520-HC no compression

[cleat 9,056]

19 hours ago, cafoose said:

What's the best way to get the plastic knobs off the 520 choke and throttle levers?

 

Claw hammer, just pretend you are pulling a nail.

[sqrlgtr 3,301]

52 minutes ago, cleat said:

 

Claw hammer, just pretend you are pulling a nail.

I never had any trouble getting them off but have had to use a little glue to keep them on afterward.  Others may have a better solution to keeping them on, I hate to use super gliue on anything I think I might have remove again later on.

[cafoose 3,781]

Claw hammer works great 

[Handy Don 16,961]

2 hours ago, sqrlgtr said:

I hate to use super gliue on anything I think I might have remove again later on.

My go-to for these is a tiny dab of hot glue applied to the tip of the arm. 

[sqrlgtr 3,301]

1 minute ago, Handy Don said:

My go-to for these is a tiny dab of hot glue applied to the tip of the arm. 

This I will try if, I mean next time, I have to do another.

[kpinnc 18,756]

7 hours ago, cafoose said:

@kpinnc Is this the manifold you used?

 

No sir. The bend on that one is backwards from what I used. You want the shorter leg on the front and the hoop facing up. Otherwise it will interfere with the PTO engagement. 

 

You'll have to weld whichever end shut that is open and add an adapter closer to the middle to make it the way I did. I used a reducer from the auto parts store and flattened it to an oval on the manifold side. 

 

[ineedanother 2,621]

On 7/20/2026 at 9:35 PM, cafoose said:

What's the best way to get the plastic knobs off the 520 choke and throttle levers?

I use an adjustable wrench (crescent-type spanner) rather than a claw and tap it off with a hammer. You can also pry against the wrench rather than the knob if you choose to use a claw hammer.

Edited Thursday at 11:55 PM by ineedanother

[cafoose 3,781]

It's alive 

 

Edited Saturday at 03:56 AM by cafoose

[c-series don 12,139]

That thing sounds bad ass! Like it has some big cam drag racing engine in it!! 

[cafoose 3,781]

2 hours ago, c-series don said:

That thing sounds bad ass! Like it has some big cam drag racing engine in it!! 

Open exhaust and worn plugs. Seems to run lean but when I partially close the choke it evens out. May do a carb rebuild. Don't know if it had ethanol in a previous life.

[cafoose 3,781]

Got the relay today, wired it up and it works great just like it should  Also wired up the oil pressure switch and the lights pigtail. All that's left is the tach wire in the 9 pin. Would be cool if I could get the tach working. Any ideas? All I need is the exhaust fabricated, Tune up and oil change, install the hood, and the mule and mower deck. 

[cleat 9,056]

2 minutes ago, cafoose said:

Got the relay today, wired it up and it works great just like it should  Also wired up the oil pressure switch and the lights pigtail. All that's left is the tach wire in the 9 pin. Would be cool if I could get the tach working. Any ideas? All I need is the exhaust fabricated, Tune up and oil change, install the hood, and the mule and mower deck. 

 

I have hooked a 520 tach to a Kohler K series and it worked just fine .

 

I just hooked to one of the AC wires at the regulator just like the 520 is wired and it hot the correct signal.