New starting issue

Hi Walt,

Despite your comment "The engine cranks what seems like a good speed so I don’t suspect the battery." I would suspect that the battery performance had degraded.

You can confirm this by;

Making sure all connections (including negative) associated with the starting circuits (including relays/solenoid connections) are in good tight/clean condition.

Charge the battery for at least 12 hrs, 24 better, using a quality multi stage charger.

Leave another 24 hrs, after disconnecting charger -  start your engine - it should fire/start within 3 revolutions of the engine.

If  battery lazy/weak -  replace!

Persisting with a weak battery, will likly cost you many times the cost of a replacement battery, in a damaged starting system.

😈

Sean, this engine has never taken more than 2 revolutions to start, even now so that test is not going to tell me anything. Is there another way to load the battery? 

You can take the battery to a battery shop that can put a proper(Carbon Pile) load tester on it .

You could also try a fresh battery, either in place of the one you have or using "jump" cables to see if you get faster/smoother cranking.

Its a good sign that the engine starts in two revolutions however how fast is it cranking?

Over many years I have found that once I start to doubt a batteries capacity, to hold & deliver a good charge, it's time for replacement. If the old battery still has some life, it can go in a mower or on an electric fence for the remainder of its useful life.😈

Walt,

Does the prop pull through normally by hand when you burp it before starting? 

My initial thoughts are:

it could be hydraulic lock as I think Jeff B is alluding to or could be the sprag clutch starting to fail, maybe exaggerated if the battery is weak. 

If it were me, I would follow Seans suggestion of getting the battery load tested and also check the terminals. Another way of checking terminals is to check the temperature of each connection after trying a start. Any poor connection will feel hotter to touch.

If the engine turns over normally during the pre-start burp, it is unlikely to be hydraulic lock.