[diggity_dz]

I have been having problems with my parents riding mower for years now. I do not use this mower a lot and they told me they were having problems starting it. At first I thought there was a problem with the starter because it was smoking. It was replaced and then I tried to start it and it started smoking again so I tried to turn the engine by hand and realized that it was hard to turn for about half of the way around. I realized that if I turn it to get past the hard part and then use the starter it will turn over and start. So in other words the engine in one spot is so hard to turn that it was causing the starter to over heat! Now the hard part to turn is about half a turn and even if I get past that part the starter can only turn the engine to the other half of the turn and stops on the hard part. I have talked to a friend who said that it was improper valve lash adjustment and I have to say it feels like the compresion is not being released. If that is what this sounds like I would like to get a better understanding on how to do this. I am not a mechanic but I have rebuilt car engines I am just not as comfortable with small engines. Thank you in advance!

[DG]

Need to have the valve clearance checked .
Luck

[crigby]

Hi,
I agree with DG and would add the followig You Tube video:
Lawn Mower Repair Valve Adjustment - YouTube
Peace,
Clarke

[diggity_dz]

Thank you both for the information! The video was great and after watching it I now am confident that this is the problem. I will let you know how it goes when I have a chance to do it.