Briggs Intek Bent Push Rods 

Man. This really helped me figure out the problem with my 22hp motor. Couldn’t have done it without you.

I must have looked a 2 dozen video's. This it by far the best instructional video I have seen! Clear, detailed, informative and to the point without any of the useless stories that the others spend most of their time on. Thank you Foxboss9!

I have a 19,5 HP and thought this was the problem but found the rocker arm stud had unscrewed from the head and the pushrod was dislocated from the lifter ! Put all back right again and the old Gal ran like a top again ! Thanks for the excellent video !

So glad I found this video. I have a 23hp Briggs Intek on my Husqvarna that keeps bending push rods, and it never occurred to me to check the valve guides. Great vid!!!

Thank you my new best friend. Because of your video, I got mine out through the dipstick. I started fishing and could not believe my eyes when I saw the rod, but not expecting it I dropped it back into the pan. But two more tires and out it came. My lawn tractor (JD LA120) is old so I was just going to let it stay in there and take my chances as I was not about to rip the motor apart on a 14 year old lawn tractor. Thanks again,

Thank for this video! I have a 24 HP V-Twin Intek and the valve guides have slide out and the exhaust push rod on one side was gone. I tried your trick with the magnet on a stick down the dipstick tube and got the push rod out. The push rod had been cut in half and I got both halves out through the dipstick tube. Saved me a lot of labor time and saved my customer a lot of money. Thanks again!

I appreciate your in depth analysis on a briggs and Stratton motor

I have a 26 hp Briggs in a craftsman mower twin Intel engine. I had the same failure. I was about to install the heads and decided to just check and see if there was anything else that could have happened to the engine and came across your video. What a life saver! I never checked the valve guides. Low and behold, I have a bad head. You do a nice video. I like how you also noted the different style pushrods and their location. Thanks much for the video.

Good video, its exactly what happened to my B and S 24hp, was searching how far to tap the guides back down and never dawned on me to peen the aluminum....the husqvarna mower is 15 years old, and I really have nothing to lose by trying this, great vid!

This video saved me big $ a couple years ago. The valve seat did push back out again a week ago and instead of spending $150/head I pressed the seat out and tig welded a bead around the base of the seat and installed again seems to be working great so far. Thank you for the video man.

Having previously pulled my Intek V Twin apart to remove a pushrod once before...I just wanted to say thanks for idea of extracting it from the oil tube. Got it on my first try! Hours and money saved by that trick alone. You're my hero for the week!

My man! Great video, it was extremely helpful. Especially the tip about using the magnetic pickup to to remove the missing push rod, 3 tries and it was out. Saved me a ton of time and trouble. Many thanks.

Excellent down to earth explanations. Very easy to follow and understand, even for a novice. This gentleman is a credit to his profession as well as looking out for the best interest of his customer. I am impressed.

Excellent Presentation. Im having this exact problem with my 2015 B&S Platinum V-Twin 22HP engine on my Craftsman Z6000 zero - turn with 425 hours on the clock. Ive checked the Ignition coils, the two Diodes in the kill wire for the Ignition coils, fuel supply, and spark plugs. I can unplug the plug wire from the dead left cylinder and it still starts up and runs nicely but has low power , and only the mower deck will bog it down in taller grass , grass that I used to drive through at high speed effortlessly. It runs quiet and cuts smooth right now if I drive it real slow. I will check my vacuum operated fuel pump to verify enough fuel supply tomorrow , before pulling the valve covers and checking the items you described in excellent detail in this video. Thank you very much for this video. And also for you not cussing or using trashy language. Your addition of the info about acquiring a new head assy will be my route if I have bent push rods. Thanks again.

Fyi it's still helping people. In my case (luckily) it was just the support stud for the exhaust rocker coming loose but your video showed how it was all supposed to be. Quick tighten, check clearances, and fired up fine. Thanks for the video!

Have never left a comment about a video. Just wanted you to know it was great for my engine problem. Even got my push rod out through dip stick hole. Thanks!

Excellent video by a conscientious, honest professional!

great video, this will help, once I get the right rod. Local shop sold me what I could tell was aluminum rod for the steel exhaust rod. Took it back with a magnet to show, they gave me a steel one, but the diameter is smaller than original. Not much confidence in what I hoped wouldn't be the hardest part of the whole job...getting the part! thx

This is my first time doing a diy. This turned out to be my problem...wish i had see this before i pulled the engine...Thank you.

Perfect!!! I checked the valves for bind, and noticed the exhaust on both cylinders had limited travel (because it was bottoming out on the valve guide). Thanks!!!

Cool video very informative, I have worked on engines of all types for many many years and I have found that the intek engines will have valve guides that have moved in them fairly regularly , it's not because of a bad engine design but rather from extended use over hours and hours of continuous use like cutting several hours only to stop and gas up , check oil and go again , or if you cut really thick grass and cut it low at a faster than what you should speed it puts a hell of a strain on the engine and that causes excessive heat , the aluminum head expands more than the steel valve guide does and it causes the valve guide to move out of place ! Also I had a strange experience a while back while mowing grass , everything was going great, grass wasn't that thick and blades we're sharp and all of sudden my 20 horse ohv single cylinder intek revved all the way and died with a struggle like i had ran over a huge pile of rope and I thought I had , but upon looking I didn't see anything an when I checked oil level it was good and when I attempted to start the engine it sounded off like it was out of time or , what I thought was maybe the oil pump went out , but anyway I pushed it on the trailer and went home and pulled the engine and replaced it with another one , now I didn't do anything to the engine and I still have it , but later this almost happened again and I managed to turn the blades off before the engine died and when I looked the deck had dropped all the way down to the lowest cutting height !! Well guess what ?? The dam spring that holds pressure against the height lever to keep it locked into the detented height guages the little grooves that are made into the side body , yeah those , well the little spring was there but the long part of the spring was missing , broke , so THATS WHAT happened with the last time so my other intek engines probably ok just maybe a bent push rod ?? Now I gotta find out !! So here's your million dollar tip , check your deck height lever handle make sure the spring that holds it firmly in the selected cutting groove is ok and NOT BROKE !!!

Thanks for the explanation, just ripped mine apart and was baffled by the missing pushrod. Hopefully I get as lucky as you and can fish it out. Fingers crossed

funny how after months of searching for this exact thing it (youtube) finally decides to show me!

Thanks for the great video - Amazing that you described my exact problem. To add to the knowledge base. I tried the magnet on a stick approach but got nothing. However, next I used my Android endoscope to look around at the bottom of the dipstick tube - voila! I could see it off to the side. After I removed the dipstick tube I could actually see the rod and easily direct the magnet to grab and pull it out. Thanks again for saving me the trouble of tearing down the motor.

Thank you for the tip of of sending a magnet down the dip tube. First try, heard the click and pulled out the broken push rod. Great video.

Thanks so much for the info. Thats what happened to mine, lost 1 push rod and bent another. Thanks for getting to the point !

Just wanted to give you a small update to my situation. I ordered a gasket set, a new head, an oil seal and new push rods. Got everything installed. The steel exhaust pushrod was in the sump and was shaped like a "U". I'm guessing it got twisted while in the sump but I have no way of knowing for sure. It didn't look like anything else got damaged. Thanks for posting the video that pointed to the source of my problems! Now if I can just get the governor adjusted properly!

Great video. Thanks. I love Briggs engines but i could not believe they didn't make these push rods big enough that they couldn't get sucked into the engine if they bent or came loose untill it happened to mine. i couldn't get it out with a magnet so i had to remove the engine and sump and there it was. same I had a bent intake push rod on the other side about 2 years ago but it didn't get sucked down into the engine.

This is the exact problem I have. Hoping I get lucky on the missing Push rod. The Head was $129.02 with free shipping on you Link today. Thank you for the video.

I fished my rod out of the small hole in the jug with a small extension style magnet. I bent the tip so that I could fish around. It took [what seemed forever] but I finally did find something loose in there. I had better luck after moving the crank to BDC. Thanks for your help.

I really like the Briggs and Stratton Intek engines. I find them to be a great design.

Just inherited a free mower with a 20HP Intek running on one cylinder. The cylinder with the rats nest and cram packed full of grass has an exhaust valve guide that seems to have sunken into the head and both pushrods are bent. I'm glad I watched this because I was getting ready to replace both heads with the assumption that the other one might lose a guide at any moment, but now I know the probable cause of the failure so I think I'll assume the side that wasn't overheating is going to last a while longer. Thanks!

Nice video. Thx. Rebuilding my Intek right now. Exact same issue. Was fortunate enough to find a pair of nice used heads with good seats on eBay at a very reasonable price. Fingers crossed. No way I'm spending $180-$200 for a new single head.

I just happen to stumble on this video and I am very happy about that it explains a huge mystery. Today, 6/30. I had a Tech come to look at an issue I've been having with my mower. After it warms up, with the blades engaged. I lose power. It is a Craftsman and has a InTek v- twin engine 25HP. I have had it for 13 year and this is the first time I have had a major problem. The Tech tested a few things and found that the left side is not operating and thus I am running on one cylinder. He took the valve cover off and part of the aluminum push rod fell to the ground. We could not find the steel push rod and the other half of the aluminum one. After looking at this video it verifies that the steel and rest of the aluminum rod went down to the engine sump. I've been having this issue for several weeks so I am very fortunate that the steel rod and the other half of the aluminum rod did not cause any major damage. The Tech said that it is probably is in the sump. He had a steel rod but not an aluminum one. He had to order it. When he comes back, and am going to tell him about this video and suggest we try to "fish" out the steel rod. Since we found only 1/2 of the aluminum rod, i am concerned that a magnetic retrieval tool will not get it out.

TO KEEP VALVES FROM SLIDING BACK, you can use the hose from compression tester (the kind with a quick connector hose), screw it into the spark plug hole, then put about 40 pounds air into cylinder. Do this with piston TDC on compression stroke. A socket on flywheel nut, along with a handle to turn against anything to keep engine from turning holds it in place. Higher air pressure fine (remember, the engine normally has much higher) but 35 to 40 pounds pressure usually more than adequate to push against valves and hold them in place.

I just replaced the carburetor on my 15yr 24 horsepower v-twin and I had the red round ring intake gasket but the carb kit came with the stick on intake gasket so I just used both. Seems to be working fine so far.

Nice job explaining and demonstration technique. One of the best on utube!

I just used your information to fix my 25 HP engine. It has bent 3 exhaust rods in the last year. Nobody, even the repair shop after a $300 tune up, fuel tank clean out, fuel line replacement (left off the clamp), and new battery. I replaced the carb after the second round when the rod bent and the back firing started again on shutdown. It started to be hard to start again and yesterday it popped on start up and was running on one cylinder. I guess I was lucky. My rods always dropped right into the valley and never moved. By the way. I found the easier way to keep the valve seated is to put a cylinder tester adapter in the spark plug hole and attach an air hose. One hundred P.S.I. will keep the valves seated to remove the spring keepers and reseat the guide and not have to put anything into the cylinder. For others FYI valve lash is .04. Thank's again for saving me $160 for the #1 cylinder head.

Excellent video. Just wanted to add something if I may. If you can't get that broken push rod out through the dipstick tube, tip that tractor on its side after draining the oil, and try again. If you have to pull the engine still, turn it on its side on the bench before splitting the engine and thats how I got mine out. Thanks again.

Thank you for the information. I'm biting the bullet and purchasing a new head for the cylinder that had the valve guide wander out. Next step is sealing up my shed and putting the mice to "sleep"

Glad I discovered your channel. from Australia

Thank you! You made it clear what's wrong and how to fix it.

Best video I've seen on this, awesome job!!!

Great video man, you tell it so most people can understand what they are looking at, keep it up! RD.

Thank you for posting, this was exactly my problem. Also thank you for the Amazon links.

Extremely helpful video. Thanks for putting it together. Saved me a bunch of unnecessary dollars

My neighbour come to me to check his mower for no power. I found a missing push rod. I made the mistake of striping down the mower to get the push rod out. After it was apart I found I could of just pulled it out of the drain plug. I should of watched your video first. Thank you great video.

This is what I found on mine thank you for your videos

video is a little long, but after watching it all im glad. lots of good info. thanks for making it. keep up the good work. its all about saving a buck. and you clearly help with that.

Exactly my problem! MICE! They built a nest in there etc. the valve stuck closed. One rod is bent, and the other one is "missing!" Thank You!

Thank you for sharing about putting the magnet down the oil filler. My husband just fished out the pushrod like you did. Great!!!

Thanks! Your video answered my questions!

I had this EXACT issue w my John Deere Ztrac 757 today! Was mowing and suddenly noticed that the mower had a difficult time keeping the blades/pto going and moving at the same time. So checked spark, fine. Checked pulling each plug wire at a time, sure enough it was only running on one cylinder. Pulled the valve cover and both push rods bent! Looks like guides are out just as was shown here, going to try to peening method and order two new push rods. ^both of my original push rods are steel!! Also I found a small very thin spring int the valve cover??? Not sure where that came from! Pulled the other valve cover and looks like the guides where starting to back themselves out as well!!! So I’m going to give this method a try, change the oil, filter, new plugs (General tune up!). Install new push rods after seating snd peening the guides and send it!! Mower is a 2008 but only has 228 hours on it so I’m shocked this happened honestly! I use this mower for homeowner use, not commercially even though it’s more on the commercial style mower. Any thoughts on the small very thin spring? And I’m a bit concerned that BOTH pushrods bent on the left head (V-Twin) which again concerns me! How would both bend at the same time?

Great video thanks…left head on just peened outside of valve guide….I will do my first inspect after 20 hrs hopefully last that long

Thank you so much. This is what happened to my mower.

I have a lawn tractor that keeps bending the exhaust push rods 1-3 times a summer season, sometimes within a week other months apart. both heads will bend them. This explains alot as we have checked for debris causing overheating and oil changes are done often now.

Good job dude keep up the great work

In addition to peening the valve guide, I use a little high temp Loctite on it as well. Have not had an issue yet!

Thank you for this video, it fit my problem exactly!

Same problem. I left the pushrod in the crankcase two seasons ago. Drove the guide back in with lock tight. Lasted 3 more 1 acre cuts this year then bent another rod. Used the peening method. Noticed the valve stem was now hard to move in the guide. Ran for about 20 minutes of mowing when that cylinder let go. Opened it up again and found the rocker arm bolt had pulled out of the aluminum. I don't have a helicoil set, so, Time for the new head.

Seen the twistie pretzel around the cam many times. Mostly on the 06 ones.

Great video. Very informative.

Very informative, exactly the problem I had except it's happened 2 times back to back from the service dept?

Exact same thing happened to me. I was able to fish the pushrod out of the dipstick hole as mentioned. Mud dauber nest was the culprit. Engine has 725 hours. Thanks

Thank u very awesome informative video. Just what I need and how I like them. Wish u lived near Chatsworth ga. I would just go to u

Awesome video.

Great video. discovered the valve guide extended outward. Couple questions, how did you get the valve springs off in your video without a valve spring compressor? How would you get them back on? and you commented the new head assembly from Briggs at around $90. The link to amazon shows the head I want, with the components you show within the box, but now at $190. Your thoughts? Tom DeMarco

I didn't notice how you removed the valve springs. Do I need a special tool for that? I have a valve spring compressor for the flat head engine. I'm working on a B&S 10 hp single OHV engine from a Gen Power 305 generator. Thanks.

What do you think about using a die grinder with a small cutoff wheel and cutting a small groove around the outside of the guide so it will sit just below the surface after you push the guide back in place? Think the peening would fill that groove and hold it better if you did that?

Very Good explanation! thks

Saved me lots of $$$$$. Excellent video.....

Just got one of these, previous owner had it worked on by a shop.. intake pushrod broke and the exhaust bent... I think they used aluminum for both. What size carbuerator does this use? I've seen that they use a 2 barrel and for fun I would like to make it dual carb. Also, do you know if they make performance parts for this engine?

Great video. Thank you for posting! I’ve learned a lot from just this video alone. I think I’ve got a similar situation going on with my Craftsman riding mower which has a 17 HP B/S engine. The engine will not turn over to start. My flywheel only turns about 180 degrees while using my hands with the spark plug out and I’ve noticed a banging sound that’s coming inside the motor kind of like metal against metal. I’ve checked the solenoid and starter and these are fine. Could this be a symptom of a damaged pushrod? Could it be a bad crankshaft? Thanks again!

Very informative! TY

Great info on the valve guides ...so, how do I go about reinstalling and gapping new push-rods after I mixed-up everything? The rocker arms on my twin OHV have the adjustment screw on the push-rod end of the rocker-arm with no way to use a feeler gauge. GOT A VIDEO ON THIS?

Great video. I hammered the exhaust valve guide flush with the surface. I'm still having backfiring issues. Is this a problem? Thinking it's only a problem if the guide it out too much preventing the spring to compress all the way.

Hi RVdaydream. No I do not believe it shows how to remove the springs. At minute ~6:38 the video blanks out and comes back with the springs off.

I had the issue of back firing and low power on mine. 570 hours on the engine a 441777 22 horse. Did the rebuild on the carb, and it ran better but still not well for a week. Then back to the rough running back firing and missing. Taking a play from my old and long gone grand dad. I chucked up a drill on each of the valves and pulled firmly back against the valve seats and spun the hell out of them. Voila', problem fixed. Afterwards I sprayed a little water into the intake with it revved up to about 2500 and all the crystallized carbon ( the problem) created by a over heating event is gone out the muffler in a big black cloud. 30 hours later its still running fine.

Thanks worked great Good video Good advice

Thank you for sharing

hi great video,took my valve case off to find my valve rocker was not on valve ,valve sat still in place and not bent.put top dead center and put back rocker onto valve.spun engine by hand and all seems ok checked other push rod and was ok,have not tried to start engine yet.what could have caused this thanks wayne.

Thanks so much for the instruction. Exactly what happened to the Husqvarna 2452 I picked up recently (cheap!).. grass blocked the right jug, exhaust valve guide came out and botta bing bent push rod..drove and peened the valve guide, replaced head gasket, push rods, set all valve lash, and it now purrs..what I don't understand is why the INTAKE push rod was also bent, although not as badly as the exhaust, even tho the intake guide did not come out..??

I removed my bent exhaust rod through the dip stick tube with a magnetic tool. First try it clicked then on the second try it pulled right out saving a tear down. 😊😊😊

Cool video....very informative

such great info ...thanks a lot!

Completely remove the valve guide and run a very small weld bead around the bottom of the guide. Clean it up and punch it back in. The guide will never be able to slide up again. You can also weld a small washer on the bottom side. They should have designed the guide like a proper insert.

How did you push in the guide to allow room to take out the keepers ? I'm having the same problem .

My 24hp B&S is losing power after about 30 minutes of mowing and starts to run rough immediately. Is this going to only 1 cylinder or both sticking? Do you need to drain the oil to pull the covers off? I just changed the oil.

Great Video I have a similar problem I recently bought one of the engines used and its #2 valve assy (minus both push rods) was apart but the valves,guides and springs were in place and I purchased new push rods,put it together, adjusted the valves, and started it up, ran alright for a few hours then started popping and missing with a loss of power. Now I have removed the #2 valve cover to find not only the exhaust rod bent but also the intake. Thanks to your video I found that my exhaust guide is out to far so I put it in as you showed but the intake only has a rubber oil seal so what could I do to keep my new one from bending again? Note the guy that I bought the motor from also said the rods were bent so I am going to try to get in touch with him to see if both valves were retrieved.

great video

Great video. Good job Buddy keep up the great work #MudMowers

Thanks for the video! I had the exact same problem with my Briggs twin 18 hp. I repositioned the offending valve guide and peened as you showed and was 'back on the lawn' One quick question if you wouldn't mind - in looking at my other 3 valve guides I noticed that they all seem to be moving 'out' also, although none any where near the degree of the one that caused my bent push rods. Do you think I sould reposition and/or peen all of them also - OR just leave well enough alone ??? Thanks again!

FB9 have you ever broke a torx off into Those rocker adjustment nut how would you remove that??? Great video on the push rod. Hammer method works great for me.

Does the 21 HP motor have lifters in it and can they be recovered if lost in the sump pan ? With a magnet ?

You mentioned that the aluminum pushrod is for the intake (@2:45) From diagrams I've seen online the aluminum pushrod rod is for the exhaust. Any ideas which is correct?

Must be 1 in 1000. Our 17 year old mower just tossed one of the push rods into the oil pan. I removed the dip-stick tube and pulled the rod out with a magnet. It was a little nibbled up not not bad.

The heads are Right and Left, mirror opposites. Which side is considered to be #1?

You saved my mower, thanks!

those punch holes? wont that effect the flow of oil?

Had one fall into the crank. It miraculously didn't cause any damage, despite having to pass by the cam, connecting rods, and crankshaft. After inspection of the head, it's my opinion that the guide failed do to tolerances in the casting, and not necessarily air flow blockage. These tolerances were so bad on one head, that after I froze the guide for reinsertion, I was able to push it back in with my fingers. (and there wasn't any damage to the head) That's pretty much a dead giveaway that it's bad quality control.