In article om,
robgraham wrote:
I saw a comment I think in this NG about finding replacement B & S
engines - the one on my cylinder lawn mower has lost compression and I
can't find why despite stripping most of it down and the solution seems
to be to find a replacement. The question is where to go to ?

It's fairly easy to find out why the compression is low especially if
you've already had a look and found nothing obviously wrong like a hole in
the piston. ;-)

Add a couple of teaspoons of engine oil via the sparkplug hole. If the
compression returns, it's likely ring wear or even broken ones. If no
difference, likely the valves. With the head removed, fill the ports with
paraffin. A faulty valve will allow this to run past it. Most likely valve
to fail is the exhaust one. Remove them both and examine valves and seats.
No obvious damage means they can be lapped in by hand. If the seat is
damaged a decent car etc engineering workshop will re-cut it for you. The
valve may also be refaced or simply replaced if damaged.

--
*Oh, what a tangled website we weave when first we practice *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.