16 hp Vanguard smoking, leaking oil, and died.

[marinegrunt]

Hey guys....could use some help so I can get parts as soon as possible. I have a 16 hp Vanguard on a pressure washer. Started it up this morning to warm it up. Was in the gun for 5 minutes and it died. Came around the corner of the house to see it smoking. It was definitely just smoke from the oil burning and not anything else. You can see oil on each side near the bottom. I can see it leaking from head gasket down on one side and assume the other side is the same. What are the chances of both of them blowing at the same time? One side blew, overheated, and then other side blew? Is there a bigger cause? This is on my hot water machine but have only been using cold lately. Not that the hot water makes any difference with the engine side of things. I'm hoping to find out of it could just be head gaskets so I can figure out down time and make plans going forward. I'm heading home now to start tearing it down.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[marinegrunt]

Nevermind.... Got it home to look over and threw a rod.

 

[Scrubcadet10]

Oh my!
Are you planning on rebuilding or replacing?

 

[marinegrunt]

Well, it has a nice 1" hole in the crankcase. I might try and weld it and throw a new connecting rod in. I'd be tickled if I could just get enough out of it to get me into the off season. It's off a hot water pressure washer. It's an older washer so I hate to buy a new engine. I'd be better off in the long run buying a whole new pressure washer due to the cost of parts on the hot water side of the system. Either way I need to repair it to at least sell the washer.

I wish there was a used Vanguard near me. Ebay has a used crankcase for $150 but I don't have time to wait for it to come in. I might get it and rebuild the whole engine this winter or wait for a used engine locally.

I have the crank cover pulled and nothing else looks broke. Just the rod and the holes. There's a small 1/8" hole on the other side but it's up higher.

I can get a 23 hp Vanguard here by Friday through Amazon. I almost pulled the trigger but hate throwing a newer engine in this old washer.

 

[Scrubcadet10]

How does the rod journal look on the crankshaft? That may be a deciding factor in what you do.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Before you order anything pull the engine apart.
No good ordering a new case it the crank is wrecked.
If one rod went then the other would be suspect and you need to work out why it went
Low oil , reving too high, faulty governor , overheating ??????

 

[marinegrunt]

I'm not sure if it's worth fixing or not. One of the piston skirts is broke and the other is damaged even more. They run about $100 a piece too. I'll probably have $400 to $500 into and that's if I can weld the case. Not sure if I want to go that route.

 

[marinegrunt]

I guess I should ask if it's worth rebuilding before I throw in the towel. With two connecting rods, two piston sets, gasket set, and used crankcase I'd be at about $500. Everything else look okay. Is it really worth throwing that much at an engine that's 26 years old? I new engine is about $1200 but I'd probably go with the 23hp so I can eventually throw a larger pump on it. The 23hp is only $1300.

Just fyi the connecting rod is kind of "smeared" around the rod journal. I remember reading something about that on here but don't remember exactly what was said about it. Does that mean it overheated?

Any advice on the direction I should go is appreciated.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Good close photos with the camera on a stand of some sort will be needed if you want a good diagnosis.
Rod smeared around the journal is always a no oil situation.
Discolouration of the rod and in particular the little end is a good sign of overheating from say poor cooling.
Piston undersides discoloured is combustion overheating.

So for instance if the oil pump failed then the big ends and the top bush will all show smearing of the alloy while the little ends which get splash will be fine.
OTOH if the little ends are also bad then you suspect plain old low oil .

Unless you are financially strapped for cash then go for the new engine.
Usually if you take a lot of photos and put it on Craigs or similar then generally some one will want it .
A starter is near $ 100 as is an alternator so there will be some value in it for them and of course some fellas just like to take hopeless cases into the man cave and work some magic.

If you can hold off for a while , haunt the surplus engine suppliers .
Horizontals do not come up all that often and when they do the discounts are generally not that big.
Also look at things that run your engine on the second hand market.
I picked up a compressor with a rust hole in the receiver for about 1/4 the price of the 28 Hp engine hanging off it.
I bought another one where the compressor had thrown a rod & was going to make a mobile compressor for the repair van.
However both the engines ended up going to different customers mowers ( well a mower & a skid steer ) .

 

[marinegrunt]

Well, I needed to figure something so I could have a running engine by Monday. I own a pressure washing business and booked for about 3 weeks out. I just went and bought a 22hp Harbor Freight for now. I'm not really a fan of running one of those but I'm either going to fix my Vanguard or buy a new Vanguard or Honda GX. I'll then buy another pump for the HF and have a back up cold water machine.

I only saved about $350 going this route over buying a new 23hp Vanguard. That's with the extended one year warranty. I almost didn't buy it because I told them I could buy a Vanguard 23hp with a 2 warranty for not a whole lot more. The manager told me that with the HF one year warranty I just have to bring it back every year and swap it out for a new one. I just have to buy a new one year warranty each time for $150. I gave him a weird look and said, "what"? I don't see myself doing that because it doesn't seem right but at least I'm covered for a year and, more importantly, will be up and running by tomorrow.

I'll get some pictures posted of the Vanguard. There's nothing left of the bottom 3/4 of the connecting rod. It got ground up to little pieces. I'll have to pull the oil pump apart and take a look before I even consider fixing it. After pulling the crank cover this morning I jumped the gun and ordered connecting rods and a gasket set. I'm about $150 in right now. I can't believe pistons are $100 a piece. That's crazy! At least I have some time to think about things now. I'll still post some pictures to get some advice. I might sell this hot water pressure washer this winter so wouldn't mind getting the old engine up and going. Even if I sell it I want it to be done right though so it's good to go for whoever buys it.

Just last week I came across a 16hp Vanguard with low hours out of a zero turn. I messaged him first thing in the morning. He said he had one guy ahead of me coming to look at it. I was just going to pick it up just in case. He had it listed for $120 too! Just my luck...lol

I do have one question about a electrical hookup for my hot water system. Coming from the hot water control board there are two wires that are spliced into two wires coming off of the voltage regulator. I believe it's getting ac to power the transformer or igniter for the burner. My question is are those two yellow wires coming off of the voltage regulator the same or is one like positive and one negative? I would assume they would be different colors if so. On the HF engine the two wires are both blue. I'm just wondering if it matters which wire gets spliced into what? Both the wires running from the pressure washer control box are black so I assume it doesn't matter which one goes where.

Thanks!