it was a great choice, overall. I learned a lot working on it, and it broke the ice quite well.  The first engine I ever worked on, was a 1970's Sears Craftsman Lawnmower. I had not a clue what I was doing, felt completely overwhelmed, and walked away, sending it to the curb. I really wish I knew then, what I do now, as I'd likely have started my YouTube channel sooner, but I would definitely have that lawnmower today. 
The video, I recently clicked open, and could feel the cringe creeping up my spine, but when I consider how much I've learned, and opened up, on camera, I can't do much else other than admire the bravery it actually took.

Today it feels like nothing to open up, and gab on camera. It just feels natural at this point, but I felt self conscious, and quite awkward at the start, but had to just finally say "Time to get it over with!"

So a simple start into the world, with gloves on, a chill in the air, and an awkward start... I decided to start a YouTube channel, jumping headlong into the world of YouTube without doing any kind of research into how to really, properly, start one.

Had I to do it over again, I'd have started with a minimum of 5 videos.  The first 3 videos would be posted on the first day I start, with 2 more set up a week apart, so that I can get a few more videos recorded, and ready to go, giving me time to edit, and see what my audience likes. 
But instead I went week to week, trying to always get ahead... which at one point, I had. I had a set of 5 weeks of videos posted, ready to go... but got my butt kicked on a couple machines, with parts not showing up, and having to start a different video multiple times due to this. 

Spraying carb spray into the intake for the first time was a weird experience, with my not quite sure I was doing it right, or if it would even work!
Well, pulling it over, and.... sure enough.. 
Boom! It fired right up, and then promptly died.
However it told me exactly what I wanted to know.

The unit has compression. It has spark. And is just missing fuel.
For an engine to run, it requires 3 things.  Compression, Fuel, and Spark.  Without any of those three, it just won't run.

Fortunately this one started up, which means it is just a fueling issue, aka, needs a carb cleaning.

Not quite knowing how it was going to go, I figure I might as well get started. The sooner the better, I guess.

Taking off the air cleaner box, I'm left with the first carburetor I'm going to open, and hopefully clean. I have no idea what I'm doing, but how hard can it be? I mean, I've seen kids younger than my own son (16 & 13) both getting these machines running, so if they can do it, I should be able to.

After draining what fuel was in the tank, which did have some water in it, I got to removing the carburetor, and let me tell you, that was on tight!
It definitely didn't want to come off without a fight..

Now the snow is starting to really come down. It was quite humorous as my wife popped out while I was working on it, and said.. "Hey, you're crazy! It's snowing!"

But honestly, it really did start snowing quite heavily, and I really did have to call it.
I couldn't honestly work on the pressure washer with the amount of snow coming down.

So, I realized, video #2 will be a part 2 of fixing this machine.
And my channel was born, originally going to be 10-15 minute, multi-part videos, with weekly, to twice a week video release, to 30+ minute video essays on repairing these little machines.

Honestly, it's great fun!

Anyway guys, chat soon!

A Lovely Fall

This year, unlike the past few, has given us a proper autumn season. It gradually got cooler, allowing us to climatize to the changing seasons, and more ready for winter. Well, we're never really ready for Winter, but it happens faster than you expect.

Well, this fall was very lovely, and we got to see some fantastic colours this year.

 Yeah, I had to get a photo of the Juke in there... So far, every car, has made an appearance in my photos.  From the Red Jetta, to this Red Juke.

Something different, a change from repairs and lawnmowers.

Chat soon!

How Was The Engine Teardown On That Lawnboy?

 So I have this tiller, which was a real troublesome engine to start. I assumed it had a sheared, or partially sheared key.
THAT turned out to not be the case. I believe it, after a suggestion by a viewer, has the wrong flywheel, as it's likely a lightweight flywheel, meant for a lawnmower, which uses the blade as the flywheel momentum to keep the engine spinning, to make starting easier, and maintain rotational energy between power strokes.

I looked online looking for a broken lawnmower that I can salvage the engine on, with either a Tecumseh engine, or one I can replace the Tecumseh engine on, with a different one that is more reliable, like a Honda, or a Briggs.
I came across a Lawnmower mower, with an engine with a hole in it. I thought, hrmm, this might make a good video. It turned out to be a good idea overall, as I got a better idea on how to take these silly things apart, as I have a couple that I need to take apart.
Including a Craftsman with a piston with many holes in it.  Kinda needs to be fixed.

I have an upcoming video on that, as well as a blog post, so stay tuned.

Well, getting into the tear down...

It started out pretty simple. The bolts weren't too tight at all, but using the impact driver, it made it pretty simple, and quick.

After getting the engine shroud off, I had an idea about recovering the flywheel key, as well as the flywheel.  I wanted the Key for that Tiller, and needed the flywheel for a lawnmower I split the flywheel on. Oops!

The flywheel key, however, was toast. It clearly sheared when the engine blew itself apart. Well, that was tragic!

After the flywheel was pulled, off came the carburetor, and air filter box.
As soon as that intake came off, tho, a whole bunch of oil came pouring out of the intake.  Oil should not be coming out of the intake!

After that, it was time to open the head and see the shape of the valves and piston. So, 1/2" inch socket, impact driver, and I ripped them off pretty quick.

Head came off pretty easy, but I must say, the resemblance to "Truck Nuts" is rather uncanny...

Getting the Sump off was ridiculous! I highly recommend, before you try to take the sump off one of these, make sure you get a grinder, and clean off the rust from the crank shaft, so it's easy to hammer the sump down off the shaft.
What a disaster!

I buggered up the threads on the crankshaft, unfortunately, as the crank journal for the piston was great! It would have definitely been a completely reusable crankshaft, except I kinda made a mess of the threads, so into the scrap bin it went.

The piston, which fell out while I was removing the crankshaft from the engine, was in remarkably great shape! I can definitely reuse this piston in another engine, no problem at all! It's in excellent condition.

Spinning the Governor

The governor is actually still in really good shape, but I never bothered to remove it, just left it as part of the sump. But since it is still in decent condition, I just need to clean it out and should be able to reuse it.

Like I was mentioning about the crankshaft. It was still in great condition, other than the fact that I buggered the threads.

The Engine Block was in really good shape, especially the bore. But with that gaping hole in the side of the block, it was destined to be scrapped, and that's exactly what happened to it.

I learned a lot with this teardown. I definitely learned a lot. The biggest thing I learned about it was making sure to prepare the crankshaft so that I can remove the sump easier, which is something I'll be doing on the next teardown! I don't want to have a repeat where I was smashing the heck out of the crankshaft, and sump, for 30 minutes straight because it just wouldn't come off...

So expect many more engine teardowns in the future. I really enjoy them! It may not be the most profitable way to sell small engines, but at the same time, it can be quite profitable if you have good used, and hard to find, parts for some of these engines.

Anyway guys,

Chat soon!

What Happened To The Scion tC?

 This was probably the worst thing that had happened this past year. The day my Scion tC was struck while parked on the street, and had the front end, essentially, ripped off, effectively killing the car.

This logo, I made sure to pick up off the street, keep it as a memento to the car I lost.
What a frustrating ordeal.

I remember quite clearly when it happened, as I was alerted by the guy at the till that my car was just struck.

Well, I ran outside, and saw a trailer not far down the road still driving, and I thought it was he who may have accidentally done it, without realizing, but no, I was wrong. It was a white van, who wasn't paying attention when parking, and cut in way too quickly, smashing off the front bumper of my car.

I'm assuming the insurance took the easy road on the write-off, and decided that it'll be better to just write out a paid amount, vs spending the time to source parts for this car, especially as it was no longer manufactured by any manufacturuer at all.  Scion, having been effectively shut down by Toyota, and only a few models made the transition.  The tC, sadly, was not one of them.

I have a lot of good memories with that tC, it got me thru some times I tell ya! Was great in the winter. Was funny, because the day I got it, I had summer tires on it, and I was really nervous driving into work that day. Thankfully I had a set of used ones lined up to buy that afternoon, and they were on my car that night.

But when I bought it, I had basically bought it "only hearing it run".. I never test drove it, i never felt how it would handle on the road. I just looked at it, said... "Yeah, you know what. I really like this car..." And went and bought it.

It was a fantastic car. 
I put almost 100,000km on it when it got written off, and would have this year, had that not happened. From 170,000KM to 255,000KM, it was a very trustworthy, and incredibly reliable car.

Honestly, the only things that happened with it, were the oil pressure sensor started leaking. It worked fine, it just developed a leak, so I had to replace that, one of the calipers had seized, so I replaced that.. AND I had to replace a bearing, and the front sway bar links.
All wear and tear items, that you'd expect to have to replace, especially considering they were factory parts.
Brakes, and tires of course, plus oil and fluids were changed.

And then sadly, the inevitable happened. I always said, this car will be mine until it either dies, such as the engine or transmission pooch out, or... the car is written off.

Which is what happened...

Farewell my faithful ride... Farewell..

Chat soon...

Why This Craftsman, Isn't.

 The problem is that Craftsman was a Sears & Roebuck brand, and that ended when Sears decided to end their existence by entering Chapter-11, and disappearing from the market. Sure you can still buy Craftsman branded products, but now they are basically higher End Black & Decker, as they were sold off to the Stanley, Black and Decker, DeWalt brand.
Sears did not manufacture the product, however they were not made by MTD.

Craftsman By MTD

This mower, being an MTD, is definitely not the Craftsman of Old, completely made by a totally different company, considering the model number of the mowers usually started with a "944", vs 

Old Craftsman Mower from 1989

 MTD with a model number usually like 11A or 12A, and this Craftsman started with a 11A for the model number, meaning it's just a rebranded MTD product. Not the quality that Craftsman used to be.
Does that make this a bad mower? Not exceptionally, other than the fact that the deck is thin, and the engine is clunky, and poorly built.  It's a Powermore engine, which is a poorly made Chinesuem engine, which MTD is one of the sole sellers of.
Would much rather have Tecumseh make a comeback, as at least those were manufactured in the USA, vs China.

While I did the repair, I found that it was a fairly simple mower, simple design, simple operation, and simply made to fail.  Longevity is definitely not built into these newer models at all, but that seems to be par for the course lately.

Sadly, it's at the point where they pretty much only make junk these days. You either buy poorly built Battery operated equipment, that usually fails within 3-5 years, and the batteries often become obsolete by the next model year, as something changes, or you buy poorly built gasoline models.  They've been bumping the prices of Gasoline models lately, trying to make the "Battery" models more "affordable", when in truth, a well maintained Gasoline Engine will outlast any battery operated model, hands down.
Just be forewarned that modern equipment, is sadly manufactured with obsolescence in mind. Nothing today is made to last, unless you have an enormous pocket, which the average person doesn't.

Personally, I would recommend buying a well maintained, used machine, as they will often outlast anything made today.

They aren't a bad mower, for what they are, and what they do, but they've been made cheaper, and cheaper, year after year.

That's the one thing I've found as I've been working on these machines.  The newer the machine, the more likely it is that it'll fail before the models it was made to replace. For the cost of these new machines, I highly recommend, buy a good, used model.

Anyway guys,

Chat soon!