thanks
Briggs Intek 18.5 repeat head gasket failure.
- Thread starter Fordiesel69
- Start date
Are both gaskets able to be used universally?
I guess I don't have a definite answer. They both APPEARED that they would work on the mower I had in front of me at the time, as in all the bolt holes and such lined up. The only real difference I saw was the thicker area between the valves and the combustion chamber.
avoid these engines -they are garbage. ever y one i owned failed in one way or another
The 31xxxx and 33xxxx have different gasket part numbers but they will actually interchange quite well.
If you look the 31 will have a slightly smaller hole but that makes really little difference in the grand scheme of things. Lol
I purchased these by the dozen and have done a lot of them accordingly.
I do feel it's important to use the proper tightening procedure and the proper torque spec and to do it in three steps with an accurate inch gauge torque wrench but let's face it even Briggs has revised the tightening sequence so is there any guarantee that the new way is much better than the old?
It's a terrible design and they refuse to fix it and that's where the problem lies.
Most of this could be eliminated by having a gasket with a fire ring but I have used only Briggs & Stratton OEM gaskets because when I bought all of mine there were no aftermarkets on Amazon.
I have never had a single one fail after doing the repair.
It amazes me when I hear people say they're on their fourth gasket or whatever and I can only assume they are very haphazard when they put the old one on and when they clean off the old debris etc.
I know guys that work in shops that take it apart wipe it off with a shop cloth slap a new gasket on and put it back together.
I at least clean them up very well and normally there's not a giant burn through Trace on the gasket but if I get one with one that's a half inch wide or so I will critique the areas more closely.
If you really want to do them better I recommend getting some 80 or 100 sandpaper and laying it or taping it to a flat piece of glass and working the head back and forth on it many, many strokes while you turn it a quarter turn every so many strokes.
It won't take many strokes to see how they are ridiculously high areas that you will be shining up and you haven't even touched the rest of the head with the sandpaper.
Usually when I do these it takes between 500 and 600 strokes before you're actually hitting all the metal so it's a lot flatter than it was.
In the case of this situation with one that blew quickly I would certainly make sure that head is as flat as I could get it with this basic setup.
I would also take a large flat file and remove the guide pins from the block and run this file across in several different angles and directions to make sure there were no high spots.
If you find that the center by the lifter valley is low in the Middle where it blows out, it's not going to hurt to use your file and file down the area above and below it and smooth it all out because that will definitely be an improvement over what you have.
I can't say I've ever had any that with this bad and a lot of them in fact most of them, I don't even mill down the head at all and the repairs are just fine.
Sadly, a ton of these engines blow this head gasket between 180 and 230 hours but it seems to be much more related to years and the start cycles with the heating and cooling and expansion and contraction that it does the actual hours.
I feel if you were to start one of these engines up and use them continually, or use them 30 hours at a time etc, these head gaskets would go a lot longer hours before they blew.
If you look the 31 will have a slightly smaller hole but that makes really little difference in the grand scheme of things. Lol
I purchased these by the dozen and have done a lot of them accordingly.
I do feel it's important to use the proper tightening procedure and the proper torque spec and to do it in three steps with an accurate inch gauge torque wrench but let's face it even Briggs has revised the tightening sequence so is there any guarantee that the new way is much better than the old?
It's a terrible design and they refuse to fix it and that's where the problem lies.
Most of this could be eliminated by having a gasket with a fire ring but I have used only Briggs & Stratton OEM gaskets because when I bought all of mine there were no aftermarkets on Amazon.
I have never had a single one fail after doing the repair.
It amazes me when I hear people say they're on their fourth gasket or whatever and I can only assume they are very haphazard when they put the old one on and when they clean off the old debris etc.
I know guys that work in shops that take it apart wipe it off with a shop cloth slap a new gasket on and put it back together.
I at least clean them up very well and normally there's not a giant burn through Trace on the gasket but if I get one with one that's a half inch wide or so I will critique the areas more closely.
If you really want to do them better I recommend getting some 80 or 100 sandpaper and laying it or taping it to a flat piece of glass and working the head back and forth on it many, many strokes while you turn it a quarter turn every so many strokes.
It won't take many strokes to see how they are ridiculously high areas that you will be shining up and you haven't even touched the rest of the head with the sandpaper.
Usually when I do these it takes between 500 and 600 strokes before you're actually hitting all the metal so it's a lot flatter than it was.
In the case of this situation with one that blew quickly I would certainly make sure that head is as flat as I could get it with this basic setup.
I would also take a large flat file and remove the guide pins from the block and run this file across in several different angles and directions to make sure there were no high spots.
If you find that the center by the lifter valley is low in the Middle where it blows out, it's not going to hurt to use your file and file down the area above and below it and smooth it all out because that will definitely be an improvement over what you have.
I can't say I've ever had any that with this bad and a lot of them in fact most of them, I don't even mill down the head at all and the repairs are just fine.
Sadly, a ton of these engines blow this head gasket between 180 and 230 hours but it seems to be much more related to years and the start cycles with the heating and cooling and expansion and contraction that it does the actual hours.
I feel if you were to start one of these engines up and use them continually, or use them 30 hours at a time etc, these head gaskets would go a lot longer hours before they blew.
