B&S 19.5 HP, Single, Broken Cam?
- Thread starter DaveTN
- Start date
UPDATE: I pulled the oil sump / oil pan and lifted it off careful not to damage the lower crankshaft seal. I cleaned and lubed the lower crankshaft and eased it off. However the pan gasket was toast since it was glued on at the factory. What I found was a perfectly intact, new looking camshaft! When I tried to remove the Intake Lifter it wouldn't budge. (That was the original problem...the intake pushrod wouldn't move and the rocker arm was dangling and the tower bolt was backed out about 3 or 4 turns, so we all assumed a worn lobe) I put the pushrod back in and pushed first one way and the other and finally broke it loose! The exhaust lifter came right out with no problem. It seems to me there was an awful lot of play in the push rods side to side. On the top end where the push rods exists the block there are two black plastic square bushings. It doesn't keep the push rods in line at all. The only thing I can come up with troubleshooting why the intake side failed is that the rocker arm tower had backed out about 1/4" and that would give enough play for the rocker arm to come off the push rod. Why the intake lifter stuck off the lobe and in the bore is anybody's guess. Varnish deposits? Any ideas?
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I'm going back together with it now and have the camshaft in and the intake and exhaust valves roughly set tight enough to hold some tension on them for a final adjustment in the morning. Scraping that old gasket material off the engine and oil pan took the longest time. I like to pull an engine through a few rotations by hand before I fire it off, just to see if anything is amiss. Hopefully the oil pan, gasket, cam, governor and oil pump shaft etc. will all line up the first time. We'll see if she fires off and runs tomorrow!
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