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JD 316

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thefonzone

New User
riding mower. Kohler engine single cylinder, I'm pretty sure it's 16 hp and is a little over 50 years old. Last week as I finished mowing (for about one hour) and was going to pull it into the shed, it started missing. I waited a few seconds to see if it would smooth out. It knocked of and wouldn't start. I changed the plug the following day and it started but runs poorly and backfires through the exhaust and sometimes the carb. I have replaced (all at the same time) coil, condenser and points. I feel that I have the gap correct at .020 before changing these parts it would not start with starting fluid which is why I was thinking s spark problem. What are your thoughts? Thank you for you help!
Thefonz
 
Bad fuel, water in fuel, or once had 316 as yours that had a blown head gasket but could get it running and stay
running, but difficult to start.
 
Did you replace the drive pin for the points? If so, go back to your old pin.

You might try your old points as the "spring" for the new may not be strong enough to work correctly. Wild thought.
 
You might check compression. It might have
gotten a piece of carbon under one of the
valves. Maybe another valve issue.
I would also check timing with a light.
I had that same engine in an Allis Chalmers
and the point gap got way off and all sorts
of strange things happened. Ran fine at
idle, but load it down and it would act like
something mechanical was binding.
 
First, check for spark using a spark tester or a spare sparkplug with the gap opened up to 3/16" or so.

Points on these engines are NOT set using a feeler gauge, point setting gets "tweaked" a bit to set spark timing.

"Eyeball" the point setting at around .020", then finalize the setting using a timing light. That will keep your potentially dirty/oily feeler gauge out of the new points.

Procedure is in the factory shop manual linked below, as well as a wealth of other troubleshooting information.

It's possible the points need to be cleaned of any residue or oxide. Draw a strip of clean white cardstock though 'em a few times to burnish then, then, with the points open, spray them clean with electrical contact cleaner and allow to air dry before again cheecking for spark.

It's even POSSIBLE a valve seat came loose, a compression test typically tells a lot, but these engines have ACR, so they make lower compression than expected at cranking speeds. Compression and crankcase depression, and (IIRC) leakdown testing are all covered in the manual.

Could be a gas flow or debris in the carburetor issue, if valves OK and there's spark
K341
 
I'm thinking a chunk of carbon may have broken off and stuck under a valve. Got an 18 horse Onan in a Wheel Horse, ran perfect when parked one day, hammered and ran on one cylinder when started the next, while running I sprayed carb cleaner in the carb for a while and killed it with one big shot, let it set a couple of hours, started it, cracked the throttle wide open with a cloud of smoke and noise and it's never happened again.
 
(quoted from post at 05:43:19 07/12/17) Bad fuel, water in fuel, or once had 316 as yours that had a blown head gasket but could get it running and stay
running, but difficult to start.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'm going to check fuel next
 
Thanks, I'll have to get a tester, I did put my finger over the hole and had compression, but that doesn't give me a number
 

Thanks, I can't get a screwdriver to the adjusting screw so I have to adjust, then mount points. Like a dummy, after years of not using a timing light, I trashed it about a month ago. (GRRR)
 
(quoted from post at 10:42:13 07/12/17) First, check for spark using a spark tester or a spare sparkplug with the gap opened up to 3/16" or so.

Points on these engines are NOT set using a feeler gauge, point setting gets "tweaked" a bit to set spark timing.

"Eyeball" the point setting at around .020", then finalize the setting using a timing light. That will keep your potentially dirty/oily feeler gauge out of the new points.

Procedure is in the factory shop manual linked below, as well as a wealth of other troubleshooting information.

It's possible the points need to be cleaned of any residue or oxide. Draw a strip of clean white cardstock though 'em a few times to burnish then, then, with the points open, spray them clean with electrical contact cleaner and allow to air dry before again cheecking for spark.

It's even POSSIBLE a valve seat came loose, a compression test typically tells a lot, but these engines have ACR, so they make lower compression than expected at cranking speeds. Compression and crankcase depression, and (IIRC) leakdown testing are all covered in the manual.

Could be a gas flow or debris in the carburetor issue, if valves OK and there's spark
K341
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. Checking fuel and timing next
 
(quoted from post at 21:23:02 07/11/17) riding mower. Kohler engine single cylinder, I'm pretty sure it's 16 hp and is a little over 50 years old. Last week as I finished mowing (for about one hour) and was going to pull it into the shed, it started missing. I waited a few seconds to see if it would smooth out. It knocked of and wouldn't start. I changed the plug the following day and it started but runs poorly and backfires through the exhaust and sometimes the carb. I have replaced (all at the same time) coil, condenser and points. I feel that I have the gap correct at .020 before changing these parts it would not start with starting fluid which is why I was thinking s spark problem. What are your thoughts? Thank you for you help!
Thefonz
Click to expand...

I'd pull the head and check the valves. Sounds like either carbon or a sticky valve, with me leaning towards carbon.
 
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