Not a WH engine, but SAY WHAT????

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

So the widder lady next door has this Troy Built pressure washer that wasn't running.  I offered to look at it.  The first thing I noticed...  I've never seen anything as ridiculous as this in all my days!

 

 

She had one of the Bozos from her lawn service "look" at it.  He dented the fuel bowl all to '5h1t' with a tool of some type.  Why would he do that?  Managed to straighten that out.

The governor springs were all caddy wompus, hooked to the wrong places, I THINK I got them where they are supposed to be but can't find a clear diagram of how they SHOULD be so I'm guessing on that.

The bowl gasket was pinched and cut, cleaned out the bowl, a shot of carb cleaner in the jet, and cleaned the bowl nut / fuel pickup out which was plugged with debris.  Reassembled with new bowl gasket.

Pulled the tank, emptied it of all the 'boogers' that were in there, swished some Naphtha around in it, dumped that and put all back together and it started right up 2nd pull.  Seems to run OK so maybe I got the springs right.

 

I haven't changed the oil yet.  It says not to!  HA HA HA HA HA HA HA  

Edited May 12, 2021 by Jeff-C175

[ZXT 2,401]

That's uh... different. 

 

They must not expect it to last very long. You can't tell me something that runs near dirt will never need the oil changed.

[8ntruck 7,004]

One of those 'lubed for life' deals?  

 

When the lube is gone, the life ends.......

[Stepney 2,325]

These have been around a few years. Makes me think back to those 1960's Toro Whirlwind mowers, with a Teccy engine. They had a dome on one side of the block with a push button. You never were supposed to check the oil. 
Every time you would use the mower, push the button in. Gravity would fill the oil right to the top of the original plug. Just top up the cup every so often.. because every Teccy mower engine burnt oil..

They've been pushing this junk for a few years now, I remember seeing it on a Bolens push mower at Lowes a few years back.

I, of course, own the original 'never change the oil' lawn mower..

In my day, we called it a LAWN-BOY..

 

I never get power mowers in for repairs anymore. It's not even worth the hourly rate to try and look at one. I've not had a carb clean order in some time..

They show up with spun rods and or a vented block almost every time..

I well remember doing both the oil AND the trans grease yearly on old Toro's..

 

[OutdoorEnvy 1,522]

Yeah I can't wrap my head around that.  Other than they don't want it to last.  Fits in with the throw away society of today so they must be embracing it.  I found one of those on big trash day on a Toro recycler that was only a couple years old.  Carb was dirty so cleaned it and it fired right up.  I changed the oil anyway and broke the rules....didn't feel right about selling it with old oil in it...I may have doubled it's life already, haha...cause I'm sure as heck guessing they don't do the oil change after the first 5 hours of run time anymore. 

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

36 minutes ago, ZXT said:

They must not expect it to last very long

 

That's what I'm figuring too.  Pressure washers are used what, maybe 2-3 hours a year?  If she were to listen to me and run the tank dry and use Stabil or Seafoam it might last a good number of years without an oil change.

(I AM going to do one anyway, I hope the Briggs Police don't come a-knockin'!)

 

I asked her if she uses 'Pump Saver' after use and before storing in her shed for the winter... she said "What's that?"

 

I can tell by looking at the pressure pump, that thing is a piece of carp also.

 

But, I ran a hundred gallons of water and about a quart of guzzaleen this afternoon through it.  Did a nice job cleaning up the back garage wall so there is that anyway!

 

Edited May 12, 2021 by Jeff-C175

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

There, I fixed it:

 

[ranger 1,750]

Does it also give the same instruction for the Cooling System?  I used to carry a small pressure washer on my service van. 🛠 🚚 You never changed the engine oil on that. Just added oil every time you added Gas,⛽️ Oil even went into the same tank as the Gas!  My old Kawasaki triple 🏍was the same, but the oil went into a separate tank. 😀

[Achto 27,575]

Finally!!! A small engine manufacturer that puts the oil in at the factory so that you don't have to. 

 

This is a true statement that I got from someone when I asked if they had checked their oil. "Oil? Don't they put that in at the factory?"

 

What can you say to someone like that?

 

 

[seuadr 488]

no it is simple - it burns so much oil it is like a continuous oil change.. that is why you gotta check and fill it!

 

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

4 hours ago, ranger said:

give the same instruction for the Cooling System?

 

I d/l the manual for the machine and it's pretty explicit about keeping the engine cooling fins clean.  Which I thought was kinda weird, but maybe some people clean the pressure washer engine WITH the pressure washer!  

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

46 minutes ago, Achto said:

What can you say to someone like that?

 

I tell the widder lady over and over that she needs to maintain her equipment better.  She's got a Craftsman YTS3000 that she bought and used one season.  Put it up wet.  Next year she went to start it and no dice.  So she hired a lawn service.  It's been sitting in the shed for years now.  I'm trying to get that from her cheap to have as a 'backup'....  yeah, right, like I'll ever need it.

[JoeM 7,874]

Got a newer lawn boy from the neighbor says it won't run. Fresh gas and two pulls, it ran fine. I figure his teenage son didn't want to trim the banks that day.

 

Went to change the oil and voila!..... not a drain plug in sight! Na Da!  and it did not even have one of those fancy stickers.

 

Tipped it on it's side carb and tank fill up, oil fill tube down. Actually worked better and I could take the blade off for a touch up while draining.  Great design!

 

I figure the manufactures figure the life of that engine lines up with the rest of the mower and how much folks cut grass today. I have been running it for a few years, at least one tank of fuel a week and it seems fine. Watch, the rod will throw tomorrow!

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

3 minutes ago, JoeM said:

not a drain plug in sight!

 

This one does have a drain plug on the bottom but the manual shows that you can in fact drain the oil from the fill tube by tipping on it's side or optionally by pulling the drain plug, and yes, warns about doing this with an empty fuel tank.

 

This engine has a thermostatically controlled choke mechanism.  There's a 'gadget' mounted on the exhaust manifold that picks up heat by conduction and closes the choke when cold, opening it when hot, just like on older carbureted autos.  What's old is new.

 

The throttle is controlled by the pressure pump.  When you release the trigger, the engine throttles down.  Pull the trigger it comes back up.  Speed seems a little low to me though and makes me wonder if I've got the springs in the correct position or not.

I wish I could find a diagram of those springs.  I've downloaded several manuals but none are clear on that aspect.

[ranger 1,750]

50 minutes ago, Jeff-C175 said:

 

I d/l the manual for the machine and it's pretty explicit about keeping the engine cooling fins clean.  Which I thought was kinda weird, but maybe some people clean the pressure washer engine WITH the pressure washer!  

The company I worked for manufactured road sweepers, amongst other equipment. An option was an hydraulically driven pressure washer pump, (all systems, drive, auxiliary services, were all hydraulic). Operators  were always instructed, 🤔during training, “NOT” to pressure wash the engine whilst it was running???🤔

[Tuneup 1,433]

Yeah, lots of youtubes showing owners tipping them to drain the oil. I have the 4HP model and it's been a great addition to the old 80s Snapper pusher. I'll change the oil whether they say to or not. Look at the US auto makers. Change oil at 10,000 or greater and the trans fluid at 150K? Mine's a turbo and it needs clean oil. The cars would at least outlast the warranty, and those brochures on low cost of ownership! Heaven help the rubes that believe this drivel.

[edgro 677]

We're reverting back to the old total loss oil system as was used on early .motorcycles

[JoeM 7,874]

Oils have got better, engines are "tighter", cooling systems (sometimes I think keeping it cool makes the life expectancy go up), filters (if you use a good filter) are better......So I'm in on the longer oil life thing on the automobile side. 

 

Small air cooled engine running in dirt with no filtration, no. I'm a changing the oil.  

[Maxwell-8 4,275]

the reason Kohler stopped making cat iron engines: they lasted to long and the dealer ships complained because they wouldn't see that customer for another 30 years.

And this oil scam is so that brigss will now sell at least one engine every 5 years to the same customer.

That principe is the same reason Toro stopped producing WH.

[WHX?? 48,815]

Any chance they are referring to say oil in the pump if any? 

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

1 hour ago, WHX24 said:

Any chance they are referring to say oil in the pump if any? 

 

No, the pump is supposedly 'sealed, lifetime lubricated'.

 

[seuadr 488]

1 minute ago, Jeff-C175 said:

 

No, the pump is supposedly 'sealed, lifetime lubricated'.

 

well sure - the pump probably won't fail before the motor

 

[WHX?? 48,815]

That is just bizarre then!

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

5 hours ago, seuadr said:

well sure - the pump probably won't fail before the motor

 

 

I wouldn't be so sure about that!   I know for a fact she didn't read the part in the manual about NOT running the engine with no water flowing in the pump.  That's certain death for a PW pump!

 

Last year (or maybe the year before) I heard the unit running and she left it running while she went to get the hose out of her shed.  Maybe only 5 minutes or so but I bet that thing was scorching hot!  She was probably steam cleaning for the first ten seconds or so.

 

I applaud her for trying to be 'self sufficient', but she has a neighbor that she can call at any time for help, and she knows that.

 

By the way, I call her widder lady because she is, but she is young enough to be my daughter!  She tells me I remind her of her Dad the way I preach... and preach... and preach... to her about maintaining her stuff.

Edited May 12, 2021 by Jeff-C175