Homeowner's Blog » Repairs

Small Engine Repair

Paul — Sun, 23 May 2010 18:49:14 +0000

Most outdoor yard equipment uses some type of gas powered small engine. Generally, these units are reliable and will give good performance. Every once in a while, however, they won’t start.

This year, I went to fire up the trusty rototiller (Yard Machines 21A332A700) to start working on the garden and I spent quite a while pulling on that rope with nothing to show for it. It turns out, there were several problems. These are the basic trouble shooting steps:

Check the fuel. Gas goes bad after a while, bad gas will smell funny. If the gas has sat in the tank all winter, drain it out and replace with fresh gas. Check the carburetor, most have a drain bolt on the bottom, drain about 1 tablespoon of gas out. If the unit has a fuel filter, check that too.
Check ignition. Remove the spark plug and check for damage. Check for proper gap. The spark plug should have slightly grey/brown ash on it, that is normal. Black gunk indicates a more serious problem. If several attempts at starting were made, the spark plug should have a slight coating of gas on it and the cylinder should smell like gas. Wait about 5 minutes then ground the spark plug on the engine and pull the starter. You should see/hear the spark. If not, there is an ignition problem.
Remove the air filter and be sure that the choke plate is closed.
After several starting attempts, the carburetor throat should be slightly wet with gas. If not, there is a fuel problem.
If everything looks normal (fuel and ignition okay) then the flywheel key might be bent. This could happen if the engine was stopped after hitting something. In many cases, the fly wheel key can be replaced.

Briggs and Stratton 6.5 HP engine with flywheel cover removed

With the rototiller, I found two problems, no gas and no spark. The gas problem was due to a clogged carburetor port. I took apart the carburetor and blew out all the ports with 35 PSI compressed air to make sure that no other junk was stuck in there.

Briggs and Stratton 6.5 HP engine ignition coil

The ignition problems were due to a mouse nest under the fly wheel cover. The mice chewed through the insulation on the kill wire. I tried to re-insulate the wire, but there was still no spark. I replaced the entire ignition coil. Briggs and Stratton has a good web site where one get know how and order parts directly.

I also installed a new, properly gapped spark plug. Total cost of repair, about $40.00.

Unclogging a bathtub drain

Paul — Wed, 06 May 2009 12:53:29 +0000

About once a year the bathtub drain gets a little slow. If I ignore this problem, unfortunately it does not seem to go away, it only gets worse. We end up taking shower baths, which is really annoying, at least to me. So, once a year I venture into the basement to unclog the beast.

bath tub drain below the floor

Because I am the one who installed the bathtub, I am the only one to blame if it is difficult to remove the drain to unclog it. I think I had good intentions here, but they kind of got buried in the pipes for the solar hot water system. Anyway, it is not too bad, just a little bit of reaching. When I removed the trap I stuffed a rag into the sewer line to prevent gas from seeping into the basement while I cleaned out the various pieces.

Fortunately all of the drains are plastic and come apart with little effort. A pair of slip joint pliers is all that is needed. In fact, most of the connections are hand tight.

clogged up bath tub drain pipe

As I suspected, my wife’s long hair is the culprit.

more hair in bath tub drain

Lots of culprit. I sprayed each part out with a high pressure garden hose and wiped the inside with a rag. Where the P trap meets the 2 inch drain there was some junk too, I cleaned that with a rag.

Once all the parts are reassembled I ran a little water into the trap to check for leaks and prevent any sewer gas from seeping into the house.

While I was at it, I cleaned out the bathroom sink as well. This fixture had been draining a little slowly lately. Same situation, hair.

Took about a half an hour to do and it is a little bit smelly and dirty or disgusting if you think about it too much. Plumbers charge a lot but they earn their money.

Fixing up my 1997 Jeep Cherokee

Paul — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 15:29:45 +0000

Last year was supposed to be the year that I traded that old Jeep in for something new. After all, I have been driving this thing for almost 10 years, it has over 175,000 miles on it. Ah well, best laid plans, etc, etc.

1997 Jeep Cherokee sport

Over the years, I have kept some statistics on this vehicle, for example:

Category	Number	Quantity	Comment
Oil Changes	38	228 quarts of 10W40, or 57 gallons	about every 4,500 miles
Gas	20 MPG average	8774 gallons
Windshields	3
Windshield wipers	6 sets	12 wiper blades
Windshield fluid	10 gallons	10 gallons	about a gallon a year
Tires	4 sets	16 tires
Radios	4		Two were ripped off, one broke
Brakes, pads	4 sets	16 pads
Brakes, rotors	2 sets	4 rotors
Batteries	4
Accidents	3		1 – rear end 1- guy backing into front of vehicle 1- parked car door dent
Deer strikes	1		No fatalities
Bird strikes	1		1 fatality

I have been keeping up with the maintenance items, Oil changes, brake pads and rotors, etc. Its just that, well, for the last several years the little things have been let go. The air conditioner stopped working about 3 years ago. Then the parking break release button broke off and the hood latch pull handle came off. Then I noticed the oil spots in the driveway. None of these are very expensive to fix, they just require time.

The first thing to fix was the rear brake lines. These are important if stopping is required. They were rotted to the point of leaking. I bought the parts at the local Dodge dealership in Kingston. They are steel and come in two pieces, the longer piece is about 6 feet long and needs to be threaded up to the master cylinder on the fire wall. The second part is about 6 inches long and goes between the pressure equalization valve and the long part just installed. The hardest and most important part of the whole job is bleeding the air out of the lines. Since I did not replace the lines to the wheel hubs, I bleed out the line to the junction on the frame.

Replacement oil pan 1997 Jeep Cherokee 4.6L 6

Next, the oil pan was leaking, it had a rotten spot on it above the drain plug. I was going to try and patch it with fiberglass and epoxy, but decided that replacing the entire oil pan was easier. I went to the junk yard and found one for about $25.00 and bought a new gasket at the before mentioned Kingston Dodge dealership. At $35.00, the gasket was more expensive than the oil pan. Replacement involved draining the oil and taking the old pan off. I used gasket seal and put the “new” oil pan and gasket in place.

1997 jeep cherokee hood release cable

The hood latch was easy, it is just a cable with a hand pull attached. I used the old cable to fish the new cable through the fire wall and attached it to the release lever on the underside of the hood. I greased up all the hood release mechanism to keep it working well.

The hand break was another issue. The required removing the center console and took a long time. Every time I thought I had all the screws removed, there would be one more hiding somewhere. Once the console was out, replacing the hand lever and break cable was easy.

Next up, drain and flush the transmission, transfer case and transaxle. I will bring it to the trusted neighborhood mechanic to do that work since they don’t charge too much and have the oil disposal tank. I need to replace the idler pulley and the serpentine belt as they have been making noise when it gets cold.

After that, there is an exhaust leak somewhere near the manifold. It is steadily getting louder. That will need to be replaced next but it is not a pressing issue yet.

I am going to try to get >200K miles out of this Jeep. It is not the most fuel efficient vehicle and I wish I could drive something newer, however, it is 4WD which is almost a requirement in the winter time around here. It is also paid for (and has been for many, many years).