Briggs broke rod

[Stryped]

I have a John Deere z655 54HC that was given to me last year by my dad when he got a new one. The only issue he had with it while he owned it was an oil leak. He had the John Deere dealer fix it. Well, it happened again so he gave to me. I mowed with it last year and it ran great, I just had to put oil in it before mowing. I pulled it in the garage a few months ago and replaced the sump gasket. (A known problem). That fixed the leak but that very same day when first mowing with it it broke a rod. It actually still ran though.
The engine is a Briggs, 27 HP 44Q9 77 0113 G5. I priced a new engine at 1200 bucks. I have a daughter about to go to law school and a son a senior in high school so to say funds are a little tight is an understatement. I have also looked on marketplace for used engines. I found a 21 horsepower van guard with the same shaft size for $100 bucks but am a little afraid of it being powerful enough and also they had it running on starting fluid so I am not sure what the real condition of the motor is.
That being said I am a shade tree mechanic and years ago did repair a small tiller engine with a thrown rod. It worked out ok. I also attempted this with another previous lawn mower with a thrown rod many years ago and it smoked like a freight train as soon as I started it. I ended up giving it away.

I have pulled this engine apart. The crank had some melted aluminum from the broken rod but I was able to get most of it off with muriatic acid. I am thinking of buying a used rod/piston on eBay and maybe a new set of rings. Would I be crazy to rebuild this cheaply? I am checking the dimensions as I have time. So far everything looked ok but for some reason the camshaft journals were under sized compared to spec.

The mower ran really well last year. When it broke the rod this year, the compression on the good cylinder was 130. It would actually run on that cylinder alone.

 

[sgkent]

did the broken rod hit the bore, case or anything else?

 

[Stryped]

No. I see no other damage other than destroyed rod and piston.

 

[Rivets]

My two cents worth won’t be much help, but I’ll throw it out there anyway. In my opinion it will all rest on how much of a gambling man are you. Buying an undersized engine or rebuilding the old one, will either make you look like a genius or a fool. In either case you have a 50/50 chance. Buying used you don’t have any idea of the internal condition or it’s placed use. It was removed for a reason. Will it last???? Rebuilding one partial area of an engine always carries the caveat, will something else go wrong? Will it last??? The first question I always ask the customer who asks what to do, “If it only lasts for one season, will it be worth the investment to you?” You’re the only one who can answer that question.

 

[Stryped]

My two cents worth won’t be much help, but I’ll throw it out there anyway. In my opinion it will all rest on how much of a gambling man are you. Buying an undersized engine or rebuilding the old one, will either make you look like a genius or a fool. In either case you have a 50/50 chance. Buying used you don’t have any idea of the internal condition or it’s placed use. It was removed for a reason. Will it last???? Rebuilding one partial area of an engine always carries the caveat, will something else go wrong? Will it last??? The first question I always ask the customer who asks what to do, “If it only lasts for one season, will it be worth the investment to you?” You’re the only one who can answer that question.

I will say I tend to keep and repair everything I own. I once had a truck with 370,000 miles on it. This is the nicest mower I own. I really just can not afford a 1000 dollar engine and it looks like I will be watching every penny for the next 5 years or so untill kids complete school.
I do have two other mowers, one is a non zero turn John Deere. It is in decent shape but it is terribly slow. I live in the country and have a large rough yard. It takes me two hours to just mow going as fast as I can with the zero turn.

 

[Tinkerer200]

First off the crank journal has to be perfect, getting "most" of the metal transfer off doesn't cut it. There may be scoring under the remaining deposit. Also, check the camshaft bearing journals in the block, these sometimes get cracked. Also the camshaft. About 1 in five of these engines I have gotten after throwing a rod is rebuildable.

As for the sticker saying the Vanguard is a lesser hp. doesn't amount to much. The engine model number you gave has been sticker rated from 22 hp up. The Vanguard is a much better engine when new but running it on Starter Fluid is not good and may foretell carburetor trouble and who knows what else. Running it for any length of time on starter fluid may score the cylinder walls. I would want to examine it in person and it being running on gasoline at the time.

Walt Conner

 

[Stryped]

Typically when one of these is not rebuildable, what typically is wrong with them to make them that way?
I am not done working on crank.
Are the bearings in the block the cam rides in replaceable?

 

[Rivets]

No bearings, just aluminum bushings. You’ll be able to see very quickly if they are bad.

 

[bertsmobile1]

I will say I tend to keep and repair everything I own. I once had a truck with 370,000 miles on it. This is the nicest mower I own. I really just can not afford a 1000 dollar engine and it looks like I will be watching every penny for the next 5 years or so untill kids complete school.
I do have two other mowers, one is a non zero turn John Deere. It is in decent shape but it is terribly slow. I live in the country and have a large rough yard. It takes me two hours to just mow going as fast as I can with the zero turn.

In this case fitting a smaller would be a no no
IF you want to cut quick then you need to replace it with the same size or bigger
I have not checked the 3 usual suspects for cheap engines
Small Engine warehouse
Small Engine suppliers
the Surplus centre
Usually they have very cheap engines but right now as last season engines were in short supply there will not be as much stock and what they have will be at a higher price
Any 44 series B & S engine will drop strait in & hook strait up
Usually ones with smaller alternators are a lot cheaper which is good because they all interchange so you can swap yours over .

As for being financially overstretched that is your problem
You have just gotten better than $ 100 worth of information for free from the web
FWIW I worked a full time night shift , payed board to my parents while I was at college
It taught me the value of money & hard work plus self reliance , three things they don't teach in college

 

[Tinkerer200]

Well maybe I used the wrong terminology. I should have said "Not practical" to repair. A couple of big things is cracked camshaft bearing tower in the block and damage to the cylinder typically at the bottom in these cases, damage to the governor spindle and or the engine casting holding the governor shaft. In my case, I was always interested in what profit I could make rebuilding an engine. It has been a few years since I was rebuilding engines but at that time a new piston for that engine was around $40, connecting rod $40, gasket set $35 plus you will want to replace the crankshaft seals first thing you know there is no profit. All that is assuming the crankshaft can be cleaned up, the block isn't cracked, the cylinder scored and camshaft is OK. Each thing adds to the cost unless you have a supply of downer engines which I did.

Walt Conner

Typically when one of these is not rebuildable, what typically is wrong with them to make them that way?
I am not done working on crank.
Are the bearings in the block the cam rides in replaceable?