Hey Y'all...
I was out riding our little Alsport Mts-30 trike yesterday evening and had been riding probably 15 minutes on the road....not going very fast...and not really putting a strain on the engine....so I'm going down a small incline, and the trike starts coasting at a speed faster than the motor is going, then the motor stalled....and would not restart.
It's a 3.5 hp B&S motor, probably late 90's model that had been running fine up to this point, and was on a mini bike before it was on the trike, and did fine there too.
To address this, after double checking my gas level, I started at the spark plug, which I found had vibrated to the point where it could be loosened by hand..?
Thinking oh, easy fix, I tightened it up after checking it to make sure it did not appear to have fouled. Would not start.
Then I tried a new spark plug, actually 2, as when the one that had been in my tool box wouldn't work, I bought a new one and tried it, even with starting spray, still sounds like it's not firing and will not start.
Did I by chance cook the points or something ? perhaps advanced the timing when coasting faster than the motor was currently running (if you can do such a thing ?)...I don't know ....:shrug:
I've never really had to mess with a flathead Briggs before, they always just start right up, even after sitting for ages.
So I guess I need to go back to basics first, and confirm whether I truly have spark or not...gotta find my spark tester thing.
I am also thinking, since I don't really know if it's a spark issue....could the carburetor clog up while going down the road like that ?
Do the symptoms sound familiar, and does it sound like I am heading in the right direction toward getting this thing started again ?....suggestions.....?
Thanks,
Robert
I was out riding our little Alsport Mts-30 trike yesterday evening and had been riding probably 15 minutes on the road....not going very fast...and not really putting a strain on the engine....so I'm going down a small incline, and the trike starts coasting at a speed faster than the motor is going, then the motor stalled....and would not restart.
It's a 3.5 hp B&S motor, probably late 90's model that had been running fine up to this point, and was on a mini bike before it was on the trike, and did fine there too.
To address this, after double checking my gas level, I started at the spark plug, which I found had vibrated to the point where it could be loosened by hand..?
Thinking oh, easy fix, I tightened it up after checking it to make sure it did not appear to have fouled. Would not start.
Then I tried a new spark plug, actually 2, as when the one that had been in my tool box wouldn't work, I bought a new one and tried it, even with starting spray, still sounds like it's not firing and will not start.
Did I by chance cook the points or something ? perhaps advanced the timing when coasting faster than the motor was currently running (if you can do such a thing ?)...I don't know ....:shrug:
I've never really had to mess with a flathead Briggs before, they always just start right up, even after sitting for ages.
So I guess I need to go back to basics first, and confirm whether I truly have spark or not...gotta find my spark tester thing.
I am also thinking, since I don't really know if it's a spark issue....could the carburetor clog up while going down the road like that ?
Do the symptoms sound familiar, and does it sound like I am heading in the right direction toward getting this thing started again ?....suggestions.....?
Thanks,
Robert
