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little herbie · Jan 2, 2007, 02:48 PM

I have a 10-year old MTD lawn machine. I can fully charge the battery, run the machine for 10-20 minutes, turn it off and it won't restart. The motor turns over a couple of times very slowly before the battery is totally drained. The volt meter reflects that the machine is charging. When it cools off, it may restart. Also, when it is running, a lot of what looks like exhaust smoke is coming from the hose that connects from the motor to the bottom of the air cleaner.
Please help.
Thanks

newaukumdon · Jan 2, 2007, 05:03 PM

Does the engine itself smoke when running? The hose that goes to the air cleaner is the crankase breather hose (EGR). It could be that you are experiencing a hydraulic lock due to fluid in the cylinder head and it is not allowing the piston to reach TDC easily.

Check your oil level and smell it for gasoline. If you are overfull of oil, or gasoline is filling the crankcase you will experience a lot of blowby out the breather hose.

You can also remove the spark plug and see if the engine rotates well. Check for excessive fluid coming out the spark plug hole.

Good luck
Don

thebriggsdude · Jan 3, 2007, 12:19 AM

Breather really isn't a egr (exhaust gas return) more like a pcv valve (positive crankcase ventilation) it lets the internal crankcase pressure out, and the gases...

IS that tube off? And or cracked? Replace it, the carbs sucking dirt through there...

But do follow what newaukumdon said... and report back if you can..

Kind of sounds like a worn out starter to me..

little herbie · Jan 3, 2007, 09:41 AM

Thank you both for your prompt reply and help. I have taken the top of the unit off, as I had to replace the pinion gear on the starter and wanted to make sure the thing ran before reassembling everything. Consequently, the air cleaner assembly is not on and the hose in question is not connected. The starter engages properly when the unit is cold, but the battery appears to run down while the unit is running. I put a brand new heavy duty battery on the unit and it quickly lost its charge. There is not an oversupply of oil and the oil does not smell of gas. The unit ran beautifully until I fouled the blades with a trash bag. I have had problems since that time. When it is running, it cuts properly.

thebriggsdude · Jan 4, 2007, 12:58 AM

It could be, not even related but a coincidence with the trash bag...

One thing to make sure of, is the wiring (mainly the wires from under the flywheel) are tight and clean... and nothings drawing power (for example, some mowers never had dual alternators back then... and the lights ran off the battery)

little herbie · Jan 22, 2007, 03:48 PM

Originally Posted by thebriggsdude

It could be, not even related but a coincidence with the trash bag...

One thing to make sure of, is the wiring (mainly the wires from under the flywheel) are tight and clean... and nothings drawing power (for example, some mowers never had dual alternators back then.... and the lights ran off the battery)

Thanks for all your help. You mentioned the starter originally and this obviously was the problem. I pulled it off and found a crack in the ceramic where the power cable bolted on. Got a new starter from Jack's Small Engines and just installed it. The problem appears solved (for the time being). Thanks again.