7 y.o. B&S engine threw a rod!
 

- or something important inside. I noticed some oil seeping out onto the
shed floor a week ago when I got the tractor out to cut the lawn just
before leaving for a weeks vacation. When I started it up, the vibration
was so bad that my right foot started going numb after a few minutes.
Looked at the oil seepage, which seemed to be coming from the bottom of the
crankcase. The bolts holding the engine to the mower frame had come loose,
so I tightened them up, which reduced the vibration quite a bit, and
finished the lawn. After getting back from Colonial Williamsburg (highly
recommended, by the way) I had a more detailed look at the engine.

It's a 15 hp Briggs OHV engine on a Craftsman tractor which I bought new
about 7 years ago. When I bought it, the engine was apparently one of
Briggs' first OHV consumer engines. The first one I got seized solid within
the first few seconds under load after a Sears salesman recommended
half-hour "break in" at full throttle (no load), followed by a half-hour
cool off. Sears gave me a new tractor, and said that they'd had nearly 25%
of these new 15 hp engines sieze unless they were broken in like I had done
mine. Some had siezed even after the break in, like mine. The replacement
has run like a champ until a week ago. I've been religious about checking
the oil and changing it every 25 hours. The engine has considerably less
than 200 hours on it.

Whatever has gone wrong inside is bad. The engine bangs and vibrates like
there's a rod thrashing around in there, but it runs and delivers full
power. Oil is leaking out of the sump from somewhere. I now have to decide
whether or not to try and rebuild the engine, replace it (Sears does not
offer this engine any more as a spare part, but I found one virtually
identical on the internet for $399 plus shipping), or just bite the bullet
and replace the mower, which is still in pretty good shape. If I just
replace the engine, the hydro transmission will probably go the week after
:-)

Any thoughts?

--
Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)

B&S started building their engines to break about 10 years
ago, just loke the auto industry does.

Find an OLD 4stroke motor and use it instead of a new
B&S that will break down in 2-5 years.

Rich

"Bob Chilcoat" wrote in message
...
- or something important inside. I noticed some oil seeping out onto the
shed floor a week ago when I got the tractor out to cut the lawn just
before leaving for a weeks vacation. When I started it up, the vibration
was so bad that my right foot started going numb after a few minutes.
Looked at the oil seepage, which seemed to be coming from the bottom of
the
crankcase. The bolts holding the engine to the mower frame had come
loose,
so I tightened them up, which reduced the vibration quite a bit, and
finished the lawn. After getting back from Colonial Williamsburg (highly
recommended, by the way) I had a more detailed look at the engine.

It's a 15 hp Briggs OHV engine on a Craftsman tractor which I bought new
about 7 years ago. When I bought it, the engine was apparently one of
Briggs' first OHV consumer engines. The first one I got seized solid
within
the first few seconds under load after a Sears salesman recommended
half-hour "break in" at full throttle (no load), followed by a half-hour
cool off. Sears gave me a new tractor, and said that they'd had nearly
25%
of these new 15 hp engines sieze unless they were broken in like I had
done
mine. Some had siezed even after the break in, like mine. The
replacement
has run like a champ until a week ago. I've been religious about checking
the oil and changing it every 25 hours. The engine has considerably less
than 200 hours on it.

Whatever has gone wrong inside is bad. The engine bangs and vibrates like
there's a rod thrashing around in there, but it runs and delivers full
power. Oil is leaking out of the sump from somewhere. I now have to
decide
whether or not to try and rebuild the engine, replace it (Sears does not
offer this engine any more as a spare part, but I found one virtually
identical on the internet for $399 plus shipping), or just bite the bullet
and replace the mower, which is still in pretty good shape. If I just
replace the engine, the hydro transmission will probably go the week after
:-)

Any thoughts?

--
Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)

You know you are going to pull it apart. I wouldn't be able to resist not
knowing. It might be simple and cheap to fix. How is your luck factor
running?

In article ,
"Bob Chilcoat" wrote:

[...]

Any thoughts?

Check your case for cracks where the cylinder joins the block. I saw
that once and it behaved kind of like what you described. Though it
kind of blew oil out rather than just leaked it.
No fixing the engine if that's the case.
Conservation of Bustedness says your hydro will take a dump once you
get the engine fixed, though.

--
B.B. --I am not a goat! thegoat4 at airmail dot net
http://web2.airmail.net/thegoat4/

"B.B." wrote:

In article ,
"Bob Chilcoat" wrote:

[...]

Any thoughts?

Check your case for cracks where the cylinder joins the block. I saw
that once and it behaved kind of like what you described. Though it
kind of blew oil out rather than just leaked it.
No fixing the engine if that's the case.
Conservation of Bustedness says your hydro will take a dump once you
get the engine fixed, though.

Wouldn't a cracked AL block be an excuse to buy a TIG welder?

Pete C.

On Tue, 31 May 2005 11:11:36 -0400, "Bob Chilcoat"
wrote:

- or something important inside. I noticed some oil seeping out onto the
shed floor a week ago when I got the tractor out to cut the lawn just
before leaving for a weeks vacation. When I started it up, the vibration
was so bad that my right foot started going numb after a few minutes.
Looked at the oil seepage, which seemed to be coming from the bottom of the
crankcase. The bolts holding the engine to the mower frame had come loose,
so I tightened them up, which reduced the vibration quite a bit, and
finished the lawn. After getting back from Colonial Williamsburg (highly
recommended, by the way) I had a more detailed look at the engine.

It's a 15 hp Briggs OHV engine on a Craftsman tractor which I bought new
about 7 years ago. When I bought it, the engine was apparently one of
Briggs' first OHV consumer engines. The first one I got seized solid within
the first few seconds under load after a Sears salesman recommended
half-hour "break in" at full throttle (no load), followed by a half-hour
cool off. Sears gave me a new tractor, and said that they'd had nearly 25%
of these new 15 hp engines sieze unless they were broken in like I had done
mine. Some had siezed even after the break in, like mine. The replacement
has run like a champ until a week ago. I've been religious about checking
the oil and changing it every 25 hours. The engine has considerably less
than 200 hours on it.

Whatever has gone wrong inside is bad. The engine bangs and vibrates like
there's a rod thrashing around in there, but it runs and delivers full
power. Oil is leaking out of the sump from somewhere. I now have to decide
whether or not to try and rebuild the engine, replace it (Sears does not
offer this engine any more as a spare part, but I found one virtually
identical on the internet for $399 plus shipping), or just bite the bullet
and replace the mower, which is still in pretty good shape. If I just
replace the engine, the hydro transmission will probably go the week after
:-)

Any thoughts?
I don't know how the engine is connected to the blades and tranny but
check that to see if it's loose. A loose pulley on the end of the
crank shaft could cause all kinds of vibration. Maybe even enough to
damage a sael and cause oil leakage.
ERS

Bob Chilcoat wrote:
- or something important inside. I noticed some oil seeping out onto the
shed floor a week ago when I got the tractor out to cut the lawn just
before leaving for a weeks vacation. When I started it up, the vibration
was so bad that my right foot started going numb after a few minutes.
Looked at the oil seepage, which seemed to be coming from the bottom of the
crankcase. The bolts holding the engine to the mower frame had come loose,
so I tightened them up, which reduced the vibration quite a bit, and
finished the lawn. After getting back from Colonial Williamsburg (highly
recommended, by the way) I had a more detailed look at the engine.

It's a 15 hp Briggs OHV engine on a Craftsman tractor which I bought new
about 7 years ago. When I bought it, the engine was apparently one of
Briggs' first OHV consumer engines. The first one I got seized solid within
the first few seconds under load after a Sears salesman recommended
half-hour "break in" at full throttle (no load), followed by a half-hour
cool off. Sears gave me a new tractor, and said that they'd had nearly 25%
of these new 15 hp engines sieze unless they were broken in like I had done
mine. Some had siezed even after the break in, like mine. The replacement
has run like a champ until a week ago. I've been religious about checking
the oil and changing it every 25 hours. The engine has considerably less
than 200 hours on it.

Whatever has gone wrong inside is bad. The engine bangs and vibrates like
there's a rod thrashing around in there, but it runs and delivers full
power. Oil is leaking out of the sump from somewhere. I now have to decide
whether or not to try and rebuild the engine, replace it (Sears does not
offer this engine any more as a spare part, but I found one virtually
identical on the internet for $399 plus shipping), or just bite the bullet
and replace the mower, which is still in pretty good shape. If I just
replace the engine, the hydro transmission will probably go the week after
:-)

Any thoughts?

--
Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)



Most likely the main bearing is shot. Grab the output shaft and shake it
to see if there is any slop between the shaft and bearing. Also rotate
the flywheel or shaft end back and forth to see if there is slop in the
connecting rod bearing or wrist pin. It possible for slop in either one
to pound the main into an oval over time.

Get a JOhn Deere with the Kawasaki line of engines and you won't go
wrong. Or a Cub Cadet with a Kohler from Lowes........Even the JD at
HD with Briggs or Kohlers are pretty darn nice
machines.......Sears/Crapsman is bad about not supplying some major
items further down the road, but oddball stuff they seem to have tons
of.

==============================================
Put some color in your cheeks...garden naked!

~~~~ }((((o ~~~~~~ }{{{{o ~~~~~~~ }(((((o

I know of 2 people that have had problems with the Kaws, one was on a JD.
The briggs Vanguard are a good engine.
"~Roy~" wrote in message
...
Get a JOhn Deere with the Kawasaki line of engines and you won't go
wrong. Or a Cub Cadet with a Kohler from Lowes........Even the JD at
HD with Briggs or Kohlers are pretty darn nice
machines.......Sears/Crapsman is bad about not supplying some major
items further down the road, but oddball stuff they seem to have tons
of.

==============================================
Put some color in your cheeks...garden naked!

~~~~ }((((o ~~~~~~ }{{{{o ~~~~~~~ }(((((o

"Bob Chilcoat" wrote in message
...

Whatever has gone wrong inside is bad. The engine bangs and vibrates like
there's a rod thrashing around in there, but it runs and delivers full
power.

Then it's not the con rod- it wouldn't run at all if it was.

Is this a Synchro-Balance engine? If it is, the little strut that holds the
synchro weight may have snapped. Easy fix.

-Carl