Cub Cadet 1810 Wont Start!

[TimStrong]

Hey everybody!
I have a cub cadet 1810 with a kohler m18 boxer engine that is really Ticking me off. This machine used to start right up, then it had an oil leak so I took the pto and front engine cover off to change the leaky gasket. Now the machine is all put back together and it wont start. I took the carb apart thinking it was dirty and the gaskets fell apart on me so I ordered a new carb and put it on and set the jets to factory settings, Still just cranks and backfires. This thing will not start. I am getting backfiring through the carb when cranking which leads me to believe that an intake valve is hanging open or the timing is off but not sure what would cause this because the machine was previously running. The only other thing I did was set the governor according to the manual because the engine would previously surge while going down hill. Again the engine is a kohler m18 twin cylinder boxer engine, I'm really hoping someone can point me in the right direction my grass is LONG.

Is there any way to set the cam/crank timing on this engine?
I pulled the valve covers and the valve tappets are not adjustable!

Not sure what to look at next, I'm sure it is something stupid that I'm over looking. Any help is greatly appreciated
Thanks a lot guys!

 

[tomplum]

SO your cam gear meshes with the crank gear, so unless it was way apart your valve timing should be fine. You didn't say which gasket that you had replaced so I'm not sure how far this was apart. Did you remove the flywheel bolt at all? I'm wondering if it spun the flywheel key. I don't know if it is possible to flip the ignition coil on these if you were to have it off or not.

 

[TimStrong]

Thanks for the reply Tom,
The gasket I changed is called the closure plate gasket. The way the engine is positioned on these, the flywheel is on the back of the motor which i didnt get in to. Also I didn't mess with the coil at all and I have spark on both cylinders. If the valve timing is correct what would cause this backfiring through the carb when cranking?

Thanks
Tim

 

[gimmodog]

an open or burnt intake valve will cause a backfire from the carb. could be stuck open, burnt or just out of adjustment.

 

[TimStrong]

Ok so I figured out what the problem was.
I pulled the intake manifold off to get a look at the valves and there was a screw stuck down in each intake valve preventing them from closing all the way.
These screws must have came loose from the air filter housing and fallen down there, I'm going to put everything back together this afternoon hopefully my valves aren't screwed (pun intended) lol.

Thanks for the help guys
Tim

 

[Richard001]

Ok so I figured out what the problem was.
I pulled the intake manifold off to get a look at the valves and there was a screw stuck down in each intake valve preventing them from closing all the way.
These screws must have came loose from the air filter housing and fallen down there, I'm going to put everything back together this afternoon hopefully my valves aren't screwed (pun intended) lol.

Thanks for the help guys
Tim

Good job Tim of locating the trouble. Perhaps the screws got dropped in the intake when you were working on the engine.

You are lucky that the screws did not drop into the cylinder !

If the screws are hex head, you may want to cross drill them and safety wire them so they will never come loose again.

:welcome:
To TBN

Richard

 

[TimStrong]

It fires right up and runs good now, luckily. I added some blue locktite to the threads so they don't vibrate loose during operation, Although I really don't think they will anyway. They must have just fell into the intake elbow when I was working on the carb.

 

[Richard001]

Tim,

Good to hear that your machine is running again. Next time you have to take off the air filter, push a paper towel into the intake when working on the engine. This will keep stuff like what happened to you from happening again.

Richard