Mcculloch 4hp no start

[john8504]

I took your advise and I checked to see where tdc actually is. It is not at the top of the lobe and it is not directly on the arrow. This is what I found.

At this point, the points are still closed and the piston will start to drop while points are still closed.

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[retiredoz]

Much as I hate to suggest it, try turning the points cam over. Then recheck the points/tdc …What you describe certainly accounts for the ‘no putt’ scenario…

[david-bartlett]

What is the part # for the new set of points you bought? Just curious.

[billw]

Ummmm, I am coming to the party late here, but that point position in relation to TDC could just mean the throttle/mag plate is all the way retarded. Put the mag lever to 3/4 of the way over to the port side of the motor and try again. Pardon me if I have missed something but you may be trying to start the motor with the mag lever in the "STOP" position…That certainly will NOT fire, even with the best gas and hottest spark in the world…..

Long live American manufacturing!

[david-bartlett]

quote BillW:

Ummmm, I am coming to the party late here, but that point position in relation to TDC could just mean the throttle/mag plate is all the way retarded. Put the mag lever to 3/4 of the way over to the port side of the motor and try again. Pardon me if I have missed something but you may be trying to start the motor with the mag lever in the “STOP” position…That certainly will NOT fire, even with the best gas and hottest spark in the world…..

I think you’re onto something here Bill!

[john8504]

I got the points and condensor form Laings and they only offer one set that fit this engine. The parts looks the same, except that the condensor was half the size. I contacted Laings and they said that is how they are made these days. I tried to upload a pic of the parts and the uploader is not working for some reason.

When you say turn the points cam upside down, what particular part are you talking about? I do not see any part that I am able to do that with.

Stop position eh? I did try starting with carb on and throttle in both half and full throttle positions. I still had nothing. I then took carb off and out some starter fluid in cylinder, reinstalled spark plug with no result as well.

[joesnuffy]

John,
I think you may have just found the main reason its not doing anything as Bill stated. The pic you posted is way better than the one where I thought the points were 2 pieces they are not. You had said the timing was not adjustable but I think it may be looking at the first pic you posted I barely see a lever that should vary your timing. Also could you please take some more pictures of that lever area and the carb area with the gas tank off please.

Now looking at this picture with motor at or close to tdc try turning that lever until the lines I put in my picture are lined up. I think that would be moving the lever to the right. The points should just start opening at that point or very close to that point when they are set to 020. Give that a try and see if that is the case.

If so try and get it to pop off with a little starting fluid.

I hope that helps,

Joe

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[john8504]

I lined that up last night and it is already at the exhaust stroke. I’m not quite sure what lever y’all are talking about. The only lever I have is the throttle lever that is separate from the timing. It has a guide built in for the carb throttle.

The points are two separate pieces btw. However there is only one way of mounting them.

This is what makes it a little bit of a mystery because 1. I cannot find any literature on this engine and 2. There’s not much adjustability to fine tune.

When I get home this evening, I will take pics from all angles.

[joesnuffy]

John,
You wrote "When you say turn the points cam upside down, what particular part are you talking about? " That is the part with the arrow head on it it slips off crankshaft and can be put on upside down I call it ignition cam but it is the part with arrow head on it.

I have never worked on that particular outboard but I have worked on that style ignition so I needs some more pictures as I think we all do. The pics will be very helpful to all of us. What I think I am hearing is the you have the piston positioned at the top of cylinder or very close in your picture that you just posted?? Also what I think I am hearing is the timing does not vary when you move the lever only the carb butterly positioning for fast to slow??? If the piston is at the top of cylinder and the points are in fact closed we have a problem.

When you get home do this for me if you will. 1st take a picture of the lever assembly and how it works your carb. 2nd With your points gaped at 020 turn your crankshaft clockwise until the points just barely open take a picture of them just barely opened. 3rd take a picture of a the pencil your using so I can see how long it is 4th picture of the pencil pushed into the spark plug hole so I can see how far the pencil goes into the hole. 5th flip the ignition cam over and take pictures of pics 2 like you did before (with cam upside down turn crankshaft again until points just open) and pic 4 again of how far down pencil is inside spark plug hole and post them also. NOTE: If you have 2 ignition cams please take pics of them side beside with the arrow head up so we can see if their might be a difference between the 2 of them.

Also don’t forget to see if you have a seal leaking by putting some spray for instance wd40 on the top seal then the bottom seal rotate the flywheel to see if you see air bubbles the spark plug normally doesn’t have to be in the engine. I don’t however think this would stop the engine from popping off a few seconds when trying to start with starting fluid but it might stop it from running on gasoline correctly later once we get it to pop off.

Hope that helps,
Joe

The points are 2 pieces but when mounted together they become 1 piece and that’s not our issue at the moment.

[retiredoz]

Pretty sure that’s a Tecumseh points cam. This not a Power Products engine, maybe there will always be a mismatch ? Just groping…

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