Hi,

My 17 HP Craftsman riding mower (Model No. 917.270710) has been starting with difficulty all season.

First, it cranked but failed to start unless I put the battery charger on it.

After a couple of months of starting it this way, it would not start even with the charger on. A friend put a wrench across the solenoid and the starter turned so he diagnosed it as a bad solenoid. I replaced it with new one.

The mower started several times (with the charger attached) but today when I turned the key I get a loud brrrrrrrrrrr sound and a weak movement of the flywheel.

At first I thought it was the starter but the sound seems to be coming from the new solenoid.

Any ideas you have will be greatly appreciated. -Dan

Have your battery checked by someone with a "load tester".

Yep you have a battery issue maybe that old solenoid wasn't bad? Who knows now but get that battery tested or replaced, $36.

have your battery checked by someone with a "load tester".

Thank you for your suggestion. I cleaned the battery contacts and recharged the battery and re-connected it with the charger on and cranked the starter and it turned over as usual but the mower would not start despite many crankings.

I noticed that when I cranked it the flywheel was turning one full rotation and then halting... turning one rotation and halting... one rotation and halting... etc. It has been doing this all season and would always start up after the third or fourth turn. It did not this morning and I quit trying when I noticed that the starter was beginning to get hot.

Any ideas you have as to the cause of this problem would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again for your previous suggestion. -Dan

Yep you have a battery issue maybe that old solenoid wasn't bad?? Who knows now but get that battery tested or replaced, $36.
Hi,
Thank you for your reply. I took your suggestion. See my reply to Mowerman. Any suggestions you might have would be appreciated. Thanks again. -Dan

Thank you for your suggestion. I cleaned the battery contacts and recharged the battery and re-connected it with the charger on and cranked the starter and it turned over as usual but the mower would not start despite many crankings.

I noticed that when I cranked it the flywheel was turning one full rotation and then halting...turning one rotation and halting...one rotation and halting...etc. It has been doing this all season and would always start up after the third or fourth turn. It did not this morning and I quit trying when I noticed that the starter was beginning to get hot.

Any ideas you have as to the cause of this problem would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again for your previous suggestion. -Dan
What you are describing now indicates that the valves are out of adjustment. I do not know your abilities mechanically, but setting the valves is easy if you have a little talent. Let me know if you think you can do it, and I will try to walk you through it. I will tell you now, I think your valves are probably between .025 and .045" and should be probably
.005 or .006". Let me know what you would like to try.

Hi,

I would like very much to try resetting the valves! Thank you for offering to walk me through it! -Dan

P.S. When I cranked the mower later today, it backfired and started up right away. My wife, who does the actual mowing, says the mower seemed to be chugging and lacking power. -Dan

1. Remove The Spark Plug,
2. Remove The Ohv Cover,
3. Put The Engine On Tdc And Then Turn Another 1/4" Past Tdc,
4. Using Feeler Guages, See What The Clearance Is Between The End Of The Valve And The Rocker Arm.
5. Using A Torx Bit Driver And A Wrench, Loosen The Nut,
6. Place The Correct Feeler Guage In Between The Rocker Arm And Valve,
7. Turn The Torx Driver In To Tighten The Rocker Arm Until It Is Just Firmly Against The Feeler Guage,
8. Then Tighten The Lock Nut,
9. Recheck The Clearance After Locking The Nut.
10. I Would Suggest Putting Them Both On .005"
Then Put The Cover Back On With A New Gasket, (you Can Get By Without A New Gasket), Check Oil Level, Reinstall Spark Plug, And Start The Engine.

I have a Troybilt 18 horse My sounds like yours the Carb leaks when it is sitting and the engine has a vapor lock due to the fuel leak to check if this might be your problem. The next time you run into the probem just remove the spark plugs and see it it turns over without stopping on the compression stoke . If so you can have the carb worked on ( the float needle valve) or put a gas shut off valve and make sure you shut off the fuel after use this will work if it is in your carb