Briggs and Stratton 21HP Won't Crank Over

My Grandparents new lawnmower refused to start, it would crank part way over and the compression stroke would stop it. It was under warranty, so Sears sent a guy out, it wasn't the valve adjustment, starter, or anything simple, so he came back and put a new engine on it. We've got a broken cub cadet, also my grandparents, that had a Kohler Courage which cracked the engine case after 2-3 years! I told them not to buy another one of those! But the Briggs didn't survive 6 months! The repairman didn't need the old engine, so he didn't mind leaving it for me to try to fix.

Specs

• 21HP Briggs and Stratton
• MFG in 2012
• 331877 - 2371 - G5

Pictures!

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Insides

Here's the problem, the compression release weight has failed.

Camshaft and compression release weight

It's made of some sort of cast metal! The hole for the shaft is 1/2 the thickness of the actual weight! What are you thinking Briggs? At least machine it from mild steel, then it wouldn't snap!

Broken compression release weight

Well that's the problem, a new camshaft will cost ~$80, but if it has the same cast weight on it I don't know that I want it! I'm not sure how to proceed at this point. I could try grinding one out of steel, but that's going to be a job.

UPDATE: We decided to go ahead with the new camshaft. It's installed on the Cub Cadet and still working as of April 2015.

2005 Saturn ION no crank, no start.

I just finished repairing a 2005 Saturn Ion that broke down (conveniently) in my driveway. My brother drove it in and a couple hours later it would not crank.

The Symptoms
These cars are known for a ignition switch malfunction, but the symptoms were slightly different (the security light did not flash*).

• Everything seemed to power up but would not crank.
• PWR STR, SERVICE VEHICLE, and COOLANT errors were displayed on the dash.
• I was unable to connect to the OBD2 bus.

The Diagnosis
The Battery is located in the truck. There are 2 positive wires running from the battery forward. the big main one to the starter motor and fuse-box and a smaller one with an inline fuse holder several inches from the battery which apparently goes directly to the ECM.

• The spare tire compartment had about 1" of water setting in the bottom which submerged the connector just after the inline fuse.
• The wire corroded off both sides of the connector, shorted and blew the fuse.

The Repair

• Twisting the wires together and replacing the fuse resulted in a running car. The wires were soldered.
• The Check engine light was on however with a code p0315 Crankshaft Position System Variation Not Learned. According to most websites, solving this requires a "CASE Relearn Procedure"on GM's Tech2 scan tool. Apparently it will never clear itself. However there are several aftermarket scan tools that can do this. I happen to have a TriCAN from www.obd-2.com. I love this tool, it does a huge amount of things many expensive hand held units don't. It has it's downsides though, it requires the use of a laptop, and in this case I could enable the CASE Relearn, but had to figure out what to do next from forums, etc.

The CASE Relearn procedure

• Bring coolant temp up to 158F+
• Shut off car
• Wait 10+ sec
• Start car
• Hold foot firmly on brake from now on
• Enable CASE Relearn
• Steadily increase RPM until it hit's the (lowered automatically by the test) rev limiter at 4000RPM
• Remove foot from throttle immediately at the first blip
• MIL should go off at this point
• Clear code (stays as historical)

The Moral
Always check the simple stuff, I spent several days hunting for problems up front because the truck was so full of junk I couldn't even look at the battery. I assumed that as long as i had power up front the battery area was fine. How wrong I was...
Oh, wiring diagrams are your friend.

* If your security light is flashing you probably need a new ignition switch, they are a very common problem.