Title should have been 18.5 Twin II Briggs & Stratton Problems
Hello,
Just wanted to poll people that work on lawnmower engines for their opinion.
I have an old MTD with a 18.5 Twin II Briggs & Stratton engine in it. I don't have time to fix it myself, so I took it into a person that came recommended by a friend and according to sources has been working on small engines for years from his garage. (Older, retired man; extra income type thing). I have another mower that I cut with, and the only reason why I wanted this one repaired is because I have a snow blower attachment for it.
The motor was leaking oil in few spots, around the heads and possibly on the shaft seal as well. It was not burning oil as far as I was able to tell by the exhaust smoke. I was fine with it in that state and changed the oil regularly. Essentially the engine had power and ran well, but was messy on the garage floor and the oil residue caused issues with drive belt slippage. What finally pushed me to do the repair was the fact that the engine started to rev up and down, which from what I know could have either been a carburetor issue or a governor issue. (Not sure, did not have time to fully diagnose it). Essentially to replace the gaskets, it looked like a motor tear-down type of a job.
So I spoke with the gentleman that is doing the repair today and he tells me he pulled the motor out. He said that the governor was broken on it and that is most likely what causing the revs to go up and down on this engine. What he suggested is that he has another motor that he would put in place of this one rather than repairing the one I have for the price of the repair that we have agreed upon.
Here is my dilemma:
1) The replacement motor is used and I have no guarantee that someone took good care of it as far as oil changes are concerned.
I have always done regular maintenance on my machines, including this one, but I acquired mine with the house purchase, so who knows how it was ran before I got it. It ran great when I had it, other than the oil leaks.
2) I don't know how many hours are on that suggested replacement motor. I'm being told that he purchased this motor with a tractor from someone that he knows and vouches that the guy takes care of his engines. (I did not ask him if it was a commercial machine or residential use. I assume the latter, but I will do that next time I speak to him).
3) He claims that since the governor broke on my engine, there could possibly be other damage to it because of it, although its not always the case. He stated this, after he asked me if the engine ever back-fired on me, which it has a few times. (Could backfire cause damage to things like push-rods, etc in these engines?).
4) He says that he will guarantee the replacement motor for a year.
5) The replacement motor is not 18.5 HP but 18 HP (I know 0.5 HP, but the question here is it a different line of motors, where one has more issues than the other, that's all). Feedback on this would be appreciated.
6) I asked him about checking the compression on the motors, and he said that he can do that, but he has been working on these engines for so long now that he knows by the sound, and he said that the replacement motor that he has for me is good.
I know that we are not talking about some expensive classic car here or anything, but I simply want to get the best bang for my buck and mitigate any risks if possible.
So what is your opinion: replace the motor or repair my original one? Thank you in advance for your help.
Had to edit the post since I got the model number of the engine wrong. Should have been "Twin II".
Hello,
Just wanted to poll people that work on lawnmower engines for their opinion.
I have an old MTD with a 18.5 Twin II Briggs & Stratton engine in it. I don't have time to fix it myself, so I took it into a person that came recommended by a friend and according to sources has been working on small engines for years from his garage. (Older, retired man; extra income type thing). I have another mower that I cut with, and the only reason why I wanted this one repaired is because I have a snow blower attachment for it.
The motor was leaking oil in few spots, around the heads and possibly on the shaft seal as well. It was not burning oil as far as I was able to tell by the exhaust smoke. I was fine with it in that state and changed the oil regularly. Essentially the engine had power and ran well, but was messy on the garage floor and the oil residue caused issues with drive belt slippage. What finally pushed me to do the repair was the fact that the engine started to rev up and down, which from what I know could have either been a carburetor issue or a governor issue. (Not sure, did not have time to fully diagnose it). Essentially to replace the gaskets, it looked like a motor tear-down type of a job.
So I spoke with the gentleman that is doing the repair today and he tells me he pulled the motor out. He said that the governor was broken on it and that is most likely what causing the revs to go up and down on this engine. What he suggested is that he has another motor that he would put in place of this one rather than repairing the one I have for the price of the repair that we have agreed upon.
Here is my dilemma:
1) The replacement motor is used and I have no guarantee that someone took good care of it as far as oil changes are concerned.
I have always done regular maintenance on my machines, including this one, but I acquired mine with the house purchase, so who knows how it was ran before I got it. It ran great when I had it, other than the oil leaks.
2) I don't know how many hours are on that suggested replacement motor. I'm being told that he purchased this motor with a tractor from someone that he knows and vouches that the guy takes care of his engines. (I did not ask him if it was a commercial machine or residential use. I assume the latter, but I will do that next time I speak to him).
3) He claims that since the governor broke on my engine, there could possibly be other damage to it because of it, although its not always the case. He stated this, after he asked me if the engine ever back-fired on me, which it has a few times. (Could backfire cause damage to things like push-rods, etc in these engines?).
4) He says that he will guarantee the replacement motor for a year.
5) The replacement motor is not 18.5 HP but 18 HP (I know 0.5 HP, but the question here is it a different line of motors, where one has more issues than the other, that's all). Feedback on this would be appreciated.
6) I asked him about checking the compression on the motors, and he said that he can do that, but he has been working on these engines for so long now that he knows by the sound, and he said that the replacement motor that he has for me is good.
I know that we are not talking about some expensive classic car here or anything, but I simply want to get the best bang for my buck and mitigate any risks if possible.
So what is your opinion: replace the motor or repair my original one? Thank you in advance for your help.
Had to edit the post since I got the model number of the engine wrong. Should have been "Twin II".
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