Hey guys, a friend of mine owns this troy-bilt mower that has issues we haven't been able to diagnose to this point. The symptom is that when trying to start it, it turns over so slow, you'd think the battery was on it's last leg and using up it's last volt. I mean it is painfully slow or not spin at all. In the time that he's owned it, it has fried the original starter and a new replacement starter, and is currently working on a second new starter. This is the point where I came in to the picture. The first thing I noticed is that the blades are trying to move when the motor is trying to start. The thing has a blade engage system unlike anything I've ever seen. When the deck is fully raised, the last notch causes the deck to move forward and give slack to the belt that drives the blades. After a little examination I see that there is an adjustment for this system. Adjustments are made and it no longer tries to turn the blades when starting. But it still won't turn over like it should. The battery is good and we've even had a commercial grade charger hooked up at the same time and tried the boost setting momentarily just to be sure it's not a battery voltage issue. I pulled the plug out to make sure it wasn't semi hydraulic locked and the thing turned over so fast you'd think it was going to sling a rod through the crankcase. I was seriously stunned at how fast it would spin. So I put the plug back in, and he hit the starter again. For about 3 seconds it turns over normal but doesn't start. I should probably add that I had just installed a kit in the carb (this is what he called me out for in the first place). I tell him to hit the starter again, but this time it's back to the same slow-to-no spinning. The only thing that I can think of is that some how the timing is off. Not sure how that could be, but the symptoms of the timing being too far advanced is the best way I could describe it. So are there any Troy-bilt gurus out there that know what the fix is for this sick mower? If you need more info or have some ideas on things to do/try, I'm heading back out to his house later today.
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