Expert: Robert Dunn - 7/10/2009

Question
I hit a stump mowing and now my mower runs at a lower idle, It seem to run fine so I bent the idle arm to increase the idle speed.  What happened to my mower and am I going to damage it further by running it high and doing what I did?  Someone told me the timing is off, is that true?  Can this be fixed, and if so how?

Answer
Hi Ken
  It sounds like to me that you possibly could have either bent the shaft slightly causing it to bind or the flywheel key could have sheered.
Remove the flywheel and check the key. If it is sheered, this could cause a timing problem. If the key is the problem it is an easy fix by replacing the key.