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I bought a used Husqvarna mower in August with a 22hp twin cylinder b&s engine and she's a smoker. My lot is about an acre and I have to add a quart of oil after 2 mowings. Then I have to take a shower since I smell so badly from exhaust fumes. Motor runs good, and I'm sure it needs rings. But I'm wondering if there's any "snake oil" treatment I might add to get me through the season. This will most likely be my last season of mowing lawn myself as I'm 78 years old. I'll hire someone next year. Just want to get through this season. Any ideas?

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lindy46 said:

I bought a used Husqvarna mower in August with a 22hp twin cylinder b&s engine and she's a smoker. My lot is about an acre and I have to add a quart of oil after 2 mowings. Then I have to take a shower since I smell so badly from exhaust fumes. Motor runs good, and I'm sure it needs rings. But I'm wondering if there's any "snake oil" treatment I might add to get me through the season. This will most likely be my last season of mowing lawn myself as I'm 78 years old. I'll hire someone next year. Just want to get through this season. Any ideas?

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Hey Lindy46 of 78 and still groovin'. Your snake oil might be a Zinc Oil Additive at first thought. But you might also be running a little rich on the fuel or the valves are shot or your rings have seen their day from lack of oil changes and/or extreme use

Change the air filter first or remove it temporarily to see any noticeable change. Change the spark plug; it's probably black with soot

a bit of STP..............oil treatment

Post up model, type, code.

Some of them Briggs head gasket will start leaking and cause such.

lindy46 said:

I bought a used Husqvarna mower in August with a 22hp twin cylinder b&s engine and she's a smoker. My lot is about an acre and I have to add a quart of oil after 2 mowings. Then I have to take a shower since I smell so badly from exhaust fumes. Motor runs good, and I'm sure it needs rings. But I'm wondering if there's any "snake oil" treatment I might add to get me through the season. This will most likely be my last season of mowing lawn myself as I'm 78 years old. I'll hire someone next year. Just want to get through this season. Any ideas?

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Ya might want to give up on the sucker before the fumes hurt you. That's a lot of oil to be swallowing. May a trip to the local repair shop would be wise..

Intek V-twin ohc model 44N677-0005-G1
New air filter and plugs.

Probably a blown head gasket.

Like fish says it might just be a head gasket.
Can you remove both spark plugs and see if only one is black oily?
If only one is oily black it might be worth having someone look at the head gasket on that side but maybe do a leak down test first comparing one cylinder to the other. You can review these hints on-line using your model.

You are polluting the atmosphere and the pollution police are going to be sad at what you are doing. Everyone lives downstream.

Both plugs are black and pretty sooty

Just a general arm chair opinion:
The spark plug cylinder on the left in the picture is the suspect cylinder when doing a compression or leakdown COMPARISON test. Comparing the left oily/carbon/fouled spark plug cylinder to the right plug's cylinder.


The right plug is worn out but no need in throwing good money at bad replacing such right now.
If the left plug's cylinder compression is 15-20lbs or more lower than the right plug cylinder then head gasket is suspect. (or the rings on that cylinder) If both cylinder have about same compression (within 5 pounds the rings on both are suspect.
I prefer to do a leak down test but doing a leak down is not as user friendly as the compression test. (you might could rent a leak down tester if you have a air compressor) You can review on-line the procedure for doing small engine leak down tests.
On that Briggs twin another thing I would visually look at is the breather hose that plugs into the back of the air breather intake. I've seen people accidently leave that hose disconnected from the plastic breather intake and the engine will suck dust straight into the air intake via way of the dime sized hole into the carb's throat and the rings will go fast. This hole bypasses the air filter.

lindy46 said:

I bought a used Husqvarna mower in August with a 22hp twin cylinder b&s engine and she's a smoker. My lot is about an acre and I have to add a quart of oil after 2 mowings. Then I have to take a shower since I smell so badly from exhaust fumes. Motor runs good, and I'm sure it needs rings. But I'm wondering if there's any "snake oil" treatment I might add to get me through the season. This will most likely be my last season of mowing lawn myself as I'm 78 years old. I'll hire someone next year. Just want to get through this season. Any ideas?

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Sounds like a stuck oil ring! In years past, I've used Marvel Mystery oil...it's crazy, but somehow it worked. You've probably got a lot of carbon buildup in the rings too. I'm sure you've checked the condition of the plug? STP would be too thick!!

Why not call some lawn services and ask if they can add your lawn mid-season? After all, you said you planned to do that next year. Spend the money on someone else mowing your lawn instead of trying to fix whatever is broken. You could spend a month screwing with the engine and you still might need a lawn service if the repairs don't work. Don't be stubborn like me.

7394 said:

a bit of STP..............oil treatment

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Just a bit.. Doh,..

Well, I went ahead and installed a new engine as the rest of the mower is in great condition. I may play around with the old engine now that it's out. I've been an antique outboard motor mechanic for many years, so I'm not afraid to dive into this. If I can get her repaired, I'll sell her. If not I can part her out. Thanks for all your advice!

The Briggs Intek Twin Service manual is good to have around.
About $25. You might search around and see if one is available as a free pdf download.

You might even get lucky and just find a blown head gasket.
I just got through re-ringing one of those twin Inteks, little over $100 for set of rings, and a gasket set was around $50. The cylinders and pistons were good shape, just worn out rings. I fixed it as a back-up spare for some that I'm using. I'm not a fan of the Briggs Intek engines both the twins and the singles. The old Briggs L-heads were better made engines.
I have a cherry picker and hoist so as I do not have to manually lift the engines from the mower to the work bench.

lindy46 said:

Well, I went ahead and installed a new engine as the rest of the mower is in great condition. I may play around with the old engine now that it's out. I've been an antique outboard motor mechanic for many years, so I'm not afraid to dive into this. If I can get her repaired, I'll sell her. If not I can part her out. Thanks for all your advice!

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Please post here and let us know what you find with the old engine. I'm sure we all would like to know.

Lindy46, change your mind about hiring a lawn service next year? Shiny new engine should make mowing fun again.