So I picked up my neighbors Craftsman DL3500 with a blown engine over the summer. In august I picked up a new
20HP Briggs Intek from the local Northern Tool. Was basically a drop in replacement.
First ~10 hours on the engine it was great. I broke it in gently for 5 hours using the "Approved" Briggs 30 weight oil, then switched over to generic 5W-30 Synthetic.
Recently (lets say 12 hours roughly), it has started smoking pretty good after cold startup. The first time it smoked pretty good for 2-4 minutes, then went away as the engine heated up. No smoke at all on restarts, just cold start.
Today I started it up again and it definitely smoked less, but still for a good 1 min.
I pulled the spark plug tonight and it had all the signs of burning oil (blackened, sticky oil on it). Oil was not overfilled, and did not smell like gas at all.
So perhaps unrelated, but this engine has always required about 20-30 seconds of cranking to start when cold. Doesn't sputter or anything, simply no fire for 30 seconds, then boom pops right up. Once it is warmed up it starts perfectly. Initially I considered this unrelated, but doing a big of googling, perhaps they are related. I attributed this to my extra long fuel hose, which I added a loop and a shut off valve to. It technically loops below gravity of the carb and back up, so I assumed it was just an oddity of that. Fuel tank and pump are about 2 inches apart, not really possible to stick a straight hose there, it goes down 6 inches, to a shut off, and back up to pump.
Once it gets going I don't see or hear any signs of a tired / weak engine. It ran right though the thick leaves and grass, while going up a pretty steep hill (hydraulic tranny groaning).
It has a vacuum operated fuel pump, and full lubrication system.
Anyone have any pointers on things to try? Like I said 10 hours and 3 months old, if it's not something simple I'm just gonna start a warranty claim with Briggs.
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