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Craftsman T1600 Riding Mower Blows blueish smoke

Apr 13, 2022#1

Craftsman Garage

I got a craftsman T1600 yesterday and coming home, I noticed that it was smoking whitish/bluish smoke after it runs for 2 minutes, I'm not really sure what the problem is
the seller said he had just replaced the spark plug, and changed the oil, not including the filter. any help appreciated!
- The Craftsman Mower Lover Lanerdude9

Apr 13, 2022#2

PTmowerMech

Briggs engine? Kohler? What is the model number of the engine?

Blue-ish smoke is oil burning. Oil in the cylinder when the gas ignites. Could be rings, head gasket or valves, I'd start with a compression test then a leak-down test.

Apr 13, 2022#3

Craftsman Garage

PTmowerMech said:
Briggs engine? Kohler? What is the model number of the engine?

Blue-ish smoke is oil burning. Oil in the cylinder when the gas ignites. Could be rings, head gasket or valves, I'd start with a compression test then a leak-down test.

briggs

Apr 13, 2022#4

Craftsman Garage

lanerdude9 said:
briggs

I will never in my life buy a Kohler engine

Apr 13, 2022#5

R

Rivets

Depending on which Briggs you have, the first thing I would check is a blown head gasket.

Apr 13, 2022#6

sgkent

drain the oil, put in clean oil of the correct viscosity to the correct level and try again. If an engine gets over filled, tipped on its side, lots of things, it can burn oil for awhile. Oil spilled into an exhaust takes time to burn out. If the engine was tight or low on compression, he could have put oil into the cylinder to raise the compression temporarially, then the oil got pushed into the exhaust where it is burning off. It is a used engine, right? Or maybe that is why he sold it. Or maybe he got it cheap and flipped it with a quick fix. As others have said, a blown head gasket into the crankcase can cause it too.

You also said, "coming home." Did you drive it down the road or across fields coming home? How far and how long? Is it designed to be pushed that hard and long?

Apr 13, 2022#7

A

artemjemmy

lanerdude9 said:
I got a craftsman T1600 yesterday and coming home, I noticed that it was smoking whitish/bluish smoke after it runs for 2 minutes, I'm not really sure what the problem is
the seller said he had just replaced the spark plug, and changed the oil, not including the filter. any help appreciated!
- The Craftsman Mower Lover Lanerdude9

After you've run the mower for a while, getting it nice and hot, stop it and remove the dipstick. Do you see a white-ish smoke slowly coming out? This is a telltale sign of a blown head gasket, or very excessive cylinder blow-by.

Apr 13, 2022#8

A

artemjemmy

Also before we get too far, check that the engine just isn't overfilled with oil.

Apr 16, 2022#9

VRR.DYNDNS>BIZ

artemjemmy said:
Also before we get too far, check that the engine just isn't overfilled with oil.

and that it is the proper stuff, as to thin or gas diluted can cause blue smoke. ALSO breather issue or clogged air filter will cause blue smoke from high flow out breather which then carries oil. Most common immediate sign, is oil in the cavity behind the air filter heading to the carb. Lack of this may not be a reason to negate the breather issue.

Apr 18, 2022#10

Craftsman Garage

sgkent said:
drain the oil, put in clean oil of the correct viscosity to the correct level and try again. If an engine gets over filled, tipped on its side, lots of things, it can burn oil for awhile. Oil spilled into an exhaust takes time to burn out. If the engine was tight or low on compression, he could have put oil into the cylinder to raise the compression temporarially, then the oil got pushed into the exhaust where it is burning off. It is a used engine, right? Or maybe that is why he sold it. Or maybe he got it cheap and flipped it with a quick fix. As others have said, a blown head gasket into the crankcase can cause it too.

You also said, "coming home." Did you drive it down the road or across fields coming home? How far and how long? Is it designed to be pushed that hard and long?

our house was 5 mins away, we drove slow on a road

Apr 18, 2022#11

Craftsman Garage

artemjemmy said:
After you've run the mower for a while, getting it nice and hot, stop it and remove the dipstick. Do you see a white-ish smoke slowly coming out? This is a telltale sign of a blown head gasket, or very excessive cylinder blow-by.

yep, we ordered a head gasket

Apr 18, 2022#12

Craftsman Garage

artemjemmy said:
After you've run the mower for a while, getting it nice and hot, stop it and remove the dipstick. Do you see a white-ish smoke slowly coming out? This is a telltale sign of a blown head gasket, or very excessive cylinder blow-by.

Yes i do

Apr 18, 2022#13

Craftsman Garage

so, when I get the head gasket sometime tomorrow, is there anything I should look out for or do or be careful about?

Apr 18, 2022#14

B

bertsmobile1

Try to avoid removing the muffler from the head
Muffler bolts are prone to breaking which turns a 2 hour job into an all day nightmare.
Pull the carb off at the manifold, replace the O ring but don't touch any of the linkages , just lay it aside .
If there are signs of the leaking gasses eroding a channel in either the head or cylinder then lap them with some wet & dry on a sheet of glass or a concrete finishers /plasteres float \
The surface is not flat as they are cut with a flycutter rough in a mill deliberately to grip the gasket .

Apr 19, 2022#15

Craftsman Garage

bertsmobile1 said:
Try to avoid removing the muffler from the head
Muffler bolts are prone to breaking which turns a 2 hour job into an all day nightmare.
Pull the carb off at the manifold, replace the O ring but don't touch any of the linkages , just lay it aside .
If there are signs of the leaking gasses eroding a channel in either the head or cylinder then lap them with some wet & dry on a sheet of glass or a concrete finishers /plasteres float \
The surface is not flat as they are cut with a flycutter rough in a mill deliberately to grip the gasket .

all right

Apr 20, 2022#16

Craftsman Garage

so, yesterday I replaced the head gasket and at first, I couldn't see where the leak was, but then I found this...

Apr 20, 2022#17

Craftsman Garage

lanerdude9 said:
so, yesterday I replaced the head gasket and at first, I couldn't see where the leak was, but then I found this...

I found the leak, and I DID have to take the exhaust off, but honestly, the hardest part of this WHOLE repair was getting the OHV COVER OFF?, the head bolts weren't hard to get off and the exhaust bolts were a piece of cake. I started it late at night and I noticed it does have a slight more -bang- to the sound, but I adjusted the valves with a feeler gauge. I set the bottom to 0.04 and the top to 0.06, she works great now with no more smoking!!!!!!!

Apr 20, 2022#18

R

Rivets

Thank you for letting us know.

Apr 20, 2022#19

Craftsman Garage

Rivets said:
Thank you for letting us know.

do you think the banging noise is a problem? I'm guessing it's just cuz I'm used to it running on valves gapped at 0.09

Apr 20, 2022#20

R

Rivets

Because I can’t hear it, there is no way I can answer that question. Sorry.

Apr 20, 2022#21

Craftsman Garage

Rivets said:
Because I can’t hear it, there is no way I can answer that question. Sorry.

this is what it sounds like

Apr 20, 2022#22

R

Rivets

First thing I hear is an engine which is running no where close to 3000 RPMs. At the speed it’s running there is not way to tell what is wrong. Edit, By the title of your thread, I thought you were talking about a riding mower? Unless I’ve lost everything, that engine is on an elcheapo push mower. Why am I so whacked out, or just a stupid old fart???

Apr 20, 2022#23

B

bertsmobile1

So you had a siliconed rocker cover obviously
I hope you put a gasket in there rather than more glue
The gaskets rarely ever leak and being a major job to take the siliconed cover off, no one bothers to adjust the valve lash
As the engine was not getting a full charge due to the broken head gasket it will not sound as loud as it will when you have both a full charge & full compression.

Apr 21, 2022#24

Craftsman Garage

bertsmobile1 said:
So you had a siliconed rocker cover obviously
I hope you put a gasket in there rather than more glue
The gaskets rarely ever leak and being a major job to take the siliconed cover off, no one bothers to adjust the valve lash
As the engine was not getting a full charge due to the broken head gasket it will not sound as loud as it will when you have both a full charge & full compression.

yeah, I put a gasket on THIS time, it took me hours to get the OHV valve cover off

Apr 21, 2022#25

Craftsman Garage

Rivets said:
First thing I hear is an engine which is running no where close to 3000 RPMs. At the speed it’s running there is not way to tell what is wrong. Edit, By the title of your thread, I thought you were talking about a riding mower? Unless I’ve lost everything, that engine is on an elcheapo push mower. Why am I so whacked out, or just a stupid old fart???

haha, no, that was just a video I found on what it sounded like, it IS a riding lawn mower

Apr 21, 2022#26

Craftsman Garage

lanerdude9 said:
haha, no, that was just a video I found on what it sounded like, it IS a riding lawn mower

I didn't take the video

Apr 21, 2022#27

sgkent

"help me diagnosis my engine. I attach a video of some other guys mower." Am I reading this right?

Apr 21, 2022#28

R

Rivets

I hope not, but I think we both are. That video is about as useful and the mower it is showing. Yes, I think I answered my own question, I’m loosing it.

Apr 21, 2022#29

Craftsman Garage

and now when I crank it over with the key it will turn a bit, but then stop, and the solenoid makes a squealing noise

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Craftsman T1600 Riding Mower Blows blueish smoke

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