My 16-year-old GCV160 that had around 800 hours on it went out on me last year, I changed out the rings and seals, and it has been running strong for around 50 hours now. It’ll be interesting to see how long the factory bore will hold up.
The engine lasted through two transmissions before I needed to put new rings in it. The average consumer won’t pay for the labor to change the transmission, so the engine is more than capable to last the expected life for the average consumer.
