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I have a Craftsman 42" lawn tractor with what I believe is a 24HP B&S 441777 motor in it.
Was running it last night, when motor started making weird "squeaking" sounds and losing power.
Unfortunately, and I'm ashamed to say... I left it run low on oil causing Lord knows what catastrophes .
Letting things cool down and refilling with fresh oil, the motor turns over freely but without compression and still has that "squeaking" sound.
My motorcycling experience would suggest a blown head gasket.
Checking the oil after spinning the motor over , it showed a slightly grayish tint to it on the dipstick.
That would suggest a connecting rod bearing failure, but not sure.
I have not tried to investigate further, as I have never worked on these newer OHV type motors.
Basically wondering whether I should even bother; if the repairs costs will equal what I could buy another good used runner for.
What have other folks encountered under these circumstances ??
TIA for your advice.

Try this quick test to possibly confirm your thoughts. Unscrew the dipstick and allow it to freely rest on the tube. Start the engine and watch the dipstick. If it starts jumping around you’ve confirmed that you have a blown head gasket. Replacing a head gasket on OHV engines for those with moderate mechanical ability and good reading skills. Let us know what you find and be sure you include all three enginE numbers, model, type and code.

Hi Rivets,
Thanks for the reply. I posted this while at work, so was writing from memory.
Will try your suggestion with the dipstick when I get home tonight as well as jot down pertinent motor numbers.
I'm self a self employed machinist with wrenching on vintage British motorcycles as one of my bad (masochistic?) habits.
So I like to think I have moderate mechanical ability and experience with replacing head gaskets on OHV motors. Just not THESE.
And I only read after I make a mistake and need to figure out what went wrong. LOL
Will report back tomorrow.
Cheers

If there's no compression the head gasket is the least of your problems

That's what I'm afraid of. But we'll see what we can see....

That all depends on how bad the gasket is blown. I’ve seen 0% compression due to a bad gasket.

It's that "squeaking" sound I hear when spinning it over. That's characteristic of a bad head gasket, at least in my experience anyway.
I will investigate a bit further tonight.

OK Mr. Rivets I did the dipstick trick, and as you predicted.....it bounced around as the motor was spinning.
So, that would indicate that the crankcase is being pressurized by at least one piston. I hope both.
Also, the motor spins freely with no knocking.
You asked for the motor ID numbers....
Model-445677
Type- 0827 E1
Code- 070502TG

I see if I can find a service manual for you?

Rivets, thanks for your help.
If you know where there is a downloadable PDF version of the manual, that would be a real time saver.
How about a parts book or at least diagrams ?
Also, would there be a gasket set available ? I looked on evilbay, but not sure which set would be applicable.
I really don't want to junk the mower and run around trying to find another, if it's just a head gasket.

Start here. https://www.partstree.com/models/445677-0827-e1-briggs-stratton-vertical-engine

Top off the oil to the FULL mark. Not above and not below. Read this again.

Do this prior to EVERY MOW. Only takes about 4 seconds people. Not over taxing at all to the body.

Walk the yard PRIOR to mowing. This will save blades and other related items if you were to hit a log chain for example.

Your mower will be fine. It's probably a Briggs and will run on a tablespoon of oil LOL. Let us know what you find.

Slomo, You are totally correct. And I admit, I got lazy. Now I'm paying the price.
Same with walking the yard.
No log chains in mine, but one sliver of firewood hiding in the weeds was enough to take out a deck spindle bearing when it locked up the blades.
And I hope you're correct about the tablespoon of oil, as that's about what was in it when it quit.

Rivets said:

Try this quick test to possibly confirm your thoughts. Unscrew the dipstick and allow it to freely rest on the tube. Start the engine and watch the dipstick. If it starts jumping around you’ve confirmed that you have a blown head gasket. Replacing a head gasket on OHV engines for those with moderate mechanical ability and good reading skills. Let us know what you find and be sure you include all three enginE numbers, model, type and code.

Click to expand...

If the head gasket was fine, what would the dip stick do? And what would make it jump around if the head gasket was bad?

Blown gasket between cylinder and valve enclosure will increase pressure in the crankcase and cause the dipstick to bounce. Simple test when you are in the field and need to quickly diagnose the problem for the customer without tearing into the engine. Very little bounce if the gasket is fine.

I have a gasket set on order and should be here in a couple of days.
If I get home in time tonight, I'll start top end disassembly. Blown head gaskets should be readily apparent.
I'll report back with my findings.

Check the head and block gasket surface for flatness. Nearly every head I've removed for what ever reason, the sucker was warped. Same with the block. Little plate glass and some 400 grit wet/dry action.

Don't just toss on a new gasket. Then wonder why they are on their fourth head gasket job....

Slomo. Thanks for the FYI. Good advice. I have experience with old motorcycle carbs where the mating flange warped over time allowing air to get sucked in. So the SOP is to tape some good wet or dry sandpaper onto plate glass or better yet, a machine shop surface plate and lap them in. Since my motor most likely overheated, its quite likely that at least the heads warped blowing the gaskets.
I can only hope that is the extent of the damage !

Bricklinguy said:

Since my motor most likely overheated,

Click to expand...

I would agree. Still should be correctable with little effort.

Lawd, I hope so.

We have a 2008 F150 at work. Intake manifold leaked and sucked 2 gallons of coolant from the cooling system. Had no heat in the winter. Ford Fleet shop said we were 2 gallons low. Only holds like 2-2.5 gallons total LOL. The other day I put 4 quarts of oil in her. She would rattle on initial startup. She holds like 6 quarts total.

Bet the oil looked like a chocolate shake. lol

No it was clean as new with 4 fresh quarts added LOL.

Rivets said:

Blown gasket between cylinder and valve enclosure will increase pressure in the crankcase and cause the dipstick to bounce. Simple test when you are in the field and need to quickly diagnose the problem for the customer without tearing into the engine. Very little bounce if the gasket is fine.

Click to expand...

Thanks you.

PTmowerMech said:

Thanks you.

Click to expand...

Never heard of an engine “squeaking” with a blown head gasket. Oil burning, smoking, loss of compression, lack of power, hard starting, but never “squeaking or squeeling”.

Seen it many times when the gasket has blown a small hole on the outer edge, sounds like it’s whistling.

Rivets said:

Seen it many times when the gasket has blown a small hole on the outer edge, sounds like it’s whistling.

Click to expand...

Guy brought me a Kohler command twin that ran fine but whistled when cranking. Another shop said it needed a $300 carb. Was a blown head gasket.

Hammermechanicman said:

Guy brought me a Kohler command twin that ran fine but whistled when cranking. Another shop said it needed a $300 carb. Was a blown head gasket.

Click to expand...

Some shops just don't have a clue. They'll spend 2 hours replacing the wrong parts just to save 10 minutes of diagnosis.

Many years ago when Dell was getting started. My company contracted to do 3 third party service on their business computers. Parts were always overnighted to the customer and we were to just install them. We were not allowed to troubleshoot. Only change parts that 9 out of ten times didn't fix it. Best part is when they would send out a blank HDD with instructions for us to reinstall the OEM OS which we didn't have. The whole thing an absolute cluster. Dell making promises we couldn't keep and our upper management bitching that we were spending too much time on Dell stuff and not OUR customers. After a year they finally terminated the Dell contract.
We asked Dell why we were not allowed to troubleshoot their PCs they said we weren't qualified. We had to laugh because we had been maintaining high end windows and linux based print servers and our own PCs for years. Can't fix corporate stupid.

Hammermechanicman said:

Many years ago when Dell was getting started. My company contracted to do 3 third party service on their business computers. Parts were always overnighted to the customer and we were to just install them. We were not allowed to troubleshoot. Only change parts that 9 out of ten times didn't fix it. Best part is when they would send out a blank HDD with instructions for us to reinstall the OEM OS which we didn't have. The whole thing an absolute cluster. Dell making promises we couldn't keep and our upper management bitching that we were spending too much time on Dell stuff and not OUR customers. After a year they finally terminated the Dell contract.
We asked Dell why we were not allowed to troubleshoot their PCs they said we weren't qualified. We had to laugh because we had been maintaining high end windows and linux based print servers and our own PCs for years. Can't fix corporate stupid.

Click to expand...

Good to know on the squealing and whistling blown head gasket. I will remember that information for in the future.

Bricklinguy said:

I have a Craftsman 42" lawn tractor with what I believe is a 24HP B&S 441777 motor in it.
Was running it last night, when motor started making weird "squeaking" sounds and losing power.
Unfortunately, and I'm ashamed to say... I left it run low on oil causing Lord knows what catastrophes .
Letting things cool down and refilling with fresh oil, the motor turns over freely but without compression and still has that "squeaking" sound.
My motorcycling experience would suggest a blown head gasket.
Checking the oil after spinning the motor over , it showed a slightly grayish tint to it on the dipstick.
That would suggest a connecting rod bearing failure, but not sure.
I have not tried to investigate further, as I have never worked on these newer OHV type motors.
Basically wondering whether I should even bother; if the repairs costs will equal what I could buy another good used runner for.
What have other folks encountered under these circumstances ??
TIA for your advice.

Click to expand...

That grayish tint on the dipstick, when you ran it low on oil, the rings scarred the cylinder walls. The motor is screwed.

That squeaking noise is the aluminum connecting rod seizing to the cast iron crankshaft. These small engines have no bearing inserts. It will most likely weld itself to the crank soon and the connecting rod will snap. Or it could have possibly broken one rod already, which would account for no compression on one cylinder. They will run on one cylinder and you may not be able to hear much difference in the exhaust note. Pull the spark plugs to see if one piston is not moving.

I just did a quick search for "B&S 441777 manual" and found owner's manual, parts diagrams, etc. You should be able to find them too.

Ass others have said ,head gaskets are relevant at this point and they never lose enough compression to actually cause them not to run because they will be a mosquito fogger way before that.
The gray metallic in the oil will only be seen in an engine when it's brand new because of everything polishing and burnishing itself together from the initial wear in but it won't be nearly as extreme as when one is run low on oil.

I tell customers all the time to keep your Briggs and Stratton v-twins. Completely all the way to the full mark! I tell them even slightly over full is better than being slightly under full. Just keep it no more than 3/16 of an inch which is basically don't go above the tip of the arrow but above the full line is fine.
I don't even feel comfortable at one of these engines running at the minimum the safe mark because these engines will snap a rod in a heartbeat when they're low on oil.
They will do it old they will do it new.

Low performance little turds as I call them that are typically very forgiving but since they skimped out and didn't put actual rod bearing inserts in there to wear and take the abuse and save the crank at least some, as soon as they get low on oil and lose their cushion film, the aluminum starts to weld itself to the crank and smears off and gets all gummy and quickly locks up so it snaps the rod in half.

You can use muriatic acid to eat the aluminum off the crank but don't let it touch anything else on the block or basically anything else but plastic or concrete you want to clean but you can clean up a crank this way and even polish it with fine sandpaper or even wet sanded and usually we use it with no problems.

When you take both spark plugs out and watch with a flashlight or use a straw or a wooden dowel to stick in there or just put your finger over the spark plug hole and spend the engine over by hand or with the starter... what you will likely find is only one piston is going up and down.

If you're doing the work yourself and only if you can save the crank is it worth fixing financially.
Otherwise buying the crank, the rod and the gasket that you'll probably need if the old one tears at all will cost more than you could just go buy a used good engine off another mower for or even by a hole mower that just won't start and run because the carb is clogged up or one that runs but has a bad transmission or won't drive.

That's the only cost-effective way to fix a mower that has an internal engine problem UNLESS you have a bunch of old engines and old Parts sitting around that you can scavenge the parts you need from.

OK, I finally had some time to start pulling all the bits off the top end to see what I can see.
And what I see ain't good at all .
Went so far as to remove the rocker covers and pulling the plugs.
First thing that ain't right is, the rockers don't move at all on either cylinder. Second thing is, only one piston is moving.
Sooo, one rod is definitely broke, and I don't know what to say about the valves not moving.
Either a broken cam shaft or a timing gear ??
Not going any further, as obviously there's serious damage and probably not worth fixing.