Need help figuring this one out.
Craftsman GT 917.251522 w/ Hydro
Kohler CV20s, 20.5 hp V twin.
Put the snowblower on in late Nov. Did all the stuff I usually do to get ready for winter.
Did not change oil as I just changed it in July, and was not using it for mowing. Did check the level though.
Mostly hauling fire wood, and picking up leaves with the bagger.
Figured I would change it out to 5W-30 once it got cold in Jan. Cold came early this year.
Parked the tractor in the unheated shed. In the fall and winter I have a routine of driving for 10 min before parking so I am sure engine gets hot enough. I've had moisture build up problems in the winter with this engine in the past.
It snowed last week. Went to start it and had to crank it several times to get it to start.
Engine hard to start, was -10° F over night. Outside temp about -4° F when starting engine. Starter turned it over just fine. A little slow because of the cold, but seemed OK.
Usually starts after 5 or 6 revs. even when this cold. Turned over many times with full choke.
Gave the starter a 30 sec break between tries. 10 Sec on, 30 sec off.
Finally started. Had to keep choke partly closed.
Let clutch out and it died. Started right away but had to keep partially choked.
Lots of white smoke or water vapor, hard to tell which. After about 1 min it ran w/o any choke. Started forward and almost died. Had to quickly pull choke knob. Moved outside and no smoke. I checked the choke butterfly later and it closes completely as it should.
Did some snow blowing and engine just did not sound right. Had power, but not the usual twin engine sound.
Note: I broke 4 shear pins on the impeller. On 4" of dry powder? All in a half hour. Knew I had a problem.
I'll start another thread on that. Problem right now is the engine.
Put tractor in the heated garage to find out what was up with the shear pins.
Waited until next day to look at it. Thought about the hard start problem and thought maybe gas was draining back and it took awhile to get fuel pumped into carb. Taking stuff off to get to fuel line on carb, I found oil on the air filter gasket and a little on the adapter plate.
Found water in the spit cup, oil breather tube, and the oil breather. Lots of water. 3 tablespoons or so.
So that tells me stuff was froze up when I was trying to start it.
The line at the carb was full of gas. So lines were not back draining.
Then I checked oil. Oil was 3/4" above full mark! But did not smell like gas. Really.
Had to measure 4 times to convince myself it was that high.
Measured resting cap on tube.
Drain oil into a coffee can. Measured it and had 84 oz. Suppose to have 64 oz at most.
20 oz over full.
I had the wife come out and smell the oil also. She did not smell gas. And believe me, she can small gas in the house if I spill just a little in the garage.
No sign of water in the oil. Some white goo under the valve covers. Very small amounts.
Fuel tank in this thing is below the carb.
What is up?
Am I in denial about smelling gas?
Took a whiff of the jug I stored that oil in today and still no gas smell.
But the only other liquid in the system is gas. It has to be gas running into the crankcase.
If it were water (That's a lot of moisture) it would not mix with the oil.
Could frozen water in the carb and breather have pulled gas into the crank case while working it that day?
Removed anti backfire solenoid and tested with a battery. Working, but snaps back slower than the ones on a B&S engine. Fuel bowl was full of gas. No water in bowl.
That smelled like gas!
Changed oil filter. No gas smell there either. Have not added new oil yet.
Want to see if gas flows into crankcase over night.
Rigged up a small gas tank about a foot above the carb. to gravity feed the input on the carb.
Ran the line to the input on the carb. Checked and had gas flow to the carb inlet. No leaks.
Left the carb not tightened down to see if gas came out the rear of the carb.
Put 12V battery power to the solenoid for about a half hour. No leaks.
Left the tank hooked up for about 3 hours and no leaks at the carb.
Put the adapter plate and spit cup back on and tightened the nuts.
Left it like that over night tonight. Will see what the morning brings.
Anyone have any ideas what caused it?
I know I did not add 20 oz of oil to engine before I put it away. No one else has been here that might have added oil.
Wish I would have checked oil level before starting that time, but I did not.
Craftsman GT 917.251522 w/ Hydro
Kohler CV20s, 20.5 hp V twin.
Put the snowblower on in late Nov. Did all the stuff I usually do to get ready for winter.
Did not change oil as I just changed it in July, and was not using it for mowing. Did check the level though.
Mostly hauling fire wood, and picking up leaves with the bagger.
Figured I would change it out to 5W-30 once it got cold in Jan. Cold came early this year.
Parked the tractor in the unheated shed. In the fall and winter I have a routine of driving for 10 min before parking so I am sure engine gets hot enough. I've had moisture build up problems in the winter with this engine in the past.
It snowed last week. Went to start it and had to crank it several times to get it to start.
Engine hard to start, was -10° F over night. Outside temp about -4° F when starting engine. Starter turned it over just fine. A little slow because of the cold, but seemed OK.
Usually starts after 5 or 6 revs. even when this cold. Turned over many times with full choke.
Gave the starter a 30 sec break between tries. 10 Sec on, 30 sec off.
Finally started. Had to keep choke partly closed.
Let clutch out and it died. Started right away but had to keep partially choked.
Lots of white smoke or water vapor, hard to tell which. After about 1 min it ran w/o any choke. Started forward and almost died. Had to quickly pull choke knob. Moved outside and no smoke. I checked the choke butterfly later and it closes completely as it should.
Did some snow blowing and engine just did not sound right. Had power, but not the usual twin engine sound.
Note: I broke 4 shear pins on the impeller. On 4" of dry powder? All in a half hour. Knew I had a problem.
I'll start another thread on that. Problem right now is the engine.
Put tractor in the heated garage to find out what was up with the shear pins.
Waited until next day to look at it. Thought about the hard start problem and thought maybe gas was draining back and it took awhile to get fuel pumped into carb. Taking stuff off to get to fuel line on carb, I found oil on the air filter gasket and a little on the adapter plate.
Found water in the spit cup, oil breather tube, and the oil breather. Lots of water. 3 tablespoons or so.
So that tells me stuff was froze up when I was trying to start it.
The line at the carb was full of gas. So lines were not back draining.
Then I checked oil. Oil was 3/4" above full mark! But did not smell like gas. Really.
Had to measure 4 times to convince myself it was that high.
Measured resting cap on tube.
Drain oil into a coffee can. Measured it and had 84 oz. Suppose to have 64 oz at most.
20 oz over full.
I had the wife come out and smell the oil also. She did not smell gas. And believe me, she can small gas in the house if I spill just a little in the garage.
No sign of water in the oil. Some white goo under the valve covers. Very small amounts.
Fuel tank in this thing is below the carb.
What is up?
Am I in denial about smelling gas?
Took a whiff of the jug I stored that oil in today and still no gas smell.
But the only other liquid in the system is gas. It has to be gas running into the crankcase.
If it were water (That's a lot of moisture) it would not mix with the oil.
Could frozen water in the carb and breather have pulled gas into the crank case while working it that day?
Removed anti backfire solenoid and tested with a battery. Working, but snaps back slower than the ones on a B&S engine. Fuel bowl was full of gas. No water in bowl.
That smelled like gas!
Changed oil filter. No gas smell there either. Have not added new oil yet.
Want to see if gas flows into crankcase over night.
Rigged up a small gas tank about a foot above the carb. to gravity feed the input on the carb.
Ran the line to the input on the carb. Checked and had gas flow to the carb inlet. No leaks.
Left the carb not tightened down to see if gas came out the rear of the carb.
Put 12V battery power to the solenoid for about a half hour. No leaks.
Left the tank hooked up for about 3 hours and no leaks at the carb.
Put the adapter plate and spit cup back on and tightened the nuts.
Left it like that over night tonight. Will see what the morning brings.
Anyone have any ideas what caused it?
I know I did not add 20 oz of oil to engine before I put it away. No one else has been here that might have added oil.
Wish I would have checked oil level before starting that time, but I did not.