Death, destruction and Briggs carnage!

[The_Eric]

Thought you guys would like these pics..

Recently I bought a Snapper 360Z 36" zeroturn for my wife as an upgrade to the Deere L110 - we maintain the neighbor's lawn and there are tons of things to navigate! A customer of mine brought it in a while back because one of his kids filled the tank with diesel instead of gas - so my partner drained it and got it running again.. When he was mowing, I spotted the tell tail signs of the Briggs Intek head gasket leak (exhaust smoke) and told him about it. Since it ran fine, he turned it back to the customer and told him to keep an eye on the oil level.. Wellllllll, as I'm sure we can all imagine, he did not. Evidently he was mowing a side hill when he heard a "bang!" and the engine stopped. After pricing an engine, he told my partner he didn't want to fix it - so I offered $100 for the whole rig (only has 144 hours on it) and he accepted. I was hoping that I'd be able to toss a rod in it and get the better half going, but it is not going to be that simple The crank is toast, the piston is hosed (hit the head and smashed the ring lands and is pretty well scored) and the bore definitely needs attention. The governor also took a hit. In short, this thing did not go quietly into the night!!

I'm hoping that if I elect to repair, the bore will clean with muriatic acid and a hone. I have a pretty good relationship with the local OPE dealer and he said that he'd let me rummage through the scrap pile if I wanted for a contribution to the beer money fund... I've got a home renovation going, so this is pretty much back burner stuff, but I'll be keeping my eyes open for long blocks and/or used parts.

 

[JRay’07]

Holy Toledo man almighty! Oh the merriment!

 

[oldcodger]

You could always put a new motor on it. Inteks are not that expensive (we all know why).

 

[The_Eric]

You could always put a new motor on it. Inteks are not that expensive (we all know why).

That's in the cards too. Since the machine only has 144hrs I'm tempted to replace it, and since I'm an A&I dealer, I can get a reasonable deal on one. But in investigating that avenue, I found out that engine is on backorder. I even had my OPE dealer bud look and he came to the same conclusion. Maybe they'll have them ready for sale by next season??

 

[The_Eric]

With respect to the crank, there's an outside chance that the dents I see in the journal are actually dents in the aluminum build up from the rod seizing.. maybe some muriatic acid and fine emory cloth would fix it? Who knows... That's future Eric's problem

 

[vwmaniaman]

You mean they use oil?

 

[joekingcorvette]

Wow 144 hours that definitely would be worth a new or good used engine.

 

[jeepman3071]

I'd be replacing the engine with a non-Intek option.

 

[The_Eric]

I'd be replacing the engine with a non-Intek option.

Are you familiar enough with available options to make a recommendation on what would fit?

 

[Flashlightboy]

Flex Seal can't fix that.

 

[jeepman3071]

Are you familiar enough with available options to make a recommendation on what would fit?

You can probably find a good used Kohler Command single cylinder that would fit, those were generally pretty good engines with a lot less issues and pretty popular. Another good choice would be a single cylinder Kawasaki like an FC420V found on a lot of commercial mowers. A smaller V-Twin Kawasaki would also fit well like an FS481V.

 

[meep]

Depending on what’s important to you, predator would be up for consideration as well?

 

[TomYoung]

With respect to the crank, there's an outside chance that the dents I see in the journal are actually dents in the aluminum build up from the rod seizing.. maybe some muriatic acid and fine emory cloth would fix it? Who knows... That's future Eric's problem

Just wait for the replacement engine or locate a used one. That this abused, blow, shot engine has only 140 hours on it is absolutely irrelevant. A thoroughly worn, still running, 4,000 hour motor of this type would be a far better rebuild candidate. You need a shaft, a sizeable overbore, rings and pistons to match and who knows what else on this grenaded machine! You can't possibly be money ahead after a considering machine work.

 

[The_Eric]

Just wait for the replacement engine or locate a used one. That this abused, blow, shot engine has only 140 hours on it is absolutely irrelevant. A thoroughly worn, still running, 4,000 hour motor of this type would be a far better rebuild candidate. You need a shaft, a sizeable overbore, rings and pistons to match and who knows what else on this grenaded machine! You can't possibly be money ahead after a considering machine work.

I agree. Was thinking more about it and the upper crank bore and journal are no doubt smoked too (and probably the lower if not ball bearing) - so that means the block is done for.

I may rummage through the scrap pile and see what is laying around, but I'm leaning towards buying a new engine.

 

[cptbarkey]

Depending on what’s important to you, predator would be up for consideration as well?

They don’t seem to be available anymore in an appropriate hp size for a riding mower unfortunately.

 

[Lawnman23]

They don’t seem to be available anymore in an appropriate hp size for a riding mower unfortunately.

Did they ever make a bigger vertical than the one and only 173cc?

It’s 5.5 hp which is great for a walk behind but yeah, nowhere near enough for a rider.

 

[Mechanician]

I own one, it's on it's third head gasket now. Such a poor design, all it needs is ONE more head bolt.
Mine smokes so bad you can't see across the yard, when the gasket blows.
It's hard to believe anyone could continue to use one until all the oil was gone.

 

[oldcodger]

If this mower only has 144 hours an engine replacement is well worth the expense. Replacing the engine with another brand can be difficult. The throttle controls can be hard to rework. I know the Intek engines are not well regarded but replacing a head gasket is not a difficult job. My intek went 13 years and 600 hours before it started burning oil thru a small leak in the head gasket. I was definitely not happy but a couple of hours later I was up and running. Head gasket failures are hit and miss. Some seem to run forever and some blow them regularly. The regular failures are caused by heads that are not flat.

 

[TomYoung]

They don’t seem to be available anymore in an appropriate hp size for a riding mower unfortunately.

They have a 15.8 and a 22, I believe. Maybe not the correct configuration, though.

 

[jeepman3071]

If this mower only has 144 hours an engine replacement is well worth the expense. Replacing the engine with another brand can be difficult. The throttle controls can be hard to rework. I know the Intek engines are not well regarded but replacing a head gasket is not a difficult job. My intek went 13 years and 600 hours before it started burning oil thru a small leak in the head gasket. I was definitely not happy but a couple of hours later I was up and running. Head gasket failures are hit and miss. Some seem to run forever and some blow them regularly. The regular failures are caused by heads that are not flat.

I've done several engine swaps with different brands. Briggs to Kohler, etc. It is pretty easy, there are like 3 wires that go to the engine on these mowers, and the only thing you might need to do is find out which colors match up on the different engines. There are several diagrams online. Most of the bolt patterns line up on the larger engines, you just have to be careful to get the same shaft diameter and length as the old engine.

The head gasket is not a difficult job, but for the average person they are not going to do it, and a shop with labor rates and parts costs can make it not cost effective vs. buying a new mower. I find the larger displacement single cylinder Inteks like the 19 and 21hp models blow the head gaskets more frequently. Any overheating like mouse nests under the cover also makes it more likely.

The engine will only smoke really bad if the head gasket is severely blown. Most will start out just consuming oil without a lot of noticeable smoke, only oil burning smell. I bet this is how a lot of these engines meet their demise, since most operators don't check the oil and eventually the oil is all gone.