# Low Compression in Snowblower



## AmateurMechanic (Mar 16, 2011)

I have a Toro 1232 Powershift snowblower, which has a Tecumseh OHSK120 engine. I can get the machine to start occassionally but it will never run longer than about 15 seconds. It will also only start with the electric start. The puller rope pulls easy and won't start the machine. I tested the compression to be about 10 psi. With this in mind I'm trying to investigate where I'm losing air. (mind you I am an amateur in the truest sense of the word.) I first opened the housing for the valve springs and ran the engine. The valve springs were going up and down and didn't appear to be cracked. My next thought was to take the head off and look to see if the head gasket was blown and wanted to see if the walls of the cylinder were in good shape. My problem at this point is that I can't get that housing of the valve springs off, which sits on top of the cylinder head. Do I need to remove the springs? How do I remove them? Am I going in the right direction by trying to take the cylinder head off? Any help would be appreciated.

ps. I tried to include a link the schematic but this website won't allow it because this is my first post.


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## usmcgrunt (Sep 16, 2007)

Here is a link to the service manual for your engine.Page 66 and higher explains the valve removal.Hope this helps.Before taking it apart,check to make sure the valve clearence is set to .004 on each valve.If the valves have no clearence,that may be your problem of no compression.

http://www.barrettsmallengine.com/manual/tecumsehoverheadvalvemanual.pdf


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