Death, destruction and Briggs carnage!

[Mechanician]

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.

Mine is a 10 year old 19hp, I keep an extra gasket in my spare parts bin now.
If you look at the spread between the head bolts, the side where they blow has quite a gap.
The last time it blew when the reverse interlock kicked in. It's easy to forget the key position, and start to back up with the blade running. Full throttle - cut the ignition, let off the reverse pedal, full throttle ignition back on. It endured this mistake many times, last time seemed to be too much for it - instant smoke screen.

 

[cptbarkey]

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

I went in today to pick up a few Quinn pliers. Unfortunately no vertical shaft in 22hp. The link exists on google but it 404s on HFs site. Ah well.

 

[TomYoung]

I went in today to pick up a few Quinn pliers. Unfortunately no vertical shaft in 22hp. The link exists on google but it 404s on HFs site. Ah well.

Check Amazon. There are places other than HFT to find Chonda's

 

[super20dan]

avoid all inteck engines at all cost -just junk

 

[JRay’07]

How about the Briggs “Animal” which was supposedly Intek-based?

 

[volk06]

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??

What A&I dealer?

 

[The_Eric]

What A&I dealer?

Me. Well us - my partner and I have an A&I account and sell their products for some repair jobs.

Some time ago they managed to get into distributing Briggs parts too, so if I need a Briggs number, the (Ankeny?) warehouse shows up under Briggs parts availability as well as any Briggs cross references through A&I. As an FYI Arnold Motor has an okay selection of Briggs numbers too, or at least they used to.

 

[volk06]

Me. Well us - my partner and I have an A&I account and sell their products for some repair jobs.

Some time ago they managed to get into distributing Briggs parts too, so if I need a Briggs number, the (Ankeny?) warehouse shows up under Briggs parts availability as well as any Briggs cross references through A&I. As an FYI Arnold Motor has an okay selection of Briggs numbers too, or at least they used to.

Dang autocorrect. I meant what’s an A&I dealer?

 

[The_Eric]

Dang autocorrect. I meant what’s an A&I dealer?

Oooooooh... yeah, it gets me too.

A&I is Agriculture and Industrial and last I knew they were actually owned by John Deere. They're an aftermarket parts dealer that covers a fairly wide range of... you guessed it.. Ag and Industrial related applications. we've never really delved in the to industrial side, except for some bulk hydraulic hose and fittings - but we've found other suppliers there and I guess if you consider them as such, skid steers. Anyway, they have a network of dealers who can buy their parts for resale (like a repair shop). Some larger entities also sell/stock at least a limited array of their parts (belts, hoses, carb and tune up kits) - around our neck of the woods, Bomgaars is one that comes to mind.

 

[volk06]

Oooooooh... yeah, it gets me too.

A&I is Agriculture and Industrial and last I knew they were actually owned by John Deere. They're an aftermarket parts dealer that covers a fairly wide range of... you guessed it.. Ag and Industrial related applications. we've never really delved in the to industrial side, except for some bulk hydraulic hose and fittings - but we've found other suppliers there and I guess if you consider them as such, skid steers. Anyway, they have a network of dealers who can buy their parts for resale (like a repair shop). Some larger entities also sell/stock at least a limited array of their parts (belts, hoses, carb and tune up kits) - around our neck of the woods, Bomgaars is one that comes to mind.

Ah gotchya. Was just at Bomgaars last weekend lol. I actually prefer them to fleet farm.

 

[Lockasiam]

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

i've had better luck with I/C engines with the cast iron sleeve

 

[RedSpider]

I wouldnt think finding a replacement engine for this would be that difficult. Around here they are a dime a dozen on Facebook marketplace, especially in the spring, most needing nothing more than a properly cleaned carburetor to be back in service.

I have several very high hour Inteks in my barn, the one I use the most mows 2-3 hilly acres around my pond once or sometimes twice a week. Use a high HTHS oil and most importantly keep the air baffles clean and free of grass, mice, and leaves and dirt so that they run cool and I've had no problem building the hours. I've had a couple of the ill-designed compression releases disassemble themselves, requiring a new cam, but I have yet to replace a head gasket or have an oil burner.

 

[The_Eric]

Alright, here is the conclusion of this mess - I did some searching and as much as I wanted a Kaw, Vanguard, Kohler Command or other premium engine, I settled for another Briggs. I found a supposed low hours 23hp "professional" twin on marketplace, so I bought that. The benefits to that are that it literally bolted in place - the mower had 2 bolt patterns and the second matched this one perfectly. Also the wiring harness plugged straight in too, as did The fuel vapor line. The fuel line was a bit short, but no biggie to replace. The throttle cable was too short, but a quick text to my OPE dealer took care of that - he had one on the shelf! It did take a small amount of modification since it didn't give quite enough travel to actuate the choke. Bending the stop tab with pliers took care of that though. For exhaust, I used a dual outlet muffler from Small Engine Warehouse. A bit loud, but kinda throaty. We wear ear pro so it shouldn't be an issue. I cleaned the carb, set the valves and tossed a set of plugs in the replace the no name chinesium plugs that for some reason were in there and she runs like a champ.





Here it is prior to any work being done - in fact I haven't even bought it at this point.

Since this is supposed to be the better half's mower, I figured it was only fitting that she dirty her hands some

A quick shot of the bracket that I made to support the new exhaust

All done and just about ready to mow (other than throwing some new blades on)

 

[Opelman]

I like the dual outlet muffler.

 

[zzyzzx]

Recently I bought a Snapper 360Z 36" zeroturn for my wife

Was it for her birthday, or possibly Mother's Day?

 

[BornSlippy]

Did you check the oil?

 

[The_Eric]

Was it for her birthday, or possibly Mother's Day?

Nah, just because I'm always looking for ways to make her life nicer. (We don't do birthdays or holidays) We maintain the neighbor's obstacle laden yard and she's still using my old Deere L110 - so when this came along, it seemed like a nice upgrade for her. Or maybe it's just a fast track to her destroying the mower or something else lol.

 

[The_Eric]

Did you check the oil?

Why as a matter of fact, yes, yes I did! It is filled up with NAPA 15w50 synthetic with a Wix 51348 filter.

 

[Jmoney7269]

Just replace the enfine