OMC iron horse 2cycle washing machine engine, no start.

[MEWHerman]

Not to be confused with the Johnson iron horse engines. I'll have to post some pics later, anyway.

I bought this cute little engine at an auction, it was in a box full of old irons. I made a mount for it and routed the tangled copper fuel line correctly. The tank is external and looks like a Briggs WI gas tank. It uses a simple suction carb.

Everything seems totally fine with it, the plug is all wet so it's getting fuel, and it has perfect compression.

The ignition appears to work, it will shock you really well. But I can't get consistent spark at the plug. It will sometimes jump the gap but very rarely. I've filed the points which looked fine before hand, and cleaned every contact I could find. I've gapped the points at .020, no idea what it's supposed to be but that's a fairly standard gap for small engines. I tried making the plug gap smaller and it worked for a while. but as soon as I put the plug in the engine it popped once and now it won't spark at the plug again. All along it's shocking me like all hell.

What the hell is wrong?

PS: plug is brand new and I've tried many plugs.

[Banjo]

Sounds like timing to me. Is there a way to set the points timing, or maybe the coil, or both? I'm not fermiliar with those motors specifically, so I don't know how the ignition components are mounted. also check the gap between the coil and the flywheel/ magnets, that can cause goofy things to happen too.

[aircoolengine]

I would replace the condenser.

[MEWHerman]

Well, today I replaced the condenser with one from a Lawn-boy "C" mower engine which I modified. It sparks at the plug now but I still can't get it to run for more than 10 seconds.

[Bill Sherlock]

What model of engine do you have? If it's a "D" series engine, the point gap is .016". Spark plug gap is .025". Air gap for magneto is .010".

Bill

[MEWHerman]

Originally Posted by Bill Sherlock

What model of engine do you have? If it's a "D" series engine, the point gap is .016". Spark plug gap is .025". Air gap for magneto is .010".

Bill

I don't think it has much of any connection with the Lawnboy D engine, it uses the same coil as the C but the rest of the motor seems to be totally different.

---------- Post added at 07:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:36 PM ----------

I got it to run for one minute this evening, stalled and then wouldn't start again, before that it was just pops and the occasional sputter. It seemed to run nice when it was running.

Checked spark after, still perfect, wrong condenser seems to be working well, nice blue.

No fuel leaks, should be getting gas, I've cleaned the fuel line and carb twice, and there isn't much to clean being that it's just a suction carb with one needle directly connected to the output of the fuel line.

The one thing is the threaded connection for the fuel line is broken off the potmetal carb. Making it impossible to attach the copper line to normal way. So I have a rubber hose making that connection, there are no leaks though. So it should work...

Great compression still.

I've been using a drill since my leg is tired of kicking it.

POS just won't work.

I could have built one out of wood in the time I've wasted messing with this thing.

---------- Post added at 08:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:44 PM ----------

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv__R...el_video_title


here is a video of it not working.

[Bill Sherlock]

My mistake, when you said that it wasn't to be confused with a Johnson Iron Horse engine I was thinking you meant the 4 cycle engine and thought of the vertical Iron Horse on a Lawn-Boy mower. From your video I see it's the 2 cycle version of the horizontal 4 cycle model.

There should be a check valve in the gas tank. If it's missing, gummed or corroded up, the engine won't run right and/or be hard to start. Did you check that out?

Bill

[MEWHerman]

Originally Posted by Bill Sherlock

My mistake, when you said that it wasn't to be confused with a Johnson Iron Horse engine I was thinking you meant the 4 cycle engine and thought of the vertical Iron Horse on a Lawn-Boy mower. From your video I see it's the 2 cycle version of the horizontal 4 cycle model.

There should be a check valve in the gas tank. If it's missing, gummed or corroded up, the engine won't run right and/or be hard to start. Did you check that out?

Bill

I'll have to go remove it from the tank, I blew compressed air through it when I got the engine and it seemed to work. There isn't really any way to take it apart though.

I should just drive to Maymont and leave it on your doorstep. lol

[aircoolengine]

Check for side to side play in crank shaft. Crank seals are probably leaking.

[Bill Sherlock]

Any luck getting that engine started yet? If not, I would suggest removing the flywheel and checking the key to see if it has a crimp in it from a sudden stop of the engine for some reason in it's past. As far as I know they use an aluminum woodruff key and those are impossible to find. If the key is marked, you'll have to use a steel key, but if the engine is only going to run for show purposes, likely not critical.

I'll gladly take the engine off your hands, just put it on the bus to Maymont and I'll pay the charges!

Bill

[MEWHerman]

Originally Posted by Bill Sherlock

Any luck getting that engine started yet? If not, I would suggest removing the flywheel and checking the key to see if it has a crimp in it from a sudden stop of the engine for some reason in it's past. As far as I know they use an aluminum woodruff key and those are impossible to find. If the key is marked, you'll have to use a steel key, but if the engine is only going to run for show purposes, likely not critical.

I'll gladly take the engine off your hands, just put it on the bus to Maymont and I'll pay the charges!


Bill

I'll have to go take a look at the key, It looked fine before though.

I think they other guy above may be on to something with the crank seals thing. I'm not too sure.

I've been busy making a cart for an International LB, heavier than it looks!

[MedicHamilton]

well im currently fighting the same exact thing with the same exact engine. i have a new coil, and tried several diffrent condensors, and even had double condensor. filed the points and ran dollar bills through them even replaces all wires. and checked everything with tester. so idk i will let you know if i find out anything. and if you do, please let me know!!!

chevyman_2000@hotmail.com

[James Bosma]

Any luck in getting the Iron Horse running yet

it could be the magnets in the flywheel getting weak
if the check valve in the fuel tank is in good working order
if the points and coil horn are clean and in good working order the only other thing i can think of is those magnets


Jim

[Doug Ourada]

Make sure the ports are clean. I just had a power products on a lawnmower that would pop and try but not run. Pulled the muffler cleaned it up and it took off.