I am going to pick this 10525 up tomorrow. Looks pretty much perfect. I do have another motor just in case. Owner has been using it all season. Last week he said he can't pull the cord or spin the blade this week. He thinks it has a seized motor but says he always uses 32:1 mix and hasn't straight gassed it. Am I making a mistake assuming he is telling the truth? What else would cause the motor to lock both at the starter and blade? Thanks.
Commited to buy 10525 - Help diagnose
1 - 20 of 27 Posts
Joined
·
4,368 Posts
Just be sure to pull the plug before you fiddle with it.
Squirt some oil into the cylinder, let it soak,
then try working the blade back and forth carefully.
I hope this problem is reflected in the price.
Around 100. I am taking him to his word that it wasn't straight gassed and it looks perfect otherwise, and it has that 3 speed tranny and I do have another motor that is good. He says he use it all season and just now he can't pulll the cord. What is the fix for the flywheel brake pad issue? I haven't heard of that.
Joined
·
1,567 Posts
Could be the above...
He could have always run 32:1 and blown it up. Could have revved to high, had the cooling fins plugged up with crap and it ran too hot, etc.
Joined
·
4,417 Posts
I agree. It could be seized,brake pad is sticking or even what i have seen was the coil put on wrong/or it moved over time and and caused the engine to seem like it was "locked up" but was just the coil.
Anything I can do when I look at it today to diagnose? Will pulling the plug tell me anything about the motor being burnt out? What would the plug look like under these conditions? Is there a simple way to tell if the brake is frozen as opposed to the motor seizure? Sorry for all the questions, but the last time I bought a lawnboy that was claimed to have just been running, I got burned and am still trying to get it working properly. Here is the machine anyway.
Attachments
Picked it up. It seemed that the blade spun ok with the plug out, but what i found that on complete revolution it would hit a very hard spot. I didn't spin it all the way around when I first saw it. I was encouraged that it moved freely, and assumed there was a top end issue with the recoil. At home, I put oil in the cylinder and got it to go around freely. There is no compression. Unless there is something on the top end that could be stuck open (don't know if that is possible) I guess the engine is toast. Now I am a two time lawn boy loser. I have the 10324 motor, which has perfect compression but is a surger which I have yet to rectify despite replacing just about all the suspect parts. Is this a straight bolt up replacement except exchanging the shrouds? I am not sure because of the different transmissions. Maybe I can combine the two to make one good machine but may/will need assistance from you helpful lawnboy experts.
Joined
·
4,417 Posts
The 10324 engine will bolt up fine. You just have to move the s/p pulley to the lower hole in the crank
Joined
·
733 Posts
You just picked up one of the most desireable Duraforce Lawn-Boys and already have a spare DF engine, I don't think your a two-time L-B loser.
Are you Mechanically Inclined ?? If so, download the parts catalog, "E" engine service manual, and the drives manual from the L-B web site and start reading. As long as the gear box is not toast, you should not have to spend too much more $$ to get that 10525 back up and running.
Doug
Are you Mechanically Inclined ?? If so, download the parts catalog, "E" engine service manual, and the drives manual from the L-B web site and start reading. As long as the gear box is not toast, you should not have to spend too much more $$ to get that 10525 back up and running.
Doug
Ok, maybe good or bad news. I pulled off the exhaust port and the piston is blocking the hole. Pretty clean in there. However, the flywheel and or blade spin freely with one rough spot. I mean completely freely and then stop, but you can push it through. This movement occurs and the piston doesn't move. So it might have compression, but what is broken to not move the piston - the crank? I assume it will have to come apart either way, but maybe the cylinder and rings aren't ruined. What would cause such a failure? Thanks.
Joined
·
2,534 Posts
Sounds like a broken connecting rod to me.
Joined
·
1,567 Posts
x2
Sounds like the rod is gone. I would just watch for a nice shortblock, or put yours from the 10324. As far as surging goes, remove the pilot jet and put one strand of a wire brush through the little holes in it. Fixes it for me every time.
I think you did good, that mower was worth the money, even with the thrown rod (if that is the problem). I just figure if the blade moves and the piston doesn't, the rod is gone.
Wow, a broken rod. What could have caused that damage? As for the surger, I have the r-tek 42.5 pilot installed and still the problem. I'll try the seafoam in it and the last parts I haven't replaced are the float and I was going to put in a stock main jet. I cleaned the carb the best I could wo soaking it because it is plastic. I replaced the needle and seat. I think this mower had already been re-jetted when I did it myself. Maybe it is a rich surger. I hope it doesn't have a crank leak.
Joined
·
733 Posts
From what I remember, a broken conecting rod or cap was a problem that affected a small percentage of Duraforce engines. The problem was corrected at some point, so only a certain range of serial numbers were prone to the failure.
This ring a bell with anyone else ??
Doug
This ring a bell with anyone else ??
Doug
I pullled apart the 10525 engine and the rod had blown up. Completely shattered nothing connected to the crank. All the needle bearing were floating around along with pieces of the rod. I don't think the piston ever moved though and wondered if this is salvageable?
I ran the 10324 the other day and it was surging, so I cut off the fuel and ran it out of gas. Yesterday, I tried to start it again and it wouldn't start at all. I swapped the carbs and put in the other stock 10525 carb. It has the original pilot jet sticker so I know if hasn't ever been opened. Got it all back together and the thing wouldn't start. I pulled out the plug and grounded it and there was no spark. The flywheel was all rusty on the 10324 so I cleaned it up and put in the 10525 coil I put it back together and the thing started first pull and idled perfectly. Now it could be the carb, but the 10324 carb was clean. So now I am thinking that the coil was the culprit in the surging monster. Is that a possibility? Anyway, I hope now I have good motor to drop into the 10525. I may put in the other carb to confirm this.
There is a square plate beneath the blade. Somebody mentioned that i need to move the drive pulley on the crank to make this switch. What is the trick to get this piece off the crank.
I'll mow with the 10324 tomorrow as it was too late to use it tonight but I am very happy that I think the surging issue has been resolved and I think rust on the flywheel and/or a weak coil was causing the problem. I can then move on and drop the motor onto the 10525.
Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks.
I ran the 10324 the other day and it was surging, so I cut off the fuel and ran it out of gas. Yesterday, I tried to start it again and it wouldn't start at all. I swapped the carbs and put in the other stock 10525 carb. It has the original pilot jet sticker so I know if hasn't ever been opened. Got it all back together and the thing wouldn't start. I pulled out the plug and grounded it and there was no spark. The flywheel was all rusty on the 10324 so I cleaned it up and put in the 10525 coil I put it back together and the thing started first pull and idled perfectly. Now it could be the carb, but the 10324 carb was clean. So now I am thinking that the coil was the culprit in the surging monster. Is that a possibility? Anyway, I hope now I have good motor to drop into the 10525. I may put in the other carb to confirm this.
There is a square plate beneath the blade. Somebody mentioned that i need to move the drive pulley on the crank to make this switch. What is the trick to get this piece off the crank.
I'll mow with the 10324 tomorrow as it was too late to use it tonight but I am very happy that I think the surging issue has been resolved and I think rust on the flywheel and/or a weak coil was causing the problem. I can then move on and drop the motor onto the 10525.
Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks.
Joined
·
4,822 Posts
A complete engine sold on Ebay the other day for a little over 100.00 shipped. The short blocks have been selling for quite a bit more than that. I would just take the engine from the 10324 which will never be worth near what the 10525 is now.
1 - 20 of 27 Posts
