Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

I have an ongoing project to get a Tecumseh HSSk50 going.  (My first posting was here http://www.abbysguide.com/ope/discussions/18286-0-1.html)

The repairman said that there was not enough compression - and that he didn't think it would be worthwhile for him to pull the engine plate cover off and inspect.  He encourage me to open it up and see if anything looked really wrong.

So I have pulled the engine off the snow blower, and removed the cover.  I noticed that when I remove the cover and the cam shaft, there is plenty of compression.  When I replace it, there is no compression.

From my research I see that most engines nowadays have mechanical compression release to ease starting.  It would seem that this could be malfunctioning. 

Any suggestions about what to check for ?? - everything seems to look ok to me.

Thanks for any help,

Tim.

I set the clearance to the correct gap and it started right up and purrs like a kitten.

Thanks for all the advice and great website.

Tim.