1940 Briggs wont start

[squiresuzuki]

Hey. This engine worked fine 7 years ago, says the guy i got it from. the shaft was rusted, all moving parts were rusted pretty much. I've got them all moving. i replaced the spark plug. good compression. It still doesn't start! Check out this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o6quV5G9Lc

So, what could it be? Thanks!

 

[freakboy]

did u check the compression with a compression gauge? you get spark... did you take appart and clean the carb?

 

[Kaptain Krunch]

Much newer than 1940s. more like 70s - 80s. Put a little gas in the cylinder and see if she fires, if so you have a carb problem. Likely a bad diaphragm in the carb.

 

[EagleTalons]

Uhhh... Why is the spark plug wire like a foot long?

 

[squiresuzuki]

Thanks. We'll try the gas-in-cylinder action. The reason the wire is so long is because the old one (with huge rubber coating) came undone and this was the only wire we had around. I didn't feel like cutting it because it's just temporary. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Kaptain Krunch]

Wait, is the wire your using sparkplug wire? if not that could be your problem too.

 

[EagleTalons]

You have to get a new coil now, the wire with the huge rubber coating. Keeps the high voltage spark inside of the wire. Without the coating it can arc out of the wire.

 

[squiresuzuki]

Oh okay, good to know.

 

[Raywelder]

I was gonna say, that looks way new than 40s. I have a 1940's brigg WMB Kickstart.

 

[porsche930dude]

its only a 2 or 3 hp you can tell by the shallow gas tank. Early 60s . First youve got to solve the spark problem with a real spark plug wire. you can use one from a car as long as the end is right and its the kind of coil that can take a replacement wire. If it still dont spark youve got to pull the flywheel and check the points. But hopefully not. If your getting good spark put a little gas in the carb and see if she fires. if it does you can probrobly do that a few times to get things flowing. if its still a no go youll have to unscrew the tank from the carb and check the pickups and pull the side cover off the carb with the diaphram and see how that looks. get a can of carb cleaner and go nuts. Usually it just takes a bit of fooling to get things clear and working. First things first fix that plug wire

 

[oscaryu1]

That can be a 40's, whatcha talkin' about? I have a 1950's Briggs 2HP, was original. Looks similar to that. Does look newer judging by carb design though.

Clean points.

You can usually see the arcing... if the boot and the clip came out at the end, just duct-tape the wire with the insulation to the tip of the plug. Ghetto style. Done it before and worked fine.

 

[Blazkowiez]

I'll take a picture of the 1962 Briggs we got in the shop a few days ago. If the cover matches their engine then the motor has electronic ignition and not points. No doubt the first thing they need to be doing is cleaning that carb and buying a can of starter fluid. This has been said already but it should be noted. I do doubt the engine being a 4hp but this has been noted.

 

[oscaryu1]

They put another cover on, read their OP. Take it off, and if you have a wire going to behind the flywheel, it haz p0intz.

 

[Blazkowiez]

I did read the post, I also watched the video. I see that they put another cover on but they would have had to convert the motor to recoil start from rope start. IE add a starter cup that accepts that cover.

 

[squiresuzuki]

Yeah, so I pulled it a couple of times and then took off the side of the carb with what you call the "diaphragm", I suppose. What does this thing do? It has a spring behind it, and two little tabs, I guess one to let gas in, what does the other do? Also, why is there 2 tubes coming going into the gas tank?

Also, we just re-attached the old one. Tight fit, but we heavily wrapped each contact with electrical tape.

I don't know about the year or HP for sure, the guy who gave it to me just said that. I bolted it off of an extremely old looking machine. It had two huge tractor wheels but you had to push it manually. There were 2 huge blade things that were supposed to rub against each other in the front. Kind of like a 6 foot wide hedge trimmer. Looked really old and dangerous. Right next to it he had a roto-tiller with an almost identical engine except to start it, you had to tie a rope around the big circly thing (I suck at engine terminology) and then pull it.

 

[oscaryu1]

I did read the post, I also watched the video. I see that they put another cover on but they would have had to convert the motor to recoil start from rope start. IE add a starter cup that accepts that cover.

Old Briggs don't use starter cups... Only the newer ones did... anything 80's and older usually didn't...

 

[oscaryu1]

Oh, and 2/3/3.5HP's never came with the starter cup type of recoil. 5HP's did however, but the oldschool ones did not.

 

[squiresuzuki]

oh okay. so what about my questions above (carburetor diaphragm)?

 

[Kaptain Krunch]

Yeah, so I pulled it a couple of times and then took off the side of the carb with what you call the "diaphragm", I suppose. What does this thing do? It has a spring behind it, and two little tabs, I guess one to let gas in, what does the other do? Also, why is there 2 tubes coming going into the gas tank?

Also, we just re-attached the old one. Tight fit, but we heavily wrapped each contact with electrical tape.

I don't know about the year or HP for sure, the guy who gave it to me just said that. I bolted it off of an extremely old looking machine. It had two huge tractor wheels but you had to push it manually. There were 2 huge blade things that were supposed to rub against each other in the front. Kind of like a 6 foot wide hedge trimmer. Looked really old and dangerous. Right next to it he had a roto-tiller with an almost identical engine except to start it, you had to tie a rope around the big circly thing (I suck at engine terminology) and then pull it.

that plug wire is your problem, or at least part of it. Most likely need to get a whole new coil. New diaphragm is probably in order too if it sat for 7 years.