There was no response to this question by the OP. If the engine ran fine before he serviced it, he just put too much oil in it. If it had all these issues before it was serviced, I guess changing the oil and filters probably didn't hurt anything.
20 HP Briggs V-Twin Intek Issues
- Thread starter MurkyAsparagus
- Start date
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- Dec 20, 2022
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It ran quite rough. Seemed like it was running on about 1 1/3 cylinders, with one being incredibly rich.
Never reuse a head gasket. I don't know where you got that idea. Do it right and do it once.
What he said is applicable to the flatheads since those head gaskets rarely fail and usually come off undamaged the first time you remove the head. I've reused plenty of B&S flathead head gaskets when diagnosing/repairing valve issues and never had a problem, just tighten the bolts down criss cross and it's good to go
Correct! Older kohler K series / Magums, briggs, and tecumseh have s perforated metal gasket and can be reused.
The newer soft graphite looking gaskets cannot be reused.
Reusing an older style metal gasket is far superior than replacing as you will need to complete 2 or 3 re-torquing sequences after installation after several heat cycles. Reusing the old gasket it superior as you can avoid this step.
Once the head gasket is compressed, it shouldn't be reused. Doesn't matter on engine type.
Not on the ohv stuff, bad design.
Yes, me too. I was just a poor kid with zero $. No head gasket problems in those days.
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- Dec 20, 2022
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Update - tore it all down this morning, head gaskets were both good, a very small casting defect that caused a raised portion on one cylinder. Cylinder sleeves were absolutely perfect, looks like the mower has hardly ever been used. Replaced both head gaskets and torqued to spec. Tore apart the carb to rebuild, the bowl around the solenoid had a ton of rust. The needle was green and looked horrible, the small rubber gasket that funnels gas to each cylinder had one hole swollen and the other gunked up. This was most definitely the cause of one side running rich. Rebuilt the rest of the carb, new gaskets and seals everywhere. I noticed the plastic intake was also slightly warped, I put a very thin layer of black RTV on the portion warped, it sealed extremely well. Adjusted the valves, new valve cover gaskets, new fuel pump, added a fuel shut off, and voila! Engine ran so well I was worried it was about to blow. So, I checked the governor and set to factory location, then went ahead and adjusted the springs on the throttle mechanism for the carb. Started it up again, and wow! This engine has never ran, sounded, or felt like it did today. I was shooting grass out 5-6 feet, it was faster, and never once bogged down. For $50 all in, it was more than worthwhile and all problems solved.
There’s a guy selling solid copper head gaskets for the B&S OHV engines who claims they can be annealed and reused.
