Okay, here's one for the expert diagnosticians here. My 147 was running great, but suddenly died so I assumed it ran out of gas. I went to the gas station to fill my can. When I got back and approached the 147, the coil exploded and smoking oil went everywhere. I put a new coil on it. Wouldn't start. I discovered the insulator in the contact points had melted and arced. That's probably why the mower died in the first place, and the coil went because I forgot to turn off the ignition (doh!). I pried the contact point spring away from the frame with a screwdriver. While I was at it, I got a new spark plug and condenser. Then I changed the oil and tranny fluid. When all was done, it started up just fine. After 10-15 minutes of cutting, however, the RPM's suddenly dropped and I heard valve noise. I also noticed smoke coming out of the valve cover breather. The engine seemed really hot. I checked the oil level and found I had over-filled it, so I emptied some. When I started it about a half hour later, it ran fine again - for a while. Then the same thing happened again. I went through this cycle about 4 times total.
My local dealer said he didn't think any of the other stuff was related. He thinks it's just stuck valves, and suggested I remove the cover and spray the valves with penetrating oil. I'll give it a shot. Do I do this while it's running? Any other diagnosis, ideas, things to check out, etc?
Thanks,
Chip Stewart
“It’s very hard to live in a studio apartment in San Jose with a man who’s learning to play the violin.” That’s what she told the police when she handed them the empty revolver." - Richard Brautigan