Tecumseh 85cc - starting problem???

[kevin242]

Here's one i'm baffled by... I have a Jiffy gas ice auger with a Tecumseh 85cc 1-cylinder two-stroke engine - It's basically new (bought new in Jan 06 and used twice so far) but will not start.

I tested it two days ago and it ran and started fine. Yesterday it would not restart after stopping in the middle of warmup. It is getting fuel as well as spark (tried new spark plug as well). I drained the fuel, ensured that fuel was run completely through it in case it was flooded, refilled the tank and still no start - it does not even fire. I tried a spoonfull of 24:1 mixed fuel through the sparkplug hole and still not firing, yet the plug fires when grounded to the engine.

A friend of mine is a mechanic and we tested the compression (80+) as well. He's scratching his head too...

Any ideas out there?

Kevin Ferrie
Waskesiu Lake, Saskatchewan, Canada

[fordrules]

Do you put any anti-seize or any thing on the plug? I have heard of people putting too much on, and the plug will have trouble grounding.

[kevin242]

Good thought on the anti-seize compound, but I did not use any. I'm going to take it into a small engine shop tomorrow and maybe they can figure it out. I'm wondering if it has something to do with the electonic ignition where it's not getting a strong enough spark, or sparking at the wrong time.

I'll post a solution once I find out what the problem is.

It turns out the flywheel shear pin failed leading to the magneto being out of sync for timing. It was getting fuel, air and spark - just the spark was at the wrong time. Ahhhh. a $1.79 part.

[fordrules]

Glad to hear it's fixed. It's always the little things that get you.