Engine shakes while engaging blades

[JimP2014]

THAT is definitely blown. No question.

Now is the fun part. You must clean and lap the head and area on the block where the new gasket sits. I use 220 grit wet/dry paper on the garage door window. Go to 400 then 800 grit. Let the paper do ALL THE WORK. Don't press hard and rotate the head around while lapping.

Also get some high tack gasket spray and fog the gasket. Torque the bolts after mowing a few times.
View attachment 71297

OK I will take your advice on this. The good news is it starts right up and I ran it for a few laps. I guessed on the valve clearance. I did not follow any torque for head. I just wanted to see it does work and it does. So I have no problem taking it apart again, I did scrape pretty good with a sharp putty knife and also used steel wool. The spark plug was black. Luckily I have at least 3 of everything now. I am ordering a feeler gauge with large numbers. But I will admit something sounds "metally" when the blades are on. I made a few passes shut it down and restarted it then shut it down. I will have to read up on this spray. The place where the gasket broke is like classic from what I am reading and seeing. But this spray you add besides the metal head gasket? I have to brand new ones left over. Also I hope to make a movie of it running, but it sounds great when idling at 3/4 throttle.

Thanks,
Jim

 

[JimP2014]

That white fog looks to be atomized fuel. As in the needle and seat not sealing proper.

Is this message for me regarding the head gasket?

 

[JimP2014]

NO other than just getting around that piece which is not easy to do. I hope to get that metal shroud off is very easy?

here's the video new head gasket so it's just idling although it does cut but I need to get it really cleaned up better than what it is right now.

 

[JimP2014]

Briggs and Stratton 31P677-3373-G2 <--- for this engine I see #54 as being the intake manifold bolts. And that is #54 in the diagram and then that becomes this:​

Briggs and Stratton Screw​

691148

I believe this screw is 7/8" long? When putting the intake mainfold back on the engine I had mxed up a bunch of screws and I was afraid the ones I choose would be to long and damage the engine block. Since everything seems to run fine now with the new head gasket ( but no hi-temp spray yet on head gasket ). They were mixed in a pile of screws for the valve cover ( I think ). Obviously I can't just add screws into engine block and for the intake manifold as I please, but part # 691148 seems corrct? And then from there the threads are 7/8" long? I saw one ad that had 1 x 7 x 8 , not sure if this is the correct dimensions if you simply go to a hardware store and buy 2 of those? I will back those 2 out of the engine block in a few hours and see if those are correct? I got to the point where the job was complete and then I was confronted with using 2 bolts for the intake manifold or not to use them in fear of damaging the block - I choose to use them. So far everything seems OK but I am not positive on this.

Thanks,
Jim

 

[bentrim]

Blown head gasket a common problem on Breaks & Scrapem singles especially the 28 and 31 cube engines. Some overeducated engineer thought they did not need a headbolt in the pushrod area and therefore it is a long distance between the two head bolts.
Quickest way to check for a blown gasket is to remove the crancase vent hose from the air inlet and if you see crnkcase vapors coming out, somtimes just removing the air filter and looking down the intake neck you will see oil in the bottom -- you have a blown gasket.

 

[JimP2014]

Blown head gasket a common problem on Breaks & Scrapem singles especially the 28 and 31 cube engines. Some overeducated engineer thought they did not need a headbolt in the pushrod area and therefore it is a long distance between the two head bolts.
Quickest way to check for a blown gasket is to remove the crancase vent hose from the air inlet and if you see crnkcase vapors coming out, somtimes just removing the air filter and looking down the intake neck you will see oil in the bottom -- you have a blown gasket.

Thank you for this additional information I can tell you that when I was looking at the engine block on the lower right there was a puddle of oil kind of and I just needed to clean it up with a rag and the lower right is the intake this engine.
Jim

 

[JimP2014]

Thank you for this additional information I can tell you that when I was looking at the engine block on the lower right there was a puddle of oil kind of and I just needed to clean it up with a rag and the lower right is the intake this engine.
Jim

I mean with the cylinder head off alrready.

 

[JimP2014]

But one thing I did notice is that the last time I replaced the cylinder head gasket was about one year ago. So the question is one year is about average? Or possibly something I did that shortened the longevity of the cylinder head gasket? I can't recall the author above but using that 'copper' spray would increase the longevity I imagine?

 

[RevB]

Hello prior to posting this message I read numerous things about what could be wrong with when I engaged the mower deck blades the engine starts shaking and runs erratically.

But the question I have is can I remove both blades and go through all the same procedure engaging the PTO clutch and see if the engine shakes I mean is it okay to run the engine for 15-20 seconds without blades?

But it's an lt2000 42-in cutting with a 19.5 horsepower OHV engine.

I want to remove both blades to see if I can figure out if two sets of blades are both unbalanced there's some other thing going on.

Thanks,
Jim

Full throttle?

 

[JimP2014]

Full throttle?

I posted this about blades removal and then engaging the PTO because I could not figure out why the mower deck and the engine has shaking so much. I wanted to quickly get the blades out of the equation without having to mess with anything else. However the problem was a head gasket that caused other problems to surface. Once I fixed the head gasket the other problems never surfaced, and I suppose technically they are not problems at all. So I spent 2 weeks fixing a problem that did not exist, but hell I learned alot about the mower deck.