[elemein]

Hi guys, new to the hobby, I'm gonna get right down to it.

Today I bought a Tecumseh, 4-stroke, 7 HP engine for 40$ off of a snowblower. Starts up pretty easily and usually on the first good pull.

I bought it primarily as I'm a younger highschool student who loves automotive engineering and decided to buy myself an engine so that I can learn more thoroughly about engines and how they work. I'm 15 and in grade 10, not even old enough to drive, so learning about them is hard for me.

Anyway, I'm sortof having a bit of a problem with it; even though I do not think it's the engines problem, moreso just my own lack of knowledge of small engines.

So when I start the engine, it vibrates violently and starts at extremely high RPMs and is very loud. I do NOT know how to correctly start the engine all the well when it comes to throttle and choke settings. What I ideally would like is an easy start with it idling nicely at a low RPM constantly, but what I usually get is it screaming and yelling at very high RPMs where I'm forced to slowly kill the throttle until it dies off as it's frankly just scaring me. I do not have a stand for it or anything; I just put my foot on top of it to keep it down when I pull the chord and to queel some of the extreme vibrations this thing puts out. Foolish, I know, I am looking into a stand.

Anyway, so the first question would be; what do I do in order to get the engine to start at low RPMs and have it able to just sit and hover at low RPMs so I can observe it a little more peacefully?

Second, the primary reason I bought the engine was for learning purposes; so what do you guys reckon would be the best way to use the engine to learn about it? I was thinking that starting it and using the choke and throttle while watching it wouldnt really give me all that much information; while tearing into the engine itself and seeing all the components for myself first hand would. Essentially what I'm asking is; what'd be more effective for me to learn? Having the engine run and me observe how it works from the outside, or me tear into the internals and run a very large risk of me screwing something up when I put it back together and having it never run again?

40$ isnt really a big loss to be honest, even if I'm just a poor 15-yr old with a small part-time job. But I'd still rather have it run, take it apart, learn everything about it, put it back together, and have it run again knowing I know that I put it back together and that I was the one who knows how exactly the engine infront of me runs.

So those are my two questions; i know it's a lot of writing but I'm frankly just very passionate about this for some reason

 

[dawgpile]

Just a couple comments to get started...

1st, welcome both to this forum and to the hobby(and potential career for you!) of small engine repair. Remember that Rome wasn't built in a day and you are starting on what will hopefully be a fulfilling journey for you. Oh sure, you'll pull some hair out along the way, as we all have!

I would suggest you download a copy of the Tecumseh service manual. It is a great place to start and it has specific info about your engine. You can certainly Google general topics and you can also Google your specific engine model/spec number to look at parts diagrams, owner's manual, etc. This is a great way to get started. The service manual shows where to find these numbers. It contains a whole lot of good info on how the engine itself as well as specific topics like ignition and carburetion work.

Here is a link to the specific service manual I'm referring to:

http://www.allotment.org.uk/assets/rotovator/Tecumseh-Engine-Manual.pdf

(you can get it from a bunch of places. this is the first I came to when I Googled it)

Finally, I would highly recommend mounting the engine to some solid/heavy surface. It is not unusual for an engine to 'walk' all over the place when running. Just not a safe thing to do. Also, that engine probably has no air cleaner on it(as most snow thrower engines do not). That's fine for what you are doing now using it as a learning tool...keep in mind if you put it in service, you should consider scrounging around for an air cleaner if you will be running it at all where it will be dusty.

Enjoy!

 

[elemein]

Just a couple comments to get started...

1st, welcome both to this forum and to the hobby(and potential career for you!) of small engine repair. Remember that Rome wasn't built in a day and you are starting on what will hopefully be a fulfilling journey for you. Oh sure, you'll pull some hair out along the way, as we all have!

Thanks! Good to know I'm not the only one whose had/is having a hard start at this hobby

I would suggest you download a copy of the Tecumseh service manual. It is a great place to start and it has specific info about your engine. You can certainly Google general topics and you can also Google your specific engine model/spec number to look at parts diagrams, owner's manual, etc. This is a great way to get started. The service manual shows where to find these numbers. It contains a whole lot of good info on how the engine itself as well as specific topics like ignition and carburetion work.

Here is a link to the specific service manual I'm referring to:

http://www.allotment.org.uk/assets/rotovator/Tecumseh-Engine-Manual.pdf

Thanks VERY much! This is EXTREMELY useful! The guy I bought the engine off of did not have the manual, so this is extremely useful! Thanks!

(you can get it from a bunch of places. this is the first I came to when I Googled it)

Finally, I would highly recommend mounting the engine to some solid/heavy surface. It is not unusual for an engine to 'walk' all over the place when running. Just not a safe thing to do. Also, that engine probably has no air cleaner on it(as most snow thrower engines do not). That's fine for what you are doing now using it as a learning tool...keep in mind if you put it in service, you should consider scrounging around for an air cleaner if you will be running it at all where it will be dusty.

Yeah I do plan to mount it on something. Question, would welding the bottom of it (not the actual bottom, but this sort of brace where it used to rest on the snowblower? Not part of the engine but welded underneath it) to a larger steel/iron square plate be okay? I would imagine that the plate would make the vibrations of the engine be absorbed over a wider surface area, it would also prevent it from toppling over and I could put weight on the plate to keep the plate itself from moving. It's also cheap and compact. I was considering this heavily as space is not abundant to me and I need a cheap and easy-to-make stand. Any opinons on it?

Enjoy!

Thanks I will!

Replied in bolds, thank you!

 

[Maytag]

Might be able to just mount it to a piece of 2" by 12" about 2 feet long. That should almost give you the equivalent base as if the engine was sitting on a lawn mower. Depending on the engines torque vector (which way it wants to flip) you can place the 2by either north south or east west under the motor for best support.

Also if the engine is obviously running way faster than a normal mower/snow blower set for high speed then shut it OFF!! You could easily put a rod right through the side of the block THEN YOU"LL HAVE to take it apart and learn the hard way. So Maybe learn about setting governors and throttles first so you can get the speed under control before you blow the engine.

And keep asking questions. The guys in here live for this stuff!!!!

As I always try to state - I'm personally not a mechanic so seek more professional advice if necesary.

WELCOME TO SMALL ENGINES!!
>Maytag

 

[2men&atrailer]

i am in my second seson as a full time small engine mechanic

i my opion the best thing is find you a person that can mentor you as you learn and get better

be ready to blowup a few and fix a few but every mistake has a fix some how

and be ready that once you get good at fixing them that you will become everybody's friend even people that you don't even know

ask questions ask questions and ask more questions to everybody that you know that works on them

be open to the idea that the small engine thing might move you to atv's or mini bikes anything that runs from gas or mixed gas and is wanted by someone

thanks for reading my spill

this has been a few words from a ******* and treat it as so

i love this place

:wave::wave::wave::wave: