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The intek 18 hp engine on my Troy Bilt mower was making noise and buring oil. My mower repair friend said the head gasket was leaking (a common problem) and the noise is from a muffler. I changed the head gasket and now I have a problem adjusting the valves to the proper specs. I have the adjusting bolt in as far as it will go and the the valve gapS are still too large (.010 and .015). What am I doing wrong or what is the problem.

You may have switched the push rods and or adjusting the valves with the piston in the wrong position.

Trout bum said:

The intek 18 hp engine on my Troy Bilt mower was making noise and buring oil. My mower repair friend said the head gasket was leaking (a common problem) and the noise is from a muffler. I changed the head gasket and now I have a problem adjusting the valves to the proper specs. I have the adjusting bolt in as far as it will go and the the valve gapS are still too large (.010 and .015). What am I doing wrong or what is the problem.

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You might check on Youtube for a video.
I do not have an Intek...I have a Kawasaki. The fist time I did it, I did it wrong.
The locking mechanism on it is a small allen screw in the middle of the bolt hard to see.
The picture in the manual was not very clear.

My long winded point.
The adjustment has to be able to work if you are doing it right....so, that means you are probably doing it wrong.
Do a search "Adjust valves on B&S engine" or such and you will find some help on Youtube.

Also make sure you actually hit the end of the tappet down in that long hole. they are easy to miss. Back up for a second. Assuming this is a single cylinder, you have lost the valve end caps. There are little caps that go over the ends of the valve stems, in which the rockers push against. Those caps missing will cause the gap problems that you are talking about.

And check that the stud they sit on is fully wound down into the head.
More a Kohler problem than an intek one but the stud does some times unscrew so when you get to the end of the thread they are still too loose.