Mower problem -problem resolved!??
It looks as though I may need a new motor for my tractor lawn mower.
It is only 3 years old too!! Just past warranty and only 175 hrs on the run time clock!! DAMN IT! Sears YT4000 lawn tractor with 18.5 Intek Plus engine.
It clattered and smoked profusely all of a sudden, I shut it down and then restarted it… and it ran normal!! WTF?
Then was ok for 15 min of mowing and did it again, and recovered before I could shut it down. Now it clatters only slightly on occasion and a small puff of smoke comes out of the exhaust. Other than that.. it runs just fine with no noise, smoke, etc.
It is being looked at by a neighbor now and I want to start “shopping” for the best option in motors either for a replacement or a new mower.
I thought the Briggs & Stratton Intek was supposed to be a good engine. It has full pressure oil lube, oil filter, etc. Had oil, never another problem.
So… is a Kohler engine better? Should I avoid the Intek line?
I know Hondas have a good rep. but not many seem to be available in mowers.
Thanks!
I am awaiting the verdict on this one.. very tempted to contact both Sears and Briggs and ask WTF!
All Replies
Concur with Walt. If it happens again note what color the smoke. Blue/gray is oil. Black with soot is a rich air/fuel ratio.
In the process of cleaning the carb he might have cleared the problem. Time will tell.
I think it is a bit odd that a valve adjustment would have that effect too.
He also cleaned the carburator, but that still leaves the mystery of how the oil got into the cylinder… ????
I am going to try asking around at certified Briggs & Stratton repair shops. Perhaps they would have an idea of what it was and if it may come back, etc. Perhaps I’ll even send an email to B&S asking their engineers WTF?
rev
Good to hear your engine is running ok now. However, I’m not convinced. Excessive valve clearance doesn’t cause problems with oil. It means the valve opens later than it should and closes earlier, and you get less than the proper amount of valve lift. This would certainly lead to poor performance, but not on an intermittent basis; it’d be poor all the time. I’d say there was still a gremlin to figure out here. But can’t argue with success… congrats on your fixed mower.
walt
Rev-
great news, and for $25.00 buy that man a cold 12’er for his work, as a tip.
Beeeeer !!!!!!!:18 :18 :18 :18 :18 :18 :18 :18 :18 :18 :18 :18 :18
Now get out there and do some mowing 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀
Later-
SAW
Got my mower back a few days ago and had a chance to use it.
Worked fine, no sign of any problem it had at the beginning of this post.
Neighbor worked on it and tried it out and problem would not repeat at all.
He adjusted the overhead valves back to specs.
They should have had a gap setting of 4 thousands of an inch
Actual before adjustment was …. 14 thousands of an inch 😯 😯
No damage done to engine, looks like I got lucky.
I will be having it checked each year now.
Cost me only $25.00 for his labor! And he picked it up and spent 1.5 hrs on it altogether he said.
Thanks to all who suggested a fix. It was indeed the valve gap causing the issue, and the oil was leaking in and causing the problem.
Revwarnut
If the woodruff key went, the flywheel would not index properly and the magneto would not fire. No spark. A partial key failure where the flywheel is moving back and forth might do it, but it’s unlikely. Easy way to check is pull the flywheel off and check the woodruff key. The key is designed to be softer than the shaft or flywheel metal so it will shear off in the event the flywheel catches on something.
If you have had a couple blue puffs I would highly suggest you do a compression check. If you find anything wrong, you may either have problems with a ring hanging up or rention pin in the piston crown loose, or lower oil control ring out of whack or cracked or or or.. possibilities are endless. Disassembly will tell, but that’s expensive. Wait till it acts up again and turn it off while it’s in failure mode, pull the plug and see what you find.
Internal damage that creates the mayhem you describe WOULD NOT go away! That motor would have had a major come-apart by now!
My vote is for the carb. dumping fuel. Float/main fuel circuit problem
like Sotxguy says. Raw fuel can cause the symptoms u describe AND go away without permanent damage.
p.s.–I would also have your friend check the flywheel key if he gets
that far. Bent/cracked FW keys after a problem
like yours could raise it’s ugly head later on i.e. hard/no start and
other timing problems.
Let us know.
Engine is a 2004, OHV, 18.5 hp, Briggs & Stratton Intek Plus, single cylinder.
It is a full pressure lubed engine with an oil filter.
It’s in the neighbor’s shop right now, ran fine when he looked at it, but spit out a light puff or two of smoke the whole time we ran it. (reving up and down, engaging blades etc….. no repeat…)
I told him what was suggested and he sounded hopeful about it. Said it was the only thing that made sense and thought he could fix it easily with a valve adjustment or to check the valve seals, etc.
It does need a carb cleaning, he will take care of that too.
He is going to mow some of his yard to try to duplicate the problem.
He does quite a bit of engine work on a part time basis. He is also a grain farmer with some beef cattle, so does this in the slow season when crops are growing and there is not all that much else to do just yet.
He worked for the same local shop I first asked about the problem. That shop works with him on occasion as the two guys are friends and build tractors for garden tractor pull competitions. The local neighborhood shop (out in the country like me…) was kind of busy and couldn’t get to it for a while, and said I couldn’t go wrong having him look at it as he would just refer to them for any questions and service manuals, etc. and gets his parts there too. (everyone out here is either related to someone or best of friends…)
I will be sure to post what the outcome is.
Bruce
Rev, that’s a weird bunch of symptoms. How many cylinders? OHV? Or L head? What Sox said makes a little sense, could be carb but you need to isolate the symptoms and find out if you have a true mechanical problem or just an oil or fuel problem. Mechanical problem seems unlikely since it runs normally sometimes. Pull the plug after she runs rough next time. Check it carefully. If wet with gas, then it’s the carb. If its truly oil, then you’ll get lots of blue smoke and the plug should be oily if you stop it while its in fault mode. Smell the plug to identify if it’s oil or gas. It will NOT be something caused by valve adjustment. Is there a provision for spark advance in the ECU? If it has a distributor, check for tightness.
Saw, the reason you can’t tilt these guys over to sharpen the blades is that they do not have oil pumps in them. They use what the industry calls slingers. That’s basically what it sounds like, they throw oil off the crank and you run a pipe uphill to the top of the head and it drips that oil into galleries where it provides lubrication to the valve train and cam. Rinky dink setup if you ask me. L head is much simpler and just as effective. The only reason people want OHV is that you can design the combustion chamber with more centralized burning for slightly increased efficiency. But it ain’t dramatic. At the 8.5/1 compression these guys are running at, there is no theoretical increase in efficiency. So when you tilt these guys over, the oil in the case runs into the breather tube and goes up to the head… and as you found out, from there into the aircleaner. If one of the valves happens to be open, watch out, you’ll get hydro lock and can’t turn it over. If you force it you’ll bend the connecting rod. Also your muffler gets immersed in oil. Lotsa fun on the cleanup.
Rev, wait till she acts up again and stop it mid tantrum, pull the plug and post what you find. oil or gas?
walt
yep-
Those Hondas are good shit, my pressure washer has a honda engine and that baby starts first pull.
Don’t get me wrong, I try and buy American, both my cars are, however,
not very happy with my Chevy van what so ever.
SAW
I’ve got a Yardman push mower with the Honda engine. I usually don’t say that word, but the Honda hasn’t given me an ounce of trouble in 3 years. Starts first pull each time.
YEP-
OLDE REV-
I oncxe decided to sharpen the blade on my lawn boy, let me tell ya never the same.
Oil got all over the place, the air filter was oil soaked to no end, spark plug so wet, ya could have made a mess with that alone.
Some bitch smoked like hell til I changed the air filyer and plug.
Finally she would run but still did some smokin for a bit til all the oil got out.
Clean out the old gas, new air filter, and a new plug, should be ready to go.
Yaeh, sharpen the blade while your at it.
SAW
I’ve got no idea if this is your problem but you might want to change the air filter. I’ve got a John Deere that i’ve had for years. Shortly after I got it they sent me a new air filter and gasket and a change to the manual calling out the new filter. I compared the two filters and couldn’t see any significant difference. A couple months later the tractor starts running rough and spitting black smoke. I did a little fiddling with it and then remembered the new filter. Even though the old filter looked fine, the change cleared up everything. ❗ ❓ 🙄
B & S is not what they used to be. Just my 1 cent. (My opinion isn’t worth as much now a days)
I have used up 2 sears lawn mowers in 3 yrs. If you put them on their
side (to clean the blade) with the carb down the oil runs into the aircleaner through a breather tube.
Then when you put them back up right all that oil runs or is sucked into the
cylinder. Then the carb is clogged, air cleaner soaked and the spark plug fouled.
I have no idea who makes a good small engine. Honda maybe ?
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It was definately oil. White/lite blue.
Was quite a cloud the first few times, couldn’t even see the front of the mower from the seat!!!
Came out of the muffler, ran rough and louder.
Oil was down slightly afterwards, so I will be watching oil consumption now very closely, never had a problem with that before this happened.
So far, no indication of any of the previous problems, but will be mowing entire 1 acre lawn in a day or so. Another neighbor used it on his lawn the other day as his tractor was in the shop and not a sign of trouble.