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Hi everyone,

I'm working on a White lawntractor for friend who wants to sell it. It would start then stall, so I cleaned the carb and I think that problem is fixed, but it seems very loud to me. The tractor is a model WLT-538 and the motor is a Tecumseh OV490EA. I can feel air blowing out of the top of the muffler where the exhaust pipe goes in (see pic below where I'm pointing) and thought maybe there was a bad gasket in there. However, I looked up the parts diagram and it seems like the pipe just fits inside the muffler with no gasket or anything. I also found this video where they are replacing a similar muffler and the pipe just fits inside with no gasket.
On the other side of where I'm pointing, it looks the pipe was rubbing on the muffler bracket, but I don't see any holes and I don't think it's rubbing now.

Now I'm wondering if there could be something inside the muffler causing a blockage. A new muffler is more than $100CAD and I don't think he wants to put that much into it if he's selling, but I think we might get more for it if it is running a little quieter.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

Is that hole in the muffler larger than the pipe diameter. There is no gasket between the pipe and the muffler but the pipe OD should be the same size as the muffler inlet ID with a loose slip fit.

ILENGINE said:

Is that hole in the muffler larger than the pipe diameter. There is no gasket between the pipe and the muffler but the pipe OD should be the same size as the muffler inlet ID with a loose slip fit.

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Wow, good eye! The hole has definitely been enlarged. Upon closer inspection with engine running I noticed the bolts that hold motor to frame were a bit loose and motor was vibrating.

I shut motor off to tighten bolts and discovered one bolt was missing and threads in bottom of motor are damaged. There are also cracks in the muffler bracket. So there must have been a lot of shaking going on in the past to cause this damage.

The machine actually belongs to my friend's father-in-law, so I'll ask if knows anything about the history. At least I know what the problem is and can be honest with any potential buyers.

Thanks for helping me figure it out. Here's a few pics.

Looking at the pic the muffler heat sheild is cracked from both top mounting corners as well . Not likely to contribute to noisy but it will likely rattle and break off with time . While your there weld it up ?

Finished repair today. Found a large washer about 2" in diameter and drilled centre out to 1-1/8" with a step drill to fit over exhaust pipe. Fit everything together, tacked washer in place (which was tough because muffler bracket covered most of it), took it apart again, finished welding washer to muffler, welded cracks in bracket, then put it all back together.

Much quieter now. Thanks again for helping me figure it out. I never saw a pipe that just fit loosely in a muffler like that before.

Here's a pic of washer in place before welding.