I think it's toast....

Jim O'Dell

Member
Messages
2,783
Location
Between Aledo and Fort Worth, TX
I was mowing Sat before dark, just the back yard, when clatter, clatter, clatter, pop, pop....pop, and the engine died. A little background, this is a mower my Dad gave me 3 years ago, I have no idea how long he had it before then, probably 5 at least. Craftsman hydrostatic with a Briggs & Stratton single cylinder 17 hp motor. It had always started rough like something was rubbing, but would start and ran fine. Oil leaked badly, but hey, not a big deal. Well, I went ahead and opened it up and found some chunks of metal in the lower engine. Pulled the head off and this is what I found:mower engine dscn3175.jpg Looks like what was rubbing was the intake valve, and it finally broke, dropping the valve head in the combustion chamber. The pieces of metal I found in the lower end was parts of the piston top.
I think the lower end is probably ok, but I wouldn't trust the head. So, new piston and head? Not sure it's worth it. I have a push mower that threw a rod a bunch of years back. I can get a new engine for it for about 130.00. LOML used to mow with it. Hmmmm........:huh:Jim :wave:
 
Top