YM1500 WILL NOT RUN

[wayne c]

My YM1500 was doing fine pulling a 4' tiller though it would bog down when I hit hard spots and black smoke would come from the stack. After either rasing the tiller or just getting pas the spot there were sparks that came from the stack. Then it acted like it had a load on it when it did not and shut down. After it cooled down it cranked back up and was OK for about 10minutes and shut down again like it was pulling a heavy load but it was not. Then it would n ot crank back so I pulled it home with the truck. I tried but it would not crank that aftrernoon at all. Black smoke came out of the stack but it would not cdrank.
The next day I tried it again and though it was hard to crank it did crank and ran with no smoke from the exhaust altough there was a lot more smoke coming from the "blow by" tube and more oil than before. I shut it off changed the oil and cranked it agian but it only ran for a minute before it bogged down and quit running again. This last time there was alot of black smoke that came from the stack also.
What could be the issue or issues? Is there a good mechanic in the Georgia 30720 area code that I might get to look at it? Not sure about a diesel engine. Could it be the rings only?????

[Aaron]

Hi Wayne,
Try removing your muffler & see if it still does it. All of your symptoms are classic Yanmar plugged muffler syndrome.

[wayne c]

I took the muffler off and cranked it but it only ran for 20 seconds or so with the black smoke pouring out like it is choked till it quit running on it's own. I have removed and blown out the air filter and even tried it without the filter but it would not crank again. It is like it will crank once and then not again till the next day.It is very hard to crank now nothing like it used to. It used to fire right up at no effort.

[winston]

I think you have internal problems with oil coming out, blow by and fire coming out the exhaust. I see no less than pulling the head.

[Arnold]

excessive blow by would come from compression lost through the rings into the crank case (would happen gradually). Have you checked the oil level? Have you made any changes to the tractor recently?

[Norm]

What do you mean by "crank"? The starter cranks the engine. Whether it starts or not is another problem. Is the engine seizing when it won't crank, or is it cranking and just won't start?

[wayne c]

When I say "cranked" I mean it started and ran under it's own power for 20 seconds before gradually choking itself down. Black smoke was coming from ther exhaust while white smoke (more than usual) was coming from the Blow By tube. I have just changed the oil so it is full. The motor is turning easily with the starter so it is not siezed up. It has always had smoke coming from the Blow By tube with a small amount of oil coming out also, but now it seems to be more. Should there be any oil coming out of this tube?

[winston]

NO.

[Arnold]

Did you over-fill the crack case? are you using the same weight oil that was in it before?

[wayne c]

Does that mean a ring job or something else.Is there a rebuild pkg. that comes with everything you need or is it a piece by piece order. I am afraid I might not get everything needed. The hour meter only shows 576 hours of which I have put 17 of those on there myself. I haven't had a reply on a mechanic in this area but I am willing to try it myself. I have a manual to go by, but is therE a video or something also. I don't want to do half the job if there is something beyond the rings that needs to be addressed while it is torn down. HELP!!

[wayne c]

The oil is to the top of the cross hatch markings on the dipstick. I put four quarts in of 20w50 castrol oil.Temps around here are in the 90's right now.Should I drain some of the oil out??? Is that too high on the stick??? It had 10w40 Valvoline prior to this, and that is what was in it when it quit running.

[Arnold]

Others can't answer the question without knowing the condition of your engine (size and condition of pistons, size of bore, condition of rings, condition of seals, etc). Do you have a manual? The manual gives the acceptable sizes of all the components. Replace the ones that are out of tolerance. It's pretty straight forward.

[Arnold]

Were you using 20w50 castrol before?

[wayne c]

Were you using 20w50 castrol before?

No. 10W40 valvoline

[wayne c]

excessive blow by would come from compression lost through the rings into the crank case (would happen gradually). Have you checked the oil level? Have you made any changes to the tractor recently?

no changes