I have an early 2000s gas pressure washer with a bs flat head engine. Before it got cold out i tipped the unit forward to drain the pump and pulled it over a few times to clear out any water. Well i moved it out of the way the other day and couldn’t resist pulling the starter rope. To my surprise it was locked up and wouldn’t move at all. I figured some water must be left in the pump and froze. I took the unit into the house to thaw out. It’s been two days and every time i walk by it i try and see if it will turn over. It’s still locked up. I have not done any diagnosis on it yet. Any ice would have thawed by now. Has anyone ever had this issue?
Pressure washer locked up.
- Thread starter joegreen
- Start date
Maybe remove the pump and try starting. If that doesn’t work, remove the spark plug and let it soak with some marvel mystery oil. If it’s the pump, I wonder if the MMO or even huge amounts of PB Blaster would loosen it up.
I had an old Kohler powered tiller that did the same thing. It ran great. Had plenty of oil because I just changed it. Fast forward a few months later and it was locked up. No idea what the cause was as I gave it away.
I had an old Kohler powered tiller that did the same thing. It ran great. Had plenty of oil because I just changed it. Fast forward a few months later and it was locked up. No idea what the cause was as I gave it away.
I would pull the spark plug and see if you can turn the engine over. If you cannot then it's probably the pump. Is this a horizontal or vertical engine. Replacement pumps are available.
Electric pressure washers are an option.
Some people are realizing that there are a lot of things that should not be pressure washed. Like your house, siding and roof and wood decks should not be pressure washed. That leaves concrete.
Electric pressure washers are an option.
Some people are realizing that there are a lot of things that should not be pressure washed. Like your house, siding and roof and wood decks should not be pressure washed. That leaves concrete.
I think it depends on using the appropriate nozzle for the job. We've pressure washed the painted wood siding and wood deck without doing any damage. Of course our pressure washer is a "home owners" lower power gas powered pressure washer, not a powerful commercial pressure washer.
I think most professional companies would be doing a soft wash of wood siding.
Haven’t done much as its been on the back burner. I removed the spark plug and the plug looks great. Nice light beige color. Motor still does not turn over. It’s a vertical shaft unit. I will have to tear the cover off the bottom and investigate.
Its possible the rope on the pull start mechanism got caught / jammed inside the mechanism. Its very quick and easy to remove the 3 or 4 little bolts holding the starter mechanism on top of your vertical engine to inspect it for that issue. Otherwise, I've found many small engines get an intake valve seized in the head making turning over the engine impossible. That happens after getting stored with a varnished valve. Simply remove the thin little valve cover and tap the top of the valve with a hammer until it gets impacted free. Penetrating spray, kerosene, any light lubricant would help. Goodluck!
Vertical shaft pressure washers are the budget ones. You can buy a new triaxial pump for under $100.
Sell it as a "project pressure washer" on CL and get a decent horizontal shaft one.
Maybe an electric one will meet your needs.
Sell it as a "project pressure washer" on CL and get a decent horizontal shaft one.
Maybe an electric one will meet your needs.
I got it fixed. I pulled the cover off of the bottom of the unit exposing the pump. There was a bolt on the bottom of the pump that looks like it bolted to the crank shaft. I turned the bolt with my wrench and everything turned freely. I was then able to pull the unit over by hand and fire it up. Somehow the rope pull start just didn’t have enough leverage to overcome whatever was causing the pump to not turn. So turns out there was nothing wrong with the unit other than some friction from sitting for a while i guess. Idk i have hard well water so maybe that did something.
Probably. I would blame the pump a long time before I would suspect engine problems,
