OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Engines Questions On Victa Two Stroke Engines 160 that wont rev, idles fine, starts easy,

I Have a 160, what generation I dont know and its history is unknown. I have it running and it starts fine but it does not want to rev. If you give it a couple of pumps on the primer and gradually open the throttle and at the same time restrict the intake ie choke it it will rev up so long as you keep it choked. It has a metal carby the same as was on my old faithfull 125, $20 15 years ago but it wore out the rings and spat them out the exhaust. One thing I have just thought of is I am using the same muffler as the old one (shaped like a shark tail and points forward above the frame. Have the same problem with or without the Decomp fitted with the inlet from it blocked. also it has a foam urethane float. I also have another victa wih a 160 much later grass catcher and all and it goes like a dream and it has the carby off the 125 on it no problems at all except it hunts a bit at low throttle, probably the !@@##$%^^governor. I cant work out how to set them or some how to put a direct cable on them.
Has anyone any clues please,
TIA,
DON

It is clear from your description that the problem is lean mixture. There are two generic ways this can happen: not enough fuel, or too much air. Too much air usually means a leak into the intake tube or the crankcase. Is this a PowerTorque engine? If so, you may have a problem with one of the O-rings (two in the intake pipe and one under the starter, sealing the crankcase). If it is a full crank engine, check the intake tube for leaks and test the top and bottom crankshaft seals where it goes into the crankcase. If it isn't an air leak, you have a fuel tank, fuel line, or carburetor problem. Check how fast fuel flows out of the fuel line when you disconnect it at the carburetor and turn on the fuel. If it just trickles, check the fuel filter in the tank, the tank vent, and the fuel line. If it flows properly, you need to look at the carburetor. If it is a plastic one, say so and some poor unfortunate masochist who dabbles in such things will no doubt take over trying to help you.

HI, How do I identify a Power Torque Engine?. The Carby is metal not plastic and it does not have any O rings in the mounting to the barrel, it has a plastic sleeve that is in the carby that slides over the inlet port on the barrel. The fuel system is clean as is the filter in the tank. The fuel flow is ok, it runs out of the hose freely. I assume it is a full crank as it has the magneto and starter on the top and a shaft with the cutting disk on the bottom.
I agree that it is running lean, and from your comments I need to be looking at crankcase seals. Not having worked on these before can the seals be replaced without spliting the crankcase? just removing the items external to the seals? I have no documentation othe than a pretty poor exlpoded diagram of a 160.
Thanks Don..

The PowerTorque is the half-crank (cantilevered crank) version of the Victa 2 stroke. Since yours is a full crank (yes, if the flywheel is on top, part of the crankshaft must be also) the O-ring issue doesn't apply. The crankcase seals, the carburetor, the piston sealing, intake pipe leakage, head gasket leakage, and an obstructed muffler are the main remaining issues. You can work through those in succession fairly easily, in any order that suits you.

You might remove the muffler, check the exhaust port for obstruction, and inspect the side of the piston for scoring. Then fire up the engine without the muffler and see if it runs radically better. If it does, the muffler is choked up. These are unlikely problem areas, because your engine will run properly when choked, but they are not impossible - a two stroke only runs by virtue of a scavenging miracle, and a blocked muffler can foul up the scavenging no end.

If the head gasket is leaking you will most likely be able to detect it by oil around the head-to-cylinder joint.

There are several ways to check for leaks in the intake area. When the whole intake pipe is easily accessible and there are gaskets and plastic pipes involved, an old recipe of mine was to get it running in the lean zone, and squirt some fuel onto the suspect areas. If you hit a leaky bit, the engine will speed up for a moment and you may see the squirted fuel disappearing. However this is a hazardous procedure, not to be contemplated without a lot of care plus safety glasses, gloves, and plenty of clothing that doesn't ignite easily. A space suit with helmet would be better still. Another way, more popular than the one I mentioned first, is to dismantle and inspect every joint and every component, looking especially for things like split pieces of plastic, or loose lap-joints. Of course you have to check that all of the hoses go to the right places, and the engine doesn't run better when you pull one off and put your finger over the end of it.

I have left the crankcase seals for last because there is potentially more work involved. You have to be able to see the seals. If one of them is wet with oil, it is leaking. If you are trying to make sure, set the crankshaft in a vertical position and trickle some fuel onto the seal. If the fuel disappears, the seal is leaking a lot - enough to cause problems. To answer your question, you have to take the crankcase apart to replace the seals. It isn't a horrendous job, though.

If you check those things and are confident all is well with them, you are back to the carburetor, or just possibly the piston rings. Can you try a carburetor from another engine? That is way more efficient than dismantling the same carburetor over and over again, looking for a fault that may not exist.

Many thanks for that, By the way I have been able to identify the carby it is a G3 flag type the one with the long rectangular flag. Oh well back to the drawing board, I have just inherited another 160 grass catcher model that has suffered a similar fate to all of the others with all the rain we have had they have been under water for a short time but I will persist, as being on a pension I cant afford to buy a new one and this experience will give me an entry into 2 strokes Hi, been the other extreme 5-600 hp V8's and always said they should have shot the bloke who came up with tempramental 2 strokes.
Times and situations change Hi...
Regards,
Don......
PS Whats the go with a different Plug if the engine is mounted E W or N S according to an old champion plug list it has a CJ8 for E W and a different one for N S can't remember the No.

The spark plug's orientation relative to the ports can make a difference, but when you rotate the Victa 2 stroke cylinder the ports and spark plug rotate together so nothing changes. Unless they were talking about rotating the cylinder head on the cylinder, not the cylinder on the crankcase, my guess would be that the Champion plug list was full of manure, or your memory is slightly off and it was a different situation they were talking about.

Hi, Fair enough on the plug situation, it wasn't my memory!
OK I have new seals and I hope I got the right ones, I am presuming mine is the early version with the 20mm and 17 mm seals, I will soon find out when I get it apart, but therein lies a problem the only info I have is a general list of specs for the 125 and 160. I have the motor on the bench, now the problem, how do I get the boss that the cutting disk bolts up to , off, does it screw off or pull off or do I say some magic chant to get it off? . It looks bloody tight, I dont want take to it with the Stilsens or the gas axe cos I still dont know how it is all put together inside and would not like to upset the crank indexing. Can any one help on that score, I would like to get it apart tonight in case I need to get anything else in the morning (80k trip) especially if the motor turns out to be a late model one. I have been assuming its an early model cos its on the same toe cutter base as my dearly departed 125 UTILITY and its painted Orange and its great for trimming around posts Hi, but someone may have given it a transplant,Time will tell.
TIA
Thanks,
Don....

The cutter plate boss is pressed onto a taper on the crankshaft. It is usually removed by the hammer-and-anvil technique, just like a car front suspension ball-joint. You rest the boss on the heaviest available anvil, being sure to get it square to the side of the boss, then hit the opposite side of the boss, square to the side surface, sharply, with a sizable hammer. Setting it up properly so it is square to both anvil and hammer is important - otherwise you could be hammering it all day, and end up with the blade boss forged into a different shape. I do not recommend heating it up - it can be effective but obviously isn't all that good for the rest of the engine, and you'd need a puller to remove the hot boss, which would be awkward and perhaps dangerous.

There is a point I should make about rotating cylinders and whether it affects the way the engine runs. What I said applies to a Victa 2 stroke, but it would not apply to an engine with a deflector piston or a cutaway piston skirt to match the intake port. If you rotated the cylinder or head without rotating the piston to match in those cases, the engine would barely run at all. Also, with a deflector piston, the piston might hit the head and self-destruct.

Tisk Tisk Milling, two strokes are a great thing. Nice and simple and not that expensive to fix. Beauty of it is there always some dumb wad about that forgets the oil and gives up so you get cheap parts.


As for the drowned mowers. Unless you can get into it and dewater and dry it out fully, leave it be. Its only when you let the air to it that things go bad.
Ive had a few power torques with water in them. They dry out well, head off, starter off and tip them over cylinder down. Dose them up with CRC and into a warm dry spot.
I had a full crank that sat with water for ages. Chock a block full of water for well over a year. It freed up easily, i stripped it down and only took the cylinder off, and sat it aside came back to it the next day and it was locked up solid.


The plug thing you refer to, the CJ8 is a short plug, its for the east-west motors. And the J8 or the C8 (cant remember which one) is for the rear facing motors, its normal length and well protected so it does not have to worry about being snapped off. I think the sideways briggs use the CJ8 as well, the forward facing ones just an RJ12A or something. I forget things too easy, i just got with a sample in hand.


Unless Victa makes a 90 degree piston all you could do would be to rotate the cylinder 180 deg to swap the carb and exhaust to opposite sides. I dont think the way the head goes on matters much. Well obviously you would not want the decompressor at the bottom.


Cheers, Bob.

With Champion spark plugs there is basically a letter that tells you the reach (thread length), followed by a number that tells you the heat range. Then you get to a bunch of extra things for special purposes. For example, a J-8C is a J-8 with a copper central electrode instead of a steel one. A CJ-8 is a compact J-8 (with a shorter insulator so it will fit into a smaller external space around the plug). A J-8Y would be a J-8 with "forward electrode", meaning the two electrodes extend further into the combustion chamber. An RJ-8 would be a J-8 with a radio interference suppression resistor built into the central electrode.

Because the J-8 is no longer made, you have a choice between a J-8C and a CJ-8. They are functionally the same, as long as you have room for the long external insulator on the J-8C. The things that matter a lot are the reach and the heat range: do not alter either of those from what is specified or you are likely to get bad results and possibly engine damage. The other options are less important, though they can still be worth getting right.

It seems Briggs and Stratton adopted the CJ8 on all engines requiring a J reach and an 8 heat range. I don't see why other engine manufacturers wouldn't have done the same, unless, say, they had designed the cylinder head with such deep cooling fins around the spark plug that they had to have the long external insulator to be able to fit the plug lead on.

Hi,grumpy and Rodeobob, Ok on the comments about 2 strokes I now retract that after the last couple of days working on them, also the comments on plugs. I am reasoably familiar with them after the work I have done with hot V8's. Back to 2 strokes, the one that did not want rev is going like a charm now. I have replaced the seals, rotated the piston so the ring locating pegs are on the inlet side according to the book, opposite side for the 125, put 2 circlips in the gudgeon, only had one on the bottom side (someone been here before me) and reassembled it all and guess what, still no go, but it had good comp on power an intake 2 big lumps! it would suck your finger in. Back to the carby and out of the collection found a plastic float and needle and bowl put a new O ring on the main jet and screwed it back together and away it went. It had a large black, I think urethane float in it and I had problems with the old 125 when it had one of those in it and I was given a plastic one to put in and it never missed a beat again until its demise. That carby is on the other refugee from the flood and it goes very well also but with grass catcher and all not much good for the rough stuff, 3 feet high and big thistles.
I now have to find a way to stop the height adjustment adjusting it self, I think that will be a bit of modification this thing hits so hard that it sends the adustmernt lever into spasms sideways and it jumps out of the slots, I have replaced the slotted gate and retensioned the lever to no avail, Nothing the MIG and a bit of stifening wont fix I hope.
My other problem is me, the older I get the more I forget and what I have forgoten is what I did with the cap like washer that goes between the bottom seal and the tapered boss I have looked for hours for. It it seems to tap into the bottom of the crank case, is it vital the 125 doen't have one and this one was packed with grass between it and the seal.
Thats my lot, (I bought a manual through the group by the way) and I am very greatfull for the help and knowledge given to me through the group.
Many Thanks,
Don,
South Western Victoria......

I don't know the answer and can't find a manual that shows it Don, so we'll have to wait for a Victa 2-stroke person to chip in.

String wound around the crankshaft above the blade plate is the traditional cause of ruined bottom crankcase seals. From your description it sounds as if Victa added a part to try to protect the seal.

Hi grumpy, problem solved, I found it so all I have to do now is fit it and I can consider this unit finished and move on to the next one which is a late model 160 which needs a bore and piston job and will replace the one I have had the problems with as it it is down on power compared to the grass catcher one I have which is great for lawns but not much chop in the rough stuff but has heaps of grunt. I will put the other motor aside for the future seeing its so difficult to get bits now. I have found someone to bore it and I see the online shop has pistons and rings and a couple of other things I want so I will get them from there. Still cant get the govenors to work as I would like but I will persist. Its great to have them start on the first pull of the rope not like the old 125 which I used to start with an electric drill for the last 7 years.
Once again many thanks for the help and info,
Don....

Thanks for posting the outcome Don. I'll close this thread - just open a new one for your next project.