Briggs and Stratton Slow Cranking

Sounds to me like you have a connection problem. Check and clean all battery connections, especially the one where the negative cable bolts to the frame. The flathead 12.5 hp engines did not have a compression release. None of them.

 

The info about how to check voltage drop. I read through the whole thread here and read the PDF posted and learned how to check voltage drop. That's info that'll come in handy quite often.

So I have the B&S 17hp in a mtd mower and I too am having a slow starting problem. I have done the voltage drop check and here's what I've found:
From the pos battery post to the starter post the drop is .8v
Between both posts on the solenoid the drop is .2v
From the output post on solenoid to the starter post the drop is .5v

I pulled off the ground on the frame and scraped it and remounted it so I know the ground is good.

Im not sure what the above results tells me. Where should I check now? The heavy wire seems good from the solenoid to the starter so I'm not sure how I get a voltage drop.

Any thoughts on this?

 

Your engine is an ohv if it's a single cylinder. Not the same as what is being discussed in this thread. If so, you need to adjust the valves.

You will have voltage drop. The farther you get from the battery, the more drop you'll have. Nothing you can do about it, and DC systems like lawnmowers have it more than AC systems like your house.

 

It is a twin.
Reading through the Briggs PDF guide posted earlier it said that a drop in voltage more than .3 volts indicated a serious problem that needed addressed.
If I jump the battery with my truck running and let it juice up for a while it will create a nice strong start and run good.
Would that make it an electrical issue or would you still suspect valves? Oh and I should also point out that once I start it and run it for a while I can restart is normally as long as its warmed up.

That you for taking the time to reply. I really appreciate it.
Any thoughts on this?

 

I don't think there was a briggs twin 17hp OHV engine (knowing your engine model number would take the guess work out), so valves aren't the issue.

Clean the battery terminals and make sure they are tight, but a high voltage drop can occur because of other things as well, like too big of a load for the battery and/or wires. If your battery is weak, or if the starter is over-amping, you can have this problem. If yours is a flathead opposed twin engine, the starter on these is prone to problems over time. What happens is the top bushing gets worn enough that the armature begins to rub the internal fixed magnets in the case, which allows a lot of drag on the starter. Replacement of the top bushing and cleaning/lubing the starter usually takes care of that.

 

Thanks cheese. I've gone through all the wires for connection problems so I think I'm going to pull the starter and do what you said. I'll post my results in a couple days.
Thanks!