Briggs and Stratton Intek 1450

[Fish]

Likely, very very likely, the original engine was an L-head. The O.P. likely bought a newer Intek engine from an online warehouse and
installed it himself, but ran into some trouble regarding the exhaust.

He looked up his nearest local Briggs warranty dealer, but they are not very excited about getting involved, why should they.

The way Briggs warranty is set up, it is, or at least used to be, very hard on the dealers.

Back when I first opened my shop , I had just gotten set up as a Briggs dealer, and a guy brought me a mower that was less than a month
old that he had bought from Lowes, said that he was mowing for the first time and when he got into a thicker clump of grass, he heard a whirr,
and the engine sped up then leveled off, he started pushing again, and he noticed that it was no longer cutting.

He looked down and saw the blade and part of the crankshaft at his feet. He took it to Lowes, they sent him to their regular shop, he said
there was nothing he could do about him breaking a crankshaft, as crank damage would not be covered. When he came to me, I told him
that Briggs won't cover crank damage too. He handed me the blade/crank piece and it looked pristine, not a nick anywhere, could sell the blade as a new one, looked at the mower, it was a self propelled model, but no bend on the crank.

Called Briggs, went through the same discussion with them. They told me, replace the crank, file the claim and send the parts, and we will
let you know if it will be covered or not. I asked, "What if it's not?"

"Well then you will need to collect your payment from the customer"......

I had been dumb enough to sign up as a full warranty Briggs dealer, so I had to go along with it.

 

[TheCaffeinatedOne]

Bletchh. Any suggestions for an affordable, well built replacement engine?

I had a Kawasaki on my garden tractor that did yeoman duty for 20 years until I screwed up when changing the oil - and it blew to smithereens. I replaced it with a Briggs Intek v-twin, 17 hp, and so far, so good; the motor works well. But the consistency of these Intek stories isn't making me feel warm and fuzzy. I watch the oil like a hawk and am thinking about adding more venting around the engine to keep things cool.

 

[Fish]

I am no defender of Briggs, or their Intek engines, but I am sure that there is a lot more here to this saga.....

 

[motoman]

finish it...they all went out to mow...etc (keep it clean,no limericks like , there once was a man from Kent who had a...you know what I mean)

 

[motoman]

Bletchh. Any suggestions for an affordable, well built replacement engine?

I had a Kawasaki on my garden tractor that did yeoman duty for 20 years until I screwed up when changing the oil - and it blew to smithereens. I replaced it with a Briggs Intek v-twin, 17 hp, and so far, so good; the motor works well. But the consistency of these Intek stories isn't making me feel warm and fuzzy. I watch the oil like a hawk and am thinking about adding more venting around the engine to keep things cool.

Between expressos consider adding at least a sump oil temp gauge, and/or an oil pressure gauge. I have also suggested overheat temp warning lites in this forum. I am working on an arm with a rubber hammer that strikes the operator in the noggin- like in the 3 stooges. No one is interested in the gauges.

 

[TheCaffeinatedOne]

Between expressos consider. . .

I don't think that gives me much time.

 

[Kurtis D. Davis]

Update Briggs & Stratton Warranty Claim: Well folks, after a time of about 76 days, there is still no final decision as to whether or not my warranty will be honored or voided. A request for help regarding the warranty issue was made to a factory representative on Friday, August 2, 2013, who fully agreed that time elapsed was (is) ridiculous---the man said "give me a few days to get things settled", and that was 10 days ago. Could be final word will be soon forthcoming---I'll try to keep you posted on how things turn out.

Once again, thanks to Lawn World and other individuals for help, aid, and support, made possible by this forum.

Update Briggs & Stratton Warranty Claim: OK guys, here's the latest development concerning Briggs & Stratton warranty claim---after a time of about 112 days, the authorized service dealer is offering a brand new replacement engine, which requires paying a $25.00 bench fee for evaluation of the old engine. I am inclined to accept this offer, especially because it minimizes loss and gets the matter settled. I need to be using an engine, not arguing about warranty. My loss is limited to around $150.00 cash, labor to load & unload my machine twice, labor to mount, dismount, and remount the engine, and Johnson grass about six foot tall (lot's of it).

This deal is not done yet, and I'll believe it's concluded once I return to mowing. Might be about to get the warranty claim settled up---we'll see how it goes.

 

[motoman]

So you represented yourself out of court? Sounds good.

 

[Kurtis D. Davis]

So far we have negotiated settlement out of court. If the matter ends up in court, it's just going to drag things out all the longer, and it's been well over three months already. All I ever wanted was a top quality Briggs & Stratton engine to replace the one which gave 20 years of excellent performance---no more or less. I hope to put in a final update soon. I really think the Briggs & Stratton people should review their warranty and cleaning instructions for the air cooling system---I figure the existing situation will be nothing but trouble for them. In addition to meeting definition of fraud, the manual confuses everything, because I am sure the engine failed due to overheat, brought about by over-fueling combined with friction heat from "break in". I think it over-fueled because the intake valve was open too wide, or the nonadjustable carburetor screwed up---I do not believe the air cooling system had anything to do with failure.