1712 just stopped while mowing?

[324matt]

Last night I wascutting grass with my new to me 1712 hydro. I was at 3/4 throttle and while mowing the motor just stopped and will not start. What could cause this? I pulled the plugs. They one was black, one was white. They were not wet. I pulled the air filter, and while cranking it over, it seems to blow fuel back through the carb. I cant seem to get her to start.. Any advice or help? Please.

[Matt G.]

For starters, why are you mowing at 3/4 throttle? Air-cooled engines need to be run at wide-open throttle under load to cool them properly.

Three things are needed for the engine to run: spark, compression, and fuel, and they all must be present at the proper time. You haven't given us too much to work with, so check for those things first.

[Sam Mac]

Matt324

Pull the plugs and see if you have spark. What do you have for an engine?
From the little bit of info you gave us I'm guessing that you have some sort of electrical problem. If you have a KT Matt G knows what to look for.

[R Bedell]

The 1712 should have a KT-17 Series II in it.

[324matt]

Ok guys sorry for not being descriptive enough, i was in a panic. So i snuck some time at work to research the websight threads.. Im at a stands still. Tonight i put in two new autolite A26's in each cylinder. And to no avail. Let me tell u the whole story.
My 1980 IH cub 782 went down at 1683.5hrs last saturday.. No more horsepower.
So i bought a clean 1712 off a local guy on clist last wed that was his grandpas.
I mowed .61acres 3 times and after the inital oil change it was 1/3qt low.. No biggie.
It has the KT17 series II with 803.6hrs and there is slight oil on the bottom air filter holder.
My wife was mowing yesterday and i get the call.."the mower just quit all of the sudden".
My heart dropped.
So it was on ADD when she checked the oil. She added it to the FULL level on the dipstick. Still wouldnt start. Gas tank is full. So last night i cranked and cranked to no results..

[324matt]

So tonight while cranking, there is raw/burnt fuel poping out of the top of the carb. I have the air filter pullled off. The plugs are firing, it acta like it wants to start, but coughs.. Anyone with any thouhts? Advice?

[Matt G.]

You still haven't told us whether it has compression or is getting gas in the cylinders.

[Sam Mac]

Charge the battery so that you can crank it over fast enough to get a good compression test. Take the spark plugs out, screw the compression tester in and crank it over with the throttle wide open. Let us know what you get in each cylinder. If you don't have a tester go to an auto parts store and get one, make sure you get one that matchs your plug thread size. Have them explain to you how to use it if you don't know.
Is the gas old? Are you sure it was only down to the add mark when the wife filled it? Did someone maybe put something other than gas in it, maybe kero? When you said one plug is white and one is black that's telling me something is not right, they should be the same color. Just gonna toss this one out if your other Cub went down "No power" and now this one quits did we fill both with some bad or wrong fuel out of the same can? Something strange is going on.

[324matt]

I checked the compression tonight. Drivers side 0psi, passenger side 55-60psi. Not good. What to do next? is it better to reman or buy a briggs vanguard kit from smallenginewharehouse? Would rings and a gone be better? How can a motor with 804hrs go from strong running with lotsa power to blown up in a matter of 5hrs? I need help.

[Sam Mac]

Matt

Hard to say what happened without seeing it apart. I know it sucks to have one blow but it is a 20 something year old tractor with 800 + hours on it. If the tractor is in good shape otherwise I'd repower it and you should be good for many more years. What happened to your other tractor?