B&S engine, already smoking after 200 hours of use....

[turbofiat124]

So I bought this Craftsman's riding mower back in the spring of 2009 *new*. It has a 21hp engine. Not quite sure of the "type" since there are several different models but I think it's the "Intek".

First of all, anybody know right off hand the correct amount of oil this engine holds (sump and filter)?

I read on some website that this engine holds 1.75 quarts of oil. So I changed the oil and filter and added 1.75" quarts of oil and afterwards the engine started to smoke when mowing on hills (sideways).

Then someone told me this engine is supposed to hold about 1 quart and the smoking was due to over filling the engine. So which is it?

So today I was mowing and before I started the engine, I checked the level. The dipstick said it was about half a quart low. By all accounts I would have expected the oil level to be higher, not lower.

So I added some oil to the level mark.

The engine still smokes (at times) when going up inclines but worse whenever the governor kicks in or I engage the blades.

My question is if I over filled the sump did this damage the engine and is causing it to burn oil? I know over filling the sump would cause it to smoke but how could it damage the engine? I mean I guess it could hydro-lock an engine.

If I drain the oil out but not remove the filter, how much oil should drain out? I'm just trying to figure out how much oil is actually in the engine.

I'm just trying to figure out if the sump is still over filled or the engine is actually burning oil with only 200 hours on it.

 

[mechanic mark]

Post model number from under seat as well as all numbers from engine data plate, need this information to locate your engine information.

 

[bertsmobile1]

The engine will have a dip tick, should be yellow.
You check the oil level with the dip stick screwed down on Briggs
Over filling a little with oil usually does not do too much in the way of damage but will generate a lot of smoke and leak from around the dip stick grommet .
The joint between the top & bottom 1/2 of the cases is roughly the maximum oil fil.

As for going bad. I have done head gaskets on two Husqvarnas so far this season. One at 159 hours and the other at 97 hours.
Inteks have a very poor head gasket.
Where possible I always fit Stens head gaskets they seem far more robust then the original Briggs ones.

 

[motoman]

Did you read the plug insulators and tips ? Have you done a compression check? The smoke under sudden load of PTO suggests ring / bore to me. I mow on slope but no smoke( Intek 24). Perhaps not as great a slope as yours.

 

[Derek101]

The 1.75 litres is as if it is a new engine completely empty. Smoking on a slope is most often from overfill. 21hp on craftsman are very basic Briggs.

 

[Rivets]

1.75 Qts is what it calls for when you change the oil and filter. I'm betting it smokes on an incline when you have the carb on the downward side of the incline. This will be caused by oil entering the carb through the greater hose, because the engine is being tipped to far in that direction.

 

[skutflut]

So I bought this Craftsman's riding mower back in the spring of 2009 *new*. It has a 21hp engine. Not quite sure of the "type" since there are several different models but I think it's the "Intek".

First of all, anybody know right off hand the correct amount of oil this engine holds (sump and filter)?

I read on some website that this engine holds 1.75 quarts of oil. So I changed the oil and filter and added 1.75" quarts of oil and afterwards the engine started to smoke when mowing on hills (sideways).

Then someone told me this engine is supposed to hold about 1 quart and the smoking was due to over filling the engine. So which is it?

So today I was mowing and before I started the engine, I checked the level. The dipstick said it was about half a quart low. By all accounts I would have expected the oil level to be higher, not lower.

So I added some oil to the level mark.

The engine still smokes (at times) when going up inclines but worse whenever the governor kicks in or I engage the blades.

My question is if I over filled the sump did this damage the engine and is causing it to burn oil? I know over filling the sump would cause it to smoke but how could it damage the engine? I mean I guess it could hydro-lock an engine.

If I drain the oil out but not remove the filter, how much oil should drain out? I'm just trying to figure out how much oil is actually in the engine.

I'm just trying to figure out if the sump is still over filled or the engine is actually burning oil with only 200 hours on it.

Go by the dipstick...

 

[turbofiat124]

If you've been following my post about the blow head gasket. I suspect over filling the engine may have caused the head gasket to blow. But still baffles me that adding 1.75 quarts and a new filter over filled the engine. I could have sworn everytime I've changed the oil I've always ended up with slightly less than 2 quarts with a new filter.

The other day I changed the oil and filter on Dad's John Deere 26HP B&S and this time I started out with 1 quart, started the engine for a few seconds, and added oil meticulously (3 or 4 times) to make sure I did not overfill his. I ended up adding exactly 2 quarts and the level was not even at the full mark but between the full and add oil marks!

On the other hand, maybe the head gasket simply blew and the oil level had nothing to do with it.

 

[turbofiat124]

1.75 Qts is what it calls for when you change the oil and filter. I'm betting it smokes on an incline when you have the carb on the downward side of the incline. This will be caused by oil entering the carb through the greater hose, because the engine is being tipped to far in that direction.

Actually seems like when it really started smoking was when the carb side of the engine was facing uphill.

The engine was running fine then all of a sudden this big plumb of smoke came out of the muffler and the engine started knocking then died but restarted.

 

[Tinkerer200]

" I ended up adding exactly 2 quarts and the level was not even at the full mark but between the full and add oil marks!"

Might be a good time to remember that B&S engine oil level is checked with the dip stick completely inserted, screwed or pushed in.

Walt Conner