[Praxxus]

pic
condensor + breaker set - clean, moves freely etc

[Praxxus]

pic
Stop wire - connection on block (insulated ?)

[smud6ie]

I don't know how it ever ran if it did not suddenly stop,thats a classic flywheel key shear.They don't normally run if there is any indentation in the alloy key let alone with it in two pieces
Edit:
I would do nothing else until the key is replaced
dave

[Praxxus]

I explained to the missus how and what the key does - she says that I let it hit the driveway when the tines where still spinning - that would explain it !
Stoopid me then - lol
Oh well, wait for the new keys to arrive.

Thanks for the time being

Tim

[Praxxus]

Atlast !
New keys arrived today!

Put one in (had to dress it with a file first) , drifted it in the flywheel slot with a punch, reassembled it all.
Pulled the starter cord - started first time !
It ran for about 8 seconds then sluttered and died !
Took it apart again - key bent.
Put another key in - same thing happened
AAAARRRGGGHHHHH

[Gwiz]

Ah, success.....sort of.
The only reasons, that I have come across, that these shear are; Timing out (gears in crankcase) sudden shock/ stopping on implement (tines lock up, or drive suddenly stops) or flywheel nut not done up tight enough.

[smud6ie]

If you had to file the  key and driftit in  in (tut tut) there is a chance that you were tightening on the key rather than on the taper .can you confirm that it was running perfectly before you hit the driveway?
dave

[Praxxus]

Yes it was running ok - if to my ear a tincy bit lumpy ( only dealt with 2-stroke singles )

Wife says it was running ok !

[Praxxus]

I drove it in with a 4mm round punch and a lightweight hammer. The key was flush to the flywheel.

Tim

[Praxxus]

I ask - how tight do they fit in the keyway ?
They have to be well tight , surely ?

[smud6ie]

If you get OEM or good quality patern parts and the keyways in the crankshaft and flywheel are not damaged then the key should slide into the shaft and the flywheel should slide on that. The key is  to line things up.its the tightening onto the taper that does most of the holding.
When you stripped it to get at the points did the flywheel come easily off the taper or did you have to break it?
Dave

[Praxxus]

It came off easily with a tiny bit of leverage, as the key was sheared already.
The keyways are unblemished and clean.

So the key fits onto the shaft first then, ha ha.
The keys I got were genuine, apparently, but they looked and felt rough around the edges, thats why I had to dress them with a file first, because it wouldn't fit in the keyway.
I'll get some more from another source and try again.
The large cupped washer faces in like this ?          flywheel]  )  [locking/starter assembly.
or like this ?          flywheel]  (  [locking/starter assembly.

I appreciate your patience with this topic.

Tim

[Praxxus]

How tight does the locking assembly have to be, as I do it up hand tight then a 1/4 turn with a block of wood and a hammer ( obviously the flywheel is locked off )

Cheers,

Tim

[mantis]

Hi Tim, I've been reading your saga and you finally ask how tight the crank nut should be?
On a tapered shaft application, the nut should actually little more than hold the flywheel/ pulley or whatever in an already tightened position and would only reluctantly use the nut to do this. On a light application such as this I use a hollow brass drift which has internal diameter only slightly larger than crankshaft whereby you can safely tap the flywheel tight.
I suppose I'm lucky that as a retired farmer who did all his own mechanical work I've acquired most tools for most jobs and learnt the hard way by getting it wrong a few times which becomes expensive. For bigger applications I have various triangular plates, from 10mm thick, with a hole in centre with a stud tapped in towards each point of the triangle.
Flywheel/ pulley goes on shaft followed by plate then nut on shaft, the 3 studs are then gradually tightened and bingo it's not only tight but also true, plate comes off and nut goes on. I still has various rotovator/cultivators that I still use, one of which is a Merry Tiller Titan with most likely the same Stratton 5 hp. Believing it to be the same if you happen to progress to fitting a new carb kit, on reassembly the choke should be pulled out about 3/8 inch before assembly. Sorry to be longwinded, but as Geewiz said it's difficult without photos. If the taper happened to be slightly worn/ damaged on jobs involving much more torque than this, and larger, I have had 100% lasting sucess using Loctite bearing  fit. Hope everything goes well, I know the feeling when you've aquired something and it goes wrong before you've used it in anger! My OH has slightly stronger views at that time and I keep my head well down!!
                  Regards Frank

[Gwiz]

How tight does the locking assembly have to be, as I do it up hand tight then a 1/4 turn with a block of wood and a hammer ( obviously the flywheel is locked off )

Cheers,

Tim

55Ft/lbs

http://www.smalleng.com/briggs_specs.pdf