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27 hp rare Briggs craftsman riding mower from 2005. Got it from my neighbor. Apperantly he was using it and the block cracked here and gushed out all the oil. Why did this happen? Can I just Tig weld it shut and fill it back up with oil and call it good? It's a pretty rare engine and would like to salvage it if possible

rarediary said:

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It's on the backside of the motor

looks like a rod strike or a part came loose and got between the rod and case. Looks like it is pushed out from within and not just a basic crack.

That is an impact crack
some thing inside has come loose and smacked into the crank case
So yes you can weld it
No JB Weld ( or any other goop ) will not hold long term .
But you have to pull the engine down first to see what came loose and if there is internal damage

bertsmobile1 said:

That is an impact crack
some thing inside has come loose and smacked into the crank case
So yes you can weld it
No JB Weld ( or any other goop ) will not hold long term .
But you have to pull the engine down first to see what came loose and if there is internal damage

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Eh screw it then. I'm already busy rebuilding my gsxr 600. I'll just keep my eye out for a donor engine

rarediary said:

Eh screw it then. I'm already busy rebuilding my gsxr 600. I'll just keep my eye out for a donor engine

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Although I have to ask, an impact from what exactly? This is horizontal v twin. Isn't the crankshaft connected to the flywheel? What could have possibly hit inside of there

rarediary said:

Eh screw it then. I'm already busy rebuilding my gsxr 600. I'll just keep my eye out for a donor engine

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On a twin usually one of the con rods
On a single usually the counterweight
But in any case you will not know till you open the engine or poke a bore-o-scope down the cylinders and down the dip stick hole after removing the dip stick.
I thought they were a wank but use mine a lot now days
Mostly on 2 strokes I can pull the spark plug & show the customer the damage in 5 minutes rather than pulling the muffler & carb off
Had a cheap battery powered one from an auto store then bought a better one that runs off a laptop USB port
Downside is I had to get a Windoze box to run it off

bertsmobile1 said:

On a twin usually one of the con rods
On a single usually the counterweight
But in any case you will not know till you open the engine or poke a bore-o-scope down the cylinders and down the dip stick hole after removing the dip stick.
I thought they were a wank but use mine a lot now days
Mostly on 2 strokes I can pull the spark plug & show the customer the damage in 5 minutes rather than pulling the muffler & carb off
Had a cheap battery powered one from an auto store then bought a better one that runs off a laptop USB port
Downside is I had to get a Windoze box to run it off

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I use my endoscope regularly, mainly for checking condition of piston, rings, and cylinder. Very helpful tool. Still usually pull the muffler on 2-stroke for better visibility.

rarediary said:

27 hp rare Briggs craftsman riding mower from 2005. Got it from my neighbor. Apperantly he was using it and the block cracked here and gushed out all the oil. Why did this happen? Can I just Tig weld it shut and fill it back up with oil and call it good? It's a pretty rare engine and would like to salvage it if possible

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Rare? It when you get in a 60's or 70's model you start calling rare.

But either way we need the engine's model and type numbers to look-up the dang engine. It like there 100's of different engines out there on mowers. Even when you go to get for your vehicle you got know which engine is it if you are wanting engine parts.

Tiger Small Engine said:

I use my endoscope regularly, mainly for checking condition of piston, rings, and cylinder. Very helpful tool. Still usually pull the muffler on 2-stroke for better visibility.

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We digress here a bit but I do not charge for quotes so when Fred Fool walks through the gate with a no compression hand held I really do not want to waste much time on it
So it is " Probably got a stuffed bore sir , gonna cost $ xyz to fix , see what is on this screen "
They realize the machine is stuffed , most times they know why it is stuffed so they just slink back out the gate & go annoy some one else .

rarediary said:

Although I have to ask, an impact from what exactly? This is horizontal v twin. Isn't the crankshaft connected to the flywheel? What could have possibly hit inside of there

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You might want to repair it if it has some value. That crack can be gently tapped back and then TIG welded, but if it is a low-stress area you might want to experiment with some Alumaweld. I was skeptical when I ordered some but found out it really does work well.

Tornadoman said:

You might want to repair it if it has some value. That crack can be gently tapped back and then TIG welded, but if it is a low-stress area you might want to experiment with some Alumaweld. I was skeptical when I ordered some but found out it really does work well.

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The alloy in mower blocks is just not raw aluminum. I doubt alumaweld will work. A pro welder might have more 411 on this.

Tornadoman said:

You might want to repair it if it has some value. That crack can be gently tapped back and then TIG welded, but if it is a low-stress area you might want to experiment with some Alumaweld. I was skeptical when I ordered some but found out it really does work well.

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They are difficult to use on a crank case and it will probably get too hot in use and the patch will slump or simply blow out
Most melt around the 300 º C mark and go mushy around 250º C
Mower crankcases are usually an Al-Si-Cu-Fe alloy , BP 401 or whatever the US equivalent it
There are a lot of different formulas for those solders so you always have to check the melting point and safe operating temperatures before using them

rarediary said:

27 hp rare Briggs craftsman riding mower from 2005. Got it from my neighbor. Apperantly he was using it and the block cracked here and gushed out all the oil. Why did this happen? Can I just Tig weld it shut and fill it back up with oil and call it good? It's a pretty rare engine and would like to salvage it if possible

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If it is rare , what are you going to do if you just happen to need parts and cannot find any. Dont waste money on fixing it. Get an engine that has parts availability.

That could certainly be welded up but it probably has a snapped rod inside of the block. They're really not rare enough to worry about saving and it's going to cost you probably at least $125 to maybe 200 in parts just to get it back together and running.
You can buy a good used donor engine, even one you can hear run before you buy it for 100 to 200 in most areas

rarediary said:

27 hp rare Briggs craftsman riding mower from 2005. Got it from my neighbor. Apperantly he was using it and the block cracked here and gushed out all the oil. Why did this happen? Can I just Tig weld it shut and fill it back up with oil and call it good? It's a pretty rare engine and would like to salvage it if possible

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No

I agree that motor has to be torn down first to see how bad it is hurt internally But if you then decide to repair it I would give the crack a try with one of those low temperature aluminum brazing rods that they sell on the internet. They melt at a lower tmperature than aluminum with a standard small propane torch so there would be no melting of the original block that TIG welding would do .But honestly I think internally that motor has some serious damage and I would suspect that the cylinder walls are not that good either

catfish51 said:

I agree that motor has to be torn down first to see how bad it is hurt internally But if you then decide to repair it I would give the crack a try with one of those low temperature aluminum brazing rods that they sell on the internet. They melt at a lower tmperature than aluminum with a standard small propane torch so there would be no melting of the original block that TIG welding would do .But honestly I think internally that motor has some serious damage and I would suspect that the cylinder walls are not that good either

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as posted in reply # 14
They are difficult to use on a crank case and it will probably get too hot in use and the patch will slump or simply blow out
Most melt around the 300 º C mark and go mushy around 250º C
Mower crankcases are usually an Al-Si-Cu-Fe alloy , BP 401 or whatever the US equivalent it
There are a lot of different formulas for those solders so you always have to check the melting point and safe operating temperatures before using them
Extra bit
Those solders are just that solders originally designed to join fresh clean aluminium tubing in heat exchangers as found in air conditioning , fridges & freezers
They are difficult to use and require the part to e very clean before you start then to scratch through the aluminium oxide coating on the part to be joined while it is submerged under a molten blob of the solder .
Trying to do this to a rough fractured cast surface full of oil is very difficult .
In all of the demos they use it on nice clean billets that are flat & clean , not a complex 3 dimensional casting that is putrid
Electric welding of thin alloy castings is also quite difficult as you tend to blow holes
Torch welding is by far the best where you have close control over the heat in real time & can go as slow or fast as you are comfortable .
I have tried just about every rod on the market and none of them do a particularly good job & have had more then one soften & blow out of the patch.
If the little end goes then usually the engine is repairable
when the big end goes usually there will e damage to cam shaft bush as well and the block is essentially trash