# Husky YTH2454 - Having troubles



## zerochills (May 29, 2010)

Tractor has run reliable and strong for 4 summers now, doing regular service at the begining of each summer (to include oil/filter change, air filter, grease, general PM)

Used once this summer and ran great the entire 2.5 hour mow and when I parked it in the shed. Went to mow this week and on start up noticed something was not right - immediately. Motor seemed to be only running on one cylinder. Through further inspection I confirmed this was correct, the cylinder which was firing in on the left side. 

When further investigating I found plug of right cylinder to be sooted up pretty baddly from the exhaust port, I assume. (Also, since the right cylinder valve cover is responsible for creating the vacuum to operate the fuel pump, tractor is getting very little fuel flow). 

*Put in new plugs - no change in symptons (getting good spark)
*ohm'd coil - tested same as working side ( 530 )
*compression on working side 150lbs. / compression on non-working side 120lbs.
(while low, 120lbs. should still allow motor to run)
*took carb apart, looking for restricted fuel flow to right cylinder (cleaned thoroughly) - now have a back fire

Only abnormal activity is prior to last use (which tractor still ran great). My son had about a 1/3 gallon of 40:1 premix in the wrong can. I filled up can with 5 gallons of fresh 93 oct. - Should have diluted premix to a point which would not effect or be noticable.

***ANY THOUGHTS???
Thanks


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## wjjones (May 28, 2010)

Is the intake to that cylinder open? Never ever use more than 87% octane in a small engine, i found this out the hard way the high octane will fry the valve train. I have a 24hp briggs and the manual says 87% octane.


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## chowdahed (Nov 29, 2011)

wjjones said:


> Is the intake to that cylinder open? Never ever use more than 87% octane in a small engine, i found this out the hard way the high octane will fry the valve train. I have a 24hp briggs and the manual says 87% octane.


HELP with my Husky GT2254 - surging/skipping/backfiring !

Have a 2005 GT2254 with a 22hp ELS Briggs. About 575 hours on it. Other than normal maintenance, Plugs( B&S platinum ), oil/filter/air, valve adjustments( .006 on both intake & exhaust), no real problems until now. 
You said never use more than 87 octane because it frys the valvetrain. I have been using 93 in all my outdoor equipment especially in the winter. ALways use fuel stabalizer. Never any problems, always seem to start quicker and run smoother. 

Even the shop( outdoor equipment that caters to landscapers, not lowes-home depot-sears), said using 93 octane was not a problem and many of their customers do it. 
Are they saying that just to get future repair / rebuilds? 
Does 93 really toast the valves because of the hotter burn and lower flash point?
I hope I did not toast a valve(s), do not feel like replacing them, that would be a real pain in the a*s right now.

I cutting the other day and it started skipping backfiring at mid to high speed, surging hunting( governor was going doing its thing). It has fresh gas(93octane). Fuel filter was replaced about 10 hours ago, Checked valve lash all were at .006, plugs looked good, no carbon or running too rich( no black deposits) but tried new plugs( E-3), fired right up, ran smoother at low-mid then as increased to full throttle it started to skip( not as bad as before the new plugs but still skip with occasional small backfire). 
Starts to surge at high speed ( no load- deck not engaged) but when you engage deck it feels like it is barely firing on 1 cylinder. 
Checked carb. fuel bowl- clean. But unsure how to test the anti-backfire switch/solenoid on the bowl. Original fuel pump.
Can't figure this out and really need this up and running. 
HELP Any suggestions????


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## wjjones (May 28, 2010)

Yep my book says not to but I heard the same thing about the fuel from a local power equipment shop. They said the higher octane helps keep everything clean inside there valves, etc.


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## Argee (Sep 17, 2003)

Have you checked your coil?


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## wjjones (May 28, 2010)

Could be a head gasket too. Have you checked compression on both cylinders?


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## chowdahed (Nov 29, 2011)

Pulled plugs, both were original B&S Platinum, gap was still at .030 and clean. Even tried the E-3 plugs. Checked coils with simple spark tester, had good spark but do not have any meter to measure any voltage. plus plugs did not show anything to indicate any problems, checked and cleaned both grounds on both coils.
Maybe have weak coil???? How do you test for that?

. Did hot engine and cold engine compression test- 89 & 86 lbs. did not have any leak down after 8 minutes. Did not squirt any oil into cylinders to retest compression because there was no leak down. 

Pulled carb and manifold off. did not see any thing wrong with linkage or broken springs on throttle / governor. o-rings on manifold to head looked like there was a good seal - no black/leakage marks. 

Removed carb bowl also clean BUT there was a o-ring that seemed to be in the wrong position on the antibackfire solenoid. Put it back in a position that I believed was correct. put it back together, started it up ran smoother at low speed but had to choke it a little to keep it from intermittently skip/pop. 
At high speed runs good but still has intermittent skip/pop with PTO engaged. 
I'm thinking fuel pump might be weak. But do not have fuel pressure gauge to check actual pressure or even know where to find specs.
Replaced all fuel line about year ago. Not because of problems but I saw line in a couple spots starting to chaffe badly and did not want fuel leak. So I replaced them and rerouted in a couple spots. 
Can the fuel pumps in these get weak, or do they just stop working?
I'm also thinking the O-ring in the fuel bowl that was on the anti back fire solenoid might have to actually be replaced. When I first noticed it it was pinched/compressed on a small section. It is about 1/2" in diameter. 

In the past 10 years(?) it seems that the new emission carbs simply su*k. I read about people buying " adjustable" replacement carbs that pretty much eliminate most performance problems. I replaced these non adjustable type emission carbs on 2 snowthrowers and push mower and they all run better- all 3 had Tecumseh engines though and this is a B&S. Does any one know if a better( non-emission) carb is available for this engine?
Maybe I should check Jackssmallengines or Pats they have always been great for parts.

Thanks for the comments back. Any other suggestions??


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## wjjones (May 28, 2010)

That o-ring fits around the outer part of the anti fire solenoid housing that is in the bowl. I had one that someone smashed it between the bottom of the bowl, and the plastic solenoid because it was installed wrong, or slipped off when they put it back together.


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