OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Walk Behind Lawn Mower Frames Victa Lawn Mower Frames Identify Victa Pro 550

Hi Norm,

Does the flywheel on the engines fitted with the impulse starter have a cup with a nut on top of the flywheel?

I've got a scrap Victa that was seized up and this one has a cup that goes on top of the flywheel. Visually the barrel looks the same. However, the crankshaft is tapered to suit the older flywheel with the internal magneto and won't fit the later external magneto type flywheel. See the pictures below:

Flywheel off older internal magneto engine:


Comparison between older crank on left:



Comparison of older barrel on the right:



Once the flywheel nut is loosened, there is a noticeable wobble between the flywheel & the crank, which would no doubt upset the timing quite a few degrees depending on where the flywheel was sitting on the shaft when the nut was re-tightened. The flywheel came off the shaft with very little effort. Note the aluminium flywheel mounting doesn't show any signs of fretting against the steel shaft, even though it is a loose fit.



When testing the runout of the flywheel end of the crankshaft with a dial indicator, it indicates a deflection of 40 thou when rotated! Maybe this is due to a mechanic levering off the flywheel unevenly?

The crankshaft end float is 2 thou. This amount of float seems acceptable.

What is unusual is that someone has applied liquid nails over the top two crankcase bolts. Whether this is to fill a crack or to stop the bolts from turning I'm not sure.




The flywheel magnets are flush with the aluminium casting. I don't know if these have been worn down or not.




The lamination stack that makes up the coil armature is used instead of a single piece of iron to reduce eddy currents, which reduces voltage output & generates excess heat. Maybe once the small air gaps become filled up with rust and dirt it reduces the cooling ability and causes eddy currents that further reduces the coil output?