How to replace a pull cord on a 3.5 hp tecumseh engine

We bought it to pressure wash the driveway on a house we bought in Atlanta before we retired. It has a pull out tip for spraying or push back tip for a stream. but the 3.5hp Tecumseh engine was a strong little engine and the pump was always strong too. He may have burned up the engine or froze up the pump by not having water hose pressure connected when it was started. He said it started leaking fuel so he offered it back. It was running when I gave it away but I kept fuel Stabil in all my gas tanks ahead of time. I've always pressed it 5 times and it always started on the 4th pull until now. I think one of these checklist items should help you find the problem.It does have a black primer bulb on the carb and it came that way. There is no way to tell visually that this diaphragm is defective, but replacing it makes a big change in the way the engine starts. Unscrew the top half of the carburetor after removing the air filter and replace the diaphragm if the mower is more than 5 years old. After 5 or 6 years these diaphragms stretch and do not pulse properly any longer so that the choke plate is not controlled properly in the carburetor. This diaphragm is about 2.5 x 3.5 inches in size (just guessing from memory) and it has a stiff wire fastened to its center. IMPORTANT-Many vertical shaft B & S engines use a rubber diaphragm in the carburetor. It is necessary to remove the nut and washer holding the flywheel on the crankshaft and seeing if the keyways in both the flywheel and the crankshaft align exactly. The fatter the spark, the better.) Engine timing? (This is the matter addressed in this Instructable. Spin the mower engine and look for a blue spark. Deactivate any 'dead man clutch' that cuts the spark out. Wrap some bare copper wire around the threads and fasten the wire to the engine frame for a good ground. Or, if you spin the top of the flywheel clockwise rapidly by hand, it should bounce back in the reverse direction on the compression stroke, not just stop and wheeze a little.) Clean, 'new' spark plug? (Spark plugs can appear clean, but degrade with age so that they do not fire under the pressure of the compression stroke.) A good blue spark when the engine is cranked? (Remove the spark plug from the engine, but leave it attached to the plug wire.

Air filters can appear clean to the eye, but are not.) Adequate compression? (If you have a compression tester, you need 60 psi at minimum. Clean, fresh fuel? Fuel flows into the carburetor float bowl freely? No dirt obstructing the idle mixture screw valve? Clean air filter? (Test by removing the air filter and starting the engine. Be sure to look at the final paragraph marked 'IMPORTANT.' It is crucial on certain popular B & S engines. I usually go through a process of steps when checking a small engine to discover why it will not run. That must have been some piece of Styrofoam. I have always been able to remove the flywheel nut on the crankshaft with a long wrench handle and the blade as levers to work against one another. The symptoms you describe seem to be consistent with an engine timing problem caused by a sheared or partially sheared flywheel key. I thought I had ruined the engine, but a little oil in the spark plug hole after letting it cool and slowly turning it with a long wrench brought it back.) it will probably be best if you keep the mower level so oil does not flow into parts of the engine where it does not belong, After a few minutes the engine rings seized. (I once ran a small 2-cycle engine with a gas oil mixture that was too old. You can try putting a spoonful of oil in the spark plug hole and slowly turning the engine slowly in a clockwise direction to see if it loosens up.

You do not want it to start accidentally with your hand under the mower.) If you remove the plastic oil fill tube, is there oil up to the top of the engine casting where the plastic fill tube fits into the hole on the metal crankcase casting, or can you barely see any oil? I am wondering if the engine was run without enough oil and the rings may have seized in the cylinder. If you take the spark plug out, can you turn the engine by means of the mower's blade, or is it very difficult to turn? (Do not turn the engine with your hand on the blade underneath unless you have removed the spark plug.

How to replace a pull cord on a 3.5 hp tecumseh engine