Early 70's Charger 12 Automatic Not Starting

[bornofgaia 0]

This winter I tuned up, cleaned up, and fixed up an early 70's Charger 12 Automatic with a 12hp K series. It's a work tractor, not a show stopper, but was running pretty smooth while towing 8-10"x12' cedar logs out of a land clearing this spring. It had been running good, off and on, for about two hours and I had just towed a couple of logs when the engine RPM jumped and it made a sound like metal rubbing on metal (never a good sign). I shut it off within 2-5 seconds, gave it about 45 min to cool down, and checked fluid and other simple things thinking I had made a bone head mistake and let the oil run low. Everything checked out looking decent. The oil had been changed aprox 8 hours of use back and there was still plenty of it. Spark was good, mechanical fuel pump pulling gas into the carb, decent charge on the battery. The engine would crank but not start. I've tried cleaning out the carb, both on and off the tractor, but it doesn't seem like fuel is getting past it into the engine. The last time I messed with it fuel would eventually pour out of the carb.

Any thoughts or help on the next step to take would be greatly appreciated,

Jeremy

[Ken B 3,116]

Have you checked for good compression? Metal rubbing on metal usually isn't very good...... Spray a little carb cleaner into the carb and see if it fires.

[bornofgaia 0]

Hi Ken,

Thanks for the suggestions. I tried the carb cleaner but no go. I don't know much about checking compression other than there are various types of gauges and that poor or bad compression can indicate gasket or valve issues. I'll see if I can get a hold of a gauge to check it. Do you have a recommendation for one that works well with small engines or are they all about the same?

Thanks again,

Jeremy

[Martin 2,130]

as you mentioned that gas seems like its not getting into the engine, try and get a rough indication if anything internal isnt right first.....

you said the carb has been off the engine, were any of the screws missing from the throttle or choke plates?....

remove the spark plug, try turning it over while holding a finger over the spark plug hole. that will tell you if you have any sort of compression. i wouldnt worry about what psi you can get, as the acr will be messing with your numbers anyway. if its hard for you to stop air escaping through the hole, that would be a good enough indication for the moment to say that you have at least some compression. if you dont feel any pressure at all then you dont have any compression.......

also, you should be able to check to see if the valves are moving up and down when turning the engine over by directing a flash light in the spark plug hole at an angle towards the valves.

how does it sound when turning it over, noises, etc?

if you turn it over by hand does it feel smooth, and consistent, other than the increased effort through the compression stroke?

if nothing stands out and you say spark is good, i would then look at the fuel delivery...