Although I'm a (retired) grease monkey, I do not know a lot about lawnmower engines, but I DO know that if pieces of metal dumps out of the oil drain, something's probably wrong. 😁 And great video. 👍👍👍
What I really appreciate about your work is the "job's not worth doing if it's not done right" attitude you have; you change all the gaskets/o-rings (whereas other people would just use gasket maker as gaskets and not change the o-rings), all parts are replaced with OEM pieces, everything is cleaned thoroughly before re-installation...
Great video. It's worth pointing out the valve clearance is quite critical on many B&S mower engines. If your mower is hard to turn over it might not be a weak battery/starter or broken decompression system. It might just be the valves need adjusting.
When replacing a main seal I like to offset the new installation a fraction to prevent the lip of the seal from falling into a groove the previous seal may have left behind. I'm not sure about small engines but it works well with automotive engines.
New subscriber here from the United States, I appreciate your work ethic and your knowledge! Really nice job repairing this tractor engine! She runs beautifully!
After several tries to get my mower running by cleaning the carb to no avail... I checked for a spark and couldn"t see if it had a spark or not. I took the top off to have a look and found the sparkplug wire hand been cut by the metal and that was where the spark was grounded out. I stuck a tape on the wound and started it up... big smile.
Good video, lots of great information. I have one of these mowers. The single cylinder Briggs & Stratton INTEK engine is complete garbage. I haven't had this problem, yet mine have all been centered around dropping the exhaust valve seat.
Thank you for making this video! My parent's 2013 craftsman riding mower has the exact same symptoms as your mtd, same exact briggs motor. we're going to use this video as a tutorial lol
Anyone else prefer the videos with no talking? I mean, theres nothin wrong with the dudes voice or commentary by any means, theres just something satisfying and peaceful about watching a machine come back to life with nothing but the sound of tools.
I got a camshaft kit from Amazon for 30$ Mine was a 15.5 HP Intek. The camshaft intake lobe had excessive wear and by a miracle after 17 years the compression release did not break off.....New cam solved both. Some people use a gasket sealer but I did not. I also re-piped my oil drain with a longer 3/8 pipe and a 90 degree elbow and plug so the oil changes do not get all over the frame. I also lubed my stearing gear while I had my mower out with White Lithium grease but Spray Graphite would probably been a better choice.
So that's why our old B&S MTD lawn tractor was so hard to start!... especially in cold weather. It since got sold... but it's good to know if I get another in the future 🙂
10:50 now that is every fellas dream to have a heated parts cleaner...I'm working a cam also that the lobe wore out already...this one is a 19 hp Platinum series
Good repair. The main issue is cost in this case. Who is going to want to spend $300-$400 parts and labor (at least), on a mower worth about that? No deck, it’s an MTD, with a smaller engine (17.5 hp), that is 7 years old.
I just brought back to life a train wreck Craftsman 1000 that sat on a neighbor's lot in the Sonoran desert for years. I honestly thought I was wasting my time but my wife wanted it running so I kept at it. No matter what I did I couldn't get the governor to work properly, even after opening the engine up and working on it, so I converted the choke cable into a throttle control and bought a separate cable for the choke. The tires literally has holes in the sides so I bought a gallon of Slime and kept working it into those cracks and did finally get them to hold air. Cut the solenoid and needle part off the fuel shut off and welded it closed, and replaced it with a manual shut off. This was all a frustrating body of work in the Sonoran desert summer. Lots of fabrication. I thought I was wasting my time. The engine never seemed like it was smooth. Then one day it hit me that without the deck on it acting as a flywheel, maybe that was why. So the new blades arrived, I installed them and reinstalled the deck. To my amazement that little stinker fires right up, runs beautifully, cuts beautifully, and does everything I could ask for. The re-engineered choke control works perfectly as a throttle control so in the end all the work paid off. I have an acre and here in the desert when we get a wet winter the weeds grow like crazy. I did cut them with a string trimmer. Now I ride and smile.
Nice video! I picked up a rebranded generac 7000 watt generator (branded as dewalt) with a 420cc engine from my neighbor a couple months ago. I assume it had the same thing happen, but that engine wasn't so lucky. It grenaded, took out the crankshaft balance shaft, oil slingers and put a bunch of holes in the block and left a pile of shrapnel inside. Funny thing was that I knew something was wrong with it, but he didn't tell me what. So I fire the thing up and run it for a minute. It purrs like a kitten, runs fantastic and even puts out power from the generator head. I think to myself Ok, so it runs. Let's do some maintenance. I finally realized after adding oil to it and having it pour out all over my floor what was wrong with it. (it was dark out at the time). I wanted to replace the block and a couple odds and ends, but the bare block costs more than the entire genset. Hopefully one day I come across a similar one that doesn't make power, or a comparable china clone. Have a great day!
I had the same problem with mine. Tried everything so I removed the starter and found one of the magnets was broken vertically in three places. Changed the starter and problem solved.
Wow, what an education your channel most certainly is, I used to be just a turn the key and go chap and ditch it if it did not and replace it, now however, thanks to your vids, I am willing to have a go myself, thanks for taking the time time to film,edit and post, it is very much appreciated....10/10.
Learned something today! “Compression release!?” I have an older model! MTD yard machine 98-99 model. Briggs & strat twin 2. 18.5 hp! Starter barely turns. Take spark plugs out turns more. I’ll research & see if same design/components! Thank U!!!
I've had an MTD tractor fail in this way from new. So I solved the problem by giving it away and not buying MTD tractors anymore. On a side not that heated cleaning cabinet is a nice bit of kit. I need to get me one of those for my shop.
Never knew about that little thing in there! The work that you do and your knowledge is just incredible!! I’m kinda scared though because I think I might have that same issue with my lawn mower. 😳😬
I have almost the same problem. Mine gets to a point when starting, that I have to had turn it to get it past the "rough" part. Once it starts, it goes runs well. I might have to tear it open and see if that is what is going on. Great video.
Try adjusting the valves first. That is a way more common problem and these engines are prone to it. And since you are eventually able to get it to start I’m almost positive that’s what it is. Look up how to adjust them. It’s really easy
Looks just like my 2016 Troybilt pony but mine has the Briggs 15.5 hp engine. Nice to see its innards and how it works. It replaced a 1976 Lawn King 8. Nice job :-)
Out of all the channels I have seen no one addressed the problem with the more deck not staying level. Due to there's no front stabilizing wheels. As you find on the commercial zero turns. For the Murry Tractor Division. The biggest question of all , Why do you need a solenoid switch on a carburetor. Sounds like a ticking clock on a 3 year warranty, or the placement of the starter solenoid.
That's a great job. I've never worked on small engines except for maybe carb replacement or maintenance. Knowing me, I'd probably just replace the motor if the parts are expensive.
It makes me sad when I see something that costs so much money not being maintained at all. Now days, most lawn mowers cost well over a thousand dollars and the quality is far from what the older mowers go for.
someone rev it up too high n snapped off camshaft weight or been worn out n snapped on it own life worn out "it just happened random " u did great jobs
These Intek engines are cheap built crap ,this is a common problem with them new or old! Compression release on flathead briggs was built into cam lobe and gave no problems! I replaced a 2 year old intek that was like new when this happened with a good briggs flathead opposed twin ,the last good engine briggs and stratton built! Smooth running and loads of torque!
New battery take everything apart new stuff lawn mower is good condition needs some work drain the oil pan new fresh oil awesome job friend in London England and Orlando Florida Sunshine State keep it coming new videos restore lawn mower
I still don’t like these newer engines, love the old v-twins though, had a 16 HP v-twin, which was great, much better than the 17 hp 1 cylinder I have now
I have a MTD riding lawn mower it has a 18 HP V-twin Briggs an stratton engine. Everything but the engine and transmission is either worn out or falling apart. They just don't build them as good as they used to. Now mostly lawn mowers won't last more than 3 - 4 years. Because they are built more cheaply from the factory now a days. Just so that the dealer gets more money for having to replace parts that are hard to find for the average person.
@@chevychevelle7216 that's why i still have the engine from 3 lawnmowers ago on my mower, it will just not quit, and the 16 hp is still all there also have a 2 cylinder boxer B&S (opposed twin) on my second mower, which is great also
ottimo lavoro...come sempre. Mi stupisce che uno bravo come te, non abbia ancora provveduto a modificare il sollevatore manuale, applicando ad esso un avvitatore elettrico.... ;-)
Shouldn't you use a plastic gasket scraper? Nice information. What's the torque specs, how do you find them? Don't you wait for gasket maker to dry before joining the valve cover?
Great video daggerwin! I like the way you are doing these longer videos with a mixture of commentary and just time silent time lapses. Especially loved the heated pressure cleaner part.
Excellent job my friend,but I am curious as to why you didnt just check valve lash first.You seem to be an expert,and I was just wondering if you can tell the difference in too much valve lash versus damaged decomp.Thanks again for the great video.
Great video mate im currently working on a ride on at the moment as i haven't worked on one before thanks to your video i have a better idea of how things work iv managed to get it started having replaced the coils so it now starts however it doesn't move so that's my next mission so ye that video was very interesting hopefully i don't end up with that problem thanks alot
I have a 1995 mtd with a dual piston 16 hp engine 40 inch cut that wouldnt start at all, i fixed it and now use it as my daily driver... That thing has TORQUE!
I'd never heard of a compression release. My mom has a newer Cub Cadet lawn tractor with a similar odd behavior -- when you start, it'll crank for half a second, then pause, then continue cranking like normal. I hate that tractor. The choke and throttle are the same lever - full throttle is Choke.
Sir, Are you able to reply to any messages that are written about your videos? The only reason I have asked is that I had written you over two years ago with no reply? But your video was spot on and I tried to find other videos on this subject, but each one always went for the valves being the issue instead of the compression relief being the issue.
Splitting the motor and finding what went wrong, great work and a quick fix if you know what you are doing. Question ?? how come you have not used gasket goo on the new timing cover arter you went to the trouble of cleaning off the old gasket, the gasket would have had some form of sealant used when the motor was first built in the factory. Would there have been originally a gasket for the valve cover instead of just using silastic ?? other than that a great video.
