[cooperino]

Update to my 1641. Okay so I figured out why it felt sluggish. The relief valve lever was stuck and not going down all the way. Got that down and felt much more powerful!

I started to run it a bit and cut some grass. All seemed fine until I started to hear a valve tapping. I idled it down and shut it off. Opened the hood and knew right away from the heat off it something was not right. I decided to pull the engine and have a look. Most of the members here will all know what happened as soon as you see pics. For the less experienced guys I will continue because this is really important maintenance if you dont want to have a big issue one day.

The previous owner let the grease, mouse house, nest, and whatever else was in here packed the cooling fins to the point that the engine overheated. The overheating caused the valve guide "bushing" to slip. I had put a new pushrod in and adjusted it but when I started cutting grass the first time it got hot again and dropped. The head gasket was bad in a spot as well surprisingly it ran pretty well anyway.

I decided to go with new heads. Only one side was really bad but I am doing both. Also a bunch of new gaskets, a new starter " starter works but my luck it would stop half way through summer and as you guys know, its way easier to change now" also installing new coils, and stator for same reason.

So, the moral is. CLEAN UNDER YOUR TINS! or spend a lot of money later....