Put the Groove on a Toro 190cc 7.0fp torque self propelled mower

Went a little more scientific (I think) on the test data.

Tank was near empty before I started, so I ran it empty, put two ounces of fuel in the tank and ran that out at idle.

4 minutes 15 seconds run time.

Put the groove in, added two ounces of fuel, ran that out to empty

5 minutes 5 seconds at idle.

The tank holds 46oz of fuel. Based on that and the above numbers there would be an improvement of approximately 19 minutes 15 seconds of run time for a tank at idle.

Still have some data to collect on the mod, more specifically, what it is going to do under load, ie: cutting grass. This will put the throttle plate more into the groove with a different set of results.

Additional data on this, When I first started the lawnmower, I had to give it a couple of pulls to start. After the groove, having lost what fuel was in the float bowl(small variable), it took only one pull to start.

Hey Tacoma Karl, isn't it amazing how somethinh with no computer responds. Our 16.5 hp murray rider has consistently burned 1/2 the fuel it did before the groove was applied. It also will start without choke. A little groove makes a BIG difference.

I also grooved a 1981 Kawasaki 440 motorcycle, and you don;t have to choke it to start it also!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy grooving, and great scientific data, real world trials are always a must.

GadgetmanNebraska out. Aron Cheek

Hi Karl,

Thanks for the info on the mower. I just grooved a riding mower (18.5 horse briggs) I use it alot around my farm for small tasks. It starts easier than before, it will take a while to see how much reduction in fuel consumption there is.

I remember you asking me a question about the 2002 hyundai accent I grooved, but I do not remember what the question was. So far I have had no problems with the groove whatsoever. It starts better, runs better, but the car keeps showing a misfire in cylinders one and two. I am trying to get that taken care of. If you have any questions/suggestions, I would appreciate it.

After I did the groove on my generator, Ron had pointed out about the spark plug gap.

I adjusted the gap from .024" TO .040" with great results.

So I pulled the spark plug on the lawnmower, it was gapped at .030" so I re-gapped it to
.045".

Fires right up no problems. Noticed the plug color before I regapped it, actually looked like it was cleaning up just from the test runs that I had done earlier.

So, after the initial test and results, I went on to the generator and a series of tests lead me to more data and some interesting conclusions that will possibly be addressed at another time but for now... back to the lawnmower.

being that the lawnmower was my first attempt and not having a clear understanding of "what a proper groove is" I went back armed with a clearer understanding and re-addressed the groove which yielded the following results.

fuel: 8oz gasoline
run-time : 18:05 minutes
This was done under real-time load, ie: cutting the grass.

The 46oz tank, would yield 1hr 43min.

I revisited the lawnmower armed with the new data involving the bit angle and applied a deeper pocket to the existing groove which yielded the following results.

Fuel : 8oz gasoline
run-time : 19:02 minutes
Again, under real-time load, ie: cutting the grass.
The 46oz tank would yield 1hr 49 minutes

One of the reasons I specifically indicate the 'load' condition is that I found the two small engines that I have to work with that under idle conditions and smaller amounts of fuel ( 2-4 oz ) the numbers don't reflect actual work output data.

I found this out by actually running a gallon of fuel through the generator under load and resulted in no gains. After revisiting the TB on the generator and running that test again, then the real-time data was valid and the numbers were there to support the initial findings.

Love this stuff!

Karl Fortner
Tacoma, Wa.