Small Engine Tune-Up In The Cloud

Small Engine Fleet

The same thing happens every spring at my house.  The weather starts warming up, so all the lawn equipment needs a tune up and oil change.  Just figuring out what is necessary for the job is no small feat.  Six pieces of equipment need various parts from Lowe's, Wal-Mart, or Advance.  The weedeater and chainsaw need a spark plug and the air filter checked out.  The lawnmower, tiller, pressure washer, and generator need that plus an oil change.  It was taking me around an hour to write down all the spark plug models, filter models, oil capacities, torque specifications, etc.  There's got to be a better way to do this, and I didn't even need a Google search to tell me what to do.  Time for a  Dropbox account.

Dropbox is a service that let's you store files "in the cloud".  "The cloud" is a goofy marketing term that everyone's latched onto that just means that a service is hosted on the internet.  You can't sit through an IT meeting anymore without a vendor wanting to put something of yours in the cloud, even though most times it ain't cheap.   In less advanced times, people pretty much built all the tools they needed themselves and hosted applications in their data center or home.  Home users just carried around paper and pencils.  These days, there's a ton of services to pick from, and Dropbox is a file storage service.  The great part is that the first 2 gigs of storage are free.  Dropbox also has an app for just about every device including iPhone/iPad, Android, and PC.  How in the world does Dropbox help me work on engines?  Read on, and head to the shed with me to find out.

The shed

 Man, this shed is a mess.  My next blog entry may cover the topic of "de-cluttering".  Well, anyway, all the equipment and manuals were pulled out, and the pertinent data was recorded via old school pencil and paper.  I wrote down model number, engine type, spark plug, oil capacity, air filter, and just about any other thing that could be needed.  Then, after firing up the computer, SmallEngine.XLSX was born.

SmallEngine.XLSX was then handily deposited into the Dropbox folder on my PC.  The app immediately sent the spreadsheet to "the cloud".  WARNING: I can't vouch for the security of Dropbox.  Seems like everybody and Target are being hacked these days, and it's only a matter of time before people get you junk on Dropbox.  That's why things like passwords, legal documents, and social security/credit card/bank account numbers should be closely guarded and perhaps closer to ground level than clouds.  Better that a hacker gets pictures of kittens, the manual to my new TV set, or all the data points necessary to tune up a few small engines than something really important.

Supplies

Next, Dropbox was loaded on the iPad and both Samsung phones.  Armed with a Galaxy S4, the trip to Wal-Mart was a breeze.  I opened the Dropbox app on the phone, clicked on SmallEngine.XLSX, and Documents-To-Go launched the spreadsheet.  After a few pinch and zooms, the shopping cart was full of spark plugs, air filters, straight 30 weight oil, Stay-bil, and a tiny bottle of 2 stroke oil.  If you can stand to read on for a few more minutes before going Dropbox crazy, hang around for some tune-up tips and a minor tiller repair.


Tiller Repair

The neighborhood tiller (AKA - my tiller) had a pretty irritating problem.  Basically, you had to pull the thing to half throttle, wait for RPM's, and then till as best as you could.  Full throttle killed the little Troybuilt.  Last year, three of my neighbors borrowed the neighborhood tiller, and nobody complained after they got the special instructions.  It used to be worse.  The neighborhood tiller didn't start at all when he first washed up on shore.  After cleaning out the carb, the motor started, but the half throttle thing was the best repair that could be done by the mechanic who lives in my house (AKA - me).  Unfortunately, carbs that are smaller than a Kennedy half dollar are difficult to get working right.  The jets are so tiny, finding the issue with the naked eye (or readers in my case) is nearly impossible.  My advise the for these pint size carbs is to just buy a new one if it isn't delivering the proper air/fuel mixture.  Yes, the repair shop can also help, but ours is not in a handy place, and new carbs are about the same cost as paying the mechanic.

New Carb & stud installed

While taking the old carb off, I ran into something totally new, E-socket studs.  Grrrr.....  To take the carb off, yet another tool was needed.  An E-socket bolt looks just like the head of a Torx screwdriver.   One other piece of advise, don't try to unscrew an E-socket with a set of pliers.  In my case, the head of one stud stripped off with the greatest of ease and so did the threads needed to remove the nut.  The carb was stuck on the tiller, and a hacksaw was needed to get the thing off.  Additionally, the airbox took some collateral damage in the process.  Luckily, www.troybiltpartsonline.com store sold a carb, stud, and airbox for the tiller, and they took my $90 via Paypal. 

New airbox installed
Note: E-socket bolts really stink!

When the weather warmed up enough for some outdoor work, the tiller's new carb and airbox were installed.  After 2 pulls, the thing ran like a scalded dog!!!  All the gardens and flowerbeds in my neighborhood better watch out, because you can flog the throttle now. 


Tune Time




Pun intended

The "new" sub

Everyone's garage needs tunes for a tune-up.  Mine is a "Battlestar Galactica" rag-tag fugitive fleet of leftover parts.  Lucky for me, the $188 TV upgrade freed up an old school Phillips subwoofer that really makes the garage pound when you need some volume.  Let's get some iTunes rolling before we begin and hope the neighbors aren't napping this afternoon.




Spark Plugs

Does your weedeater or lawnmower take 100 pulls and 15 curse words to start?  This one is an easy fix.  Just put in a new spark plug.  You never want to be running a spark plug as old as the mustard in your refrigerator.  Am I the only one who's been using the same bottle since moving into the house?  That stuff never goes bad does it?  Anyway, my opinion is that a new spark plug should go in every year.  $2 is a small price to pay for not throwing out your back when pulling the cord.  Having the plug type in Dropbox makes it even easier.

Pressure washer plug  RJ19LM

Air Filters

News Flash: Small engines have air filters, and you can pretty much look at them to see if the need to be replaced or cleaned.  The filter material will be made of either paper or foam, and maintaining each is a different deal altogether.  The foam ones are a little bit of work.  Spray them out with the hose, wring them out a few times, and set them in the warm sun for an afternoon to dry out.  Most manuals will tell you to drizzle 30 weight motor oil on a dry filter to help keep the dirt out.  I think it's much easier to use filter spray oil that can be picked up at a motorcycle shop.  Uni-Filter and Bel-Ray both make good products.  Just put on a pair of rubber gloves, spray oil on the filter, and squeeze the oil into the foam.  Don't soak the foam with oil, just coat it evenly and pop the filter back in.  Paper filters are easier, but need to be replaced every time.  Wal-Mart or Meijer has the best prices on Briggs and Stratton paper filters.  If your lawnmower is always running in dirt, dust, and muck like mine, then best practice dictates that she needs a new filter every year.  The pressure washer doesn't, and gets minimal use, so she isn't getting one this time.  The gen doesn't need one either.  His was replaced over the winter just before the storm of the century almost hit.

Oil Change

Time to change the oil.  I'm a firm believer in changing oil in all the small engines every year, and Valvoline is my favorite.  They all take 30 weight, and all the motors combined take just north of 2 quarts of oil.  That's pretty cheap motor insurance, and changing the oil isn't a tough job.  Check your repair manual to see how to get the oil out.  My lawnmower and pressure washer have drain plugs.  To get to the drain plug, you usually need to take off a few parts.  Note, make sure you pull the spark plug wire before messing under a lawnmower.  That way it can't start accidently.

 

The drain plug on the pressure washer
is accessible after the water pump is removed.

Same deal on the lawnmower
with the blade off

The lawnmower blade was in bad shape.
I hit it a few times with the Dewalt grinder
to put a sharp edge back on the blade.
If you don't have a grinder, a new one is about $10.

 

The lawnmower needs the blade removed, and the pressure washer must have the pump taken off (3 bolts).   See the note on the lawnmower line in SmallEngine.XLSX?  Please, please, please make sure that you get the correct torque on your lawnmower blade. 

50 ft-lbs = 1 foot + torque wrench + 1 grunt

It's not a good idea to save money on an oil change, only to chop off your foot when the blade comes flying off.  Don't have a torque wrench?  Easy, head to Harbor Freight or ask for one for your birthday.  Before draining the oil, warm the motors up to operating temperature.  That'll help get any sediment out of the motor when the oil drains.  If you're baffled after looking for the drain plug, please understand that not all motors have them.  To drain the oil on my generator and tiller, just turn the things upside down.  Pretty low tech, but it works.  If you have a riding lawnmower in the shed, stick the oil filter model in Dropbox and change it every year.

Before leaving, I want to give you one more piece of advice that'll save you time and money in the long run.  The main cause of small engine trouble is either a spark plug or a gummed up carb.  Spark plugs are an easy fix, but the carb can be tricky as you've seen above.  Today's gas with ethanol isn't really made to sit around in a carburetor.  When it sits, the fuel separates into regular gasoline plus a small helping of super glue.  Small carbs are full of tiny holes that get clogged easily and unclogged with hours of work.  The best way to counter the ethanol problem is to use a fuel stabilizer.  My favorite is Stay-Bil, and every gallon of fuel that goes into these engines gets treated.  Treating the gas costs more in the short term, but saves time, money, and trouble over time.  If you want to go one step further, drain the gas tank and run all the gas out of the carb at the end of the season.

So to summarize:

• Get a Dropbox account and stick stuff in there that you need to reference on the fly (like spark plug models, vacation pictures, or your grocery list).  Never in a million years put confidential stuff in "the cloud".  Well maybe "the cloud" is OK for secret stuff if you use 2-factor authentication, 1024 bit encryption, and at least a 16 character password.
• Change oil and spark plugs every year for easy starting and long engine life.
• Change/clean air filters in your high use equipment or if the gear is operated in dusty/dirty conditions.
• Treat fuel with stabilizer to keep carburetors gum-free.
• If someone else in your neighborhood owns a tiller, understand it's much easier to borrow the neighborhood tiller instead of owning one. 

That one was almost too easy.  Not counting the tiller repair, the tune up parts were about $30 and took an afternoon of.  All my lawn gear is ready to go for the spring.  What, no bourbon in this article?  I'm having one now.