Craftsman riding mower with 21hp Briggs motor

[cronk]

Originally Posted by ruSSrt
Originally Posted by cronk
This is a common failure on the larger Briggs singles. They always fail right in that same area.
If you have a John Deere dealer nearby, they will likely have a head gasket on the shelf, as the low end Deere riders use the same engine.
Poor design in my opinion, as there is no metal fire ring on the gasket.
Not a question of if it will fail but when it will fail.

By any chance do you know if anyone makes metal gasket for those motors? That design of motors seems to be pretty popular and is in a lot of equipment.


I have not ever seen one available.

 

[Eddie]

Make absolutely sure that the head and block are flat before reinstalling the head. Use a straight edge and feeler gauge or a surface table and dial indicator. Ed

 

[ruSSrt]

So far so good!
Mowed my lawn for about 20 min yesterday. Ran very well. No smoke, no steam/smoke from the oil filler tube. Even when switching cutting blades on mower used to almost die/stall. Now engine doesn't even change the tune. We shall see how long it's going to last.
Maybe I should get spare gasket if that is a common problem.

 

[4WD]

Had them for years and no failures, but since folks are saying gasket quality has gone down, I'm thinking it's worth hunting down the best spare you can.