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So far everyone says sayanora to this B&S. OTOH, it does not have the head gasket failure so common to the brand. The valves themself seem to have a lot of meat left on the seating area, and could be ground or lapped to improve compression. Need a picture of the valve seats built into the...

SAE 40 has been hard to find for decades. It was specified for use in Midget/Sprite transmissions back in the 1960's, and was almost not anywhere on the shefl. No WEB to search either. I kind of remember getting it as Sears Robuck in their automotive section. That for sure will not work too...

GR:"The 17 hp has over revved and basically blew up! it will start and overrev and blow oil out the breather tube all over." If it will start and run, then the internals have not blown up yet. For both the Briggs and the push mower, check that the governor linkage is still connected and moves...

The governor pulls the normally Wide Open Throttle - WOT- closed to attain idle speed. The throttle will sit at WOT if the governor is not pulling it closed. The run quality might be affected by the fact the engine is being started from cold, and would normally have need for a slight choke for a...

If it revs too high, then the governor did not pull the throttle plate closed as the rpms increased. You can get a full service manual in PDF at Kohler's web site. It covers a lot of the CV series and more. I would look closely at the throttle linkage. The throttle plate normally is pulled...

QUOTE: "The never ending debate with 87 corn gas will never cease." Fuel that has ethanol added does have a more limited shelf life, or actually 'tank life' than plain gasoline. If left in the carburetor, exposed to atmosphere, it will tend to absorb water from the humidity in the air. It...

If you want to know if your fuel is adulterated with ethanol, pour some into a glass jar. Add a glug of water, say 1/8c into a peanut butter jar half full. If there is ETOH in the 'premium' fuel, it will be drawn from the mixture and combine with the water. It should then fall to the bottom...

Given the quality control level present in most factories, it is difficult to predict battery life. I have had the term vary from 2 years to 7 years. Allowing the battery charge to go low when stored will decrease battery life. If nothing else, put a charger on at least once a month during...

You could try several things to help sealing. A cotton swab(Q-tip) dipped in valve grinding compound and twirled around while held against the seat may polish the rough edge enough to allow a good seal. You could attempt to remove the seat and flip it end for end and re-install it. The other...

The 2A setting is for motorcycle batteries and those of similar capacity. If you charge a small battery at a higher rate it will make the battery temperature rise. Many new batteries that are shipped w/o electrolyte will have instructions to charge around 2A. My OLD Sears charger has 8A/2A...

Search for 'tachometer digital' on aliexpress and you will find a good selection. There is one model that wraps around the plug wire for its input. It will register rpms, and also has a resettable hour meter, such as for oil change intervals. One version has a non-replaceable battery, and the...

To get the engine to 'hydrolock' from being tipped on its side/end would take some time UNLESS your rings were pretty well worn out. Hydrolock is the situation where there is liquid in the combustion chamber that prevents the piston from fully traveling to TDC(top dead center) and which may...

The late 1980's Snapper has/had a module that required the shift/gear lever be in neutral in order to enable the ignition. There is no seat occupancy switch, and, it's been over 20 years, it may have had a blade release cutout switch also. It was not powered by the battery. In Neutral and with...

FWIW, Amazon has had a bunch of counterfeit parts on sale recently. Motorcraft spark plugs and filters are a couple I have read about. ebay may also have the same thing. I think I would be careful and inspect closely any auto parts etc from both sites. I have ordered Stens and other parts...

When mowers were $99 each at K-mart, repairs were not even considered. Changing the oil or the air filter? Maybe. The preceptrion is likely still that OPE is cheap, and repairs are expensive. I do not think perception has caught up with reality. Ten years ago the lowest price push mower with...

I have done all the work ever done to my machines. My experiences with 'professional' mechanics has not been something I wish to repeat. Had a camshaft replaced under warranty and the tech forgot he had closed the drain petcock on the radiator, and closed it with a wrench. At least I can make...

If you want to try the spray vs purchasing some silicone oil, I'd spray a bit on a paper towel and wipe it onto the surface. You don't want it wet and oily, but just a sheen. Kind of like using oil on a cookie sheet, just get is barely wetted, wipe with a damp towel, etc. tom

In the back of the owners manual you should find a wiring diagram or schematic. That should have the proper fuse size noted. I think the 'text' portion of the owners manual may be more generic while the schematic will likely be more accurate. An opinion. That said, unless you have things...

As suggested, you may be running on one cylinder. If both are functional, holding a hand NEAR the exhaust and comparing one exhaust to the other may indicate readily that one is colder than the other. They both should start to heat up within seconds. That would indicate either a coil/magneto...

I think a wipe of silicone oil on the sealing surface may make the RTV release easier. I know it works when using filled epoxy such as where you have damaged threads on the brake retainer bolts on a rider transaxle. There were some threads, but not quite enough to feel secure. Once the epoxy...

Getting closer to 80 every day, I find that I make more mistakes than I think! I did in the past. I have come close to swapping the red and the black... but luckily took a second look. Not seeing the car stopped in the lane ahead as I glanced over at a intersting roadside attraction, but...

It would not hurt to check that the spring that the idler uses to tension the belt is not weakened. If the belt does not have enough tension, the belt will slip, get hot, get hotter, and finally start to smoke. It would take some time for the belt to get hot. I am not sure whether you have...

Yabbut. If you had a 21" mower, any brand, with a B&S engine on it, would you invest in replacing the piston and rings? Rings alone? A connecting rod? Or actually in most buyers' case, having a shop do any of those jobs? I do not think it will be done by most purchasers of OPE. Commercial...

The shoes I arced would have been for mid-1950s cars. I think they had asbestos as part of their friction material. Long after, I heard of the potential problems. I think most mesothelioma patients were exposed over a long time, regularly. At least I hope so, not to wish it upon anyone.

If you search for 'how much exposure to asbestos is dangerous' or similar, you will find that a one-time exposure is not considered dangerous. Of course it is best to avoid the dust, and every effort should be made within reason to avoid any exposure. I can attest to having been exposed to...

I would be more concerned with a leakdown test and a oil pressure reading. If you have minimal leakdown, both rings and valves should be in reasonable condition, and would have a remaining working lifespan related to how well they currently seal. The oil pressure should give an indication of...

Given how lightly the blade brakes are used, never going downhill on the I-55 with a trailer full of firewood... They should last a long time and the glue used likely does not have to be rated for high temperature. I would get some epoxy or some filled-epoxy such as JB Weld and use that. Make...

Obviously my comment was directed at the US market for pickup trucks. The premium paid for better fuel economy and low end torque, especially useful for towing, extends the payback time such that most original purchasers will have sold the vehicle long before. I realize that many countries use...

The increased purchase price of diesel engines in pickup trucks made them uneconomical unless the miles driven annually were high. Those who bought thinking they were going to save money may have realized the increased investment had a pretty long payback time before actually costing less than...

If you are a bit lazy, and want to check for fin blockage, you may be able to slide a hand under the cylinder, between cylinder and chassis, and feel for good airflow being blown from the flywheel blower down past the finnage and onto the top of the chassis. If the flow feels good and strong...

Has anyone checked the oil level in the sump? Remove the filler neck cap, wipe clean, place cap on the filler. Remove cap and inspect oil level. If no oil showing, odds are not in your favor of a pleasant surprise outcome. Removing the cooling shrouds will make access to the flywheel easier...

If your are using machines that have cork seals in their carburetors, you likely can make your own ETOH free fuel and have adequate octane for use without worry. I do not think I have anything newer than 1990 that has cork seals. anywhere that I know of. I have a Craftsman(AYP) push mower with...

Tell me the compression ratio of these OPE engines. My bet is none of them would even note the difference in octane with or without the ETOH being present. Most are pretty low stressed designs, and likely could work fine with lowered octane. I will not tell anyone to buy a particular grade...

Make you own ethanol-free fuel. If you add enough water to a container of E-10, it will combine with the ETOH and being denser, will fall to the bottom of the container. Above the layer of water is fuel without any ETOH mixed in. If you can decant successfully, you can leave the water at the...

A 'stalled' DC motor will pull a lot of juice. It would not surprise me to find a fuse or circuit breaker that got popped when the armature came to a quick stop. Mechanical damage to the internals of the motor may also have occurred. Have not seen a reply to the request about the blade...

Wispy smoke from the dipstick tube is normal immediately after shutdown. There is a hurricane of oil inside when the engine is running. That will create a mist that can look like smoke. The pump could fail with a punctured diaphragm, but likely would not work well. The crankcase pressure...

If you had the fuel pump out of normal positioning, it could have gotten crankcase oil behind the diaphragm. Then it would take time for it to get pushed out. If there was enough oil behind the diaphragm, it could make the pump inoperative or cut its performance. There has to be a path from...

You can cause the ethanol to separate out of your E10. Just add water. The ETOH will combine with the water and fall to the bottom of the fuel container. Decant the ethanol-free gasoline that lies atop the water and you have fuel without ethanol. Try it with a jar of fuel, adding some water...

Did you check the pattern pretty soon after starting to move the head around on the abrasive? Likely you would see an area on the side towards the pushrod chamber that was not getting shiny right away. Other areas possible. Either way, if you checked after removing the gasket remains and...

Are you sure you want to put that much into this machine? I would look on the local web to see if there were similar or adequate replacements.You might find the same model being listed complete for less than your parts list so far... How old are the drive tires? How is the tread? How are the...

Sometimes the only luck you get is bad. You went above and beyond doing the repair at no additional. It was going to happen, and you were just lucky enough that more, unfixable damage was not done. The rod bearing bit shown does not look 'good' to my old eyes. It is possible you were running...

If you actually have ZERO oil pressure, you would likely have bearing failure occur a lot sooner than rocker arm/pushrod damage. Did you connect to where the oil pressure switch is screwed in place? When it runs, does the oil filter get hot? Flowing oil would make the filter get hot enough...

Either intermittent valve sticking in the guide, or hydraulic lifter pumping up and not letting the intake valve seat could cause back puffs. Have you checked the cooling fins for any sort of blockage such as clippings or nests? Has the oil been changed regularly enough that it likely is not...

Not sure what is chattering but have had RWD mowers where the inner teeth on the wheel were worn such that after reversing manually(pulling backwards), they would not engage properly when trying to move forward. The teeth on the gears inside the gearbox are spring loaded from memory, and have...

There is an app on google play for apple & android named "engine rpm" that may give usable readings. The web site indicated is: www.tunelab-world.com/rpm The author is very responsive to queries(at least was), and likes feedback. Real Time Specialties in Hopkins, MN is the maker. Manual at...

The lifter was not allowing the oil to bleed when valve pressure was removed from the pushrod. The internals are supposed to move freely, and open the 'capture' chamber so oil can relieve the pressure. When the lobe starts to push on the lifter base, the insides move and close the relief valve...

I have had zero complaints dealing with PSEP.BIZ. Pat's Small Engine Parts. They shipped what was ordered quickly and correctly. AFAIK they have a fixed price shipping, but that may have changed. I used their 'sand blades' on a 42" AYP(Craftsman) for over 5 years with no need to sharpen...

Before reading of the altered valve lift, I was going to suggest checking the governor linkage to see that it was attempting to provide full throttle when the load increased. I would also compare valve stem height on both valves and the rocker arm mount to be sure it had not started to move out...

Unless you know differently, I would expect the relay could be designed to supply power to the hour meter when the engine is running(or the ignition switch in RUN). You may have a wiring schematic in the owners manual, might find one searching the net, and know for sure. If you want to...

If your engine does not need synthetic to protect for extreme heat or slow flow when cold, then you can use conventional oil without any problems. OTOH, if you want to spend more per oil change, synthetic is perfectly fine to use. The engine was designed with conventional oil as the...