Not a cub, but blew a head gasket!

bocephus1991 · #1 06-02-2015, 05:50 PM

This is my wife's mower she got in 05. It's a husqvarna LT1538 I use it to mow the fenced in yard some, when I don't use my 1211. Let this be warning not to over do it with gum out carb and injector cleaner! It sat last year for a few months and the gas went bad. I emptied the old gas put new in and it ran , but surged. So I put about half a bottle of gum out injector and carb cleaner in it with about half a gallon of gas. Ran it a few times still wanted to surge so was planing on removing the crab to clean it and hadn't got to it yet. Decidedly to mow with it yesterday and was about done when she acted up and blew out a giant cloud of blueish white smoke and that was it! Drove back to the garage and still was surging off and on. Looked in the intake has oil coming from the crankcase breather. Unhooked the spark plug and cranked on it and she's blowing oil out the dipstick, so I'd say blown head gasket. Something new for me, never worked on a ohv mower engine.

Yosemite Sam · #2 06-02-2015, 06:24 PM

My wife blows a head gasket once in... No wait, that's something different (might be just as bad) but something different never-the-less.

Carry on...

Sam Mac · #3 06-02-2015, 06:29 PM

Kind of doubt that the cleaner killed it but who knows. The Husky is not a top of the line machine. Good luck with it.

Alvy · #4 06-02-2015, 06:37 PM

Brian it sounds to me like rings instead but are you able to do a compression/leak down test?

bocephus1991 · #5 06-03-2015, 12:13 AM

Alvy, I thought of doing a leak down test, but figured it probably blew a head gasket. Would the cleaner cause it to break the rings from running to hot? That's what I thought had happened to the head gasket. It is an overhead valve engine. I do not know have to do some checking before I get to involved. Dad has a 14hp kohler horizontal engine sitting at his house. It may fit if needed. If it is rings I'm keeping quiet and not telling the wife about the gum out carb cleaner that's for dang sure! Lol

J-Mech · #6 06-04-2015, 05:50 AM

I seriously doubt it's rings.

I hate leak down test, they are a waste of time. 15 years ago no one ever even discussed a leak down test and now everyone is all into them. Unless it's a big diesel, or a multi-cylinder engine, they are useless on a single cylinder. You can get all you need to know with a compression test.

That said, I think you blew a head gasket. Pull the head. It will be obvious. You can do a compression check, but no need really. If it scorched the piston/cylinder, you'll see it when you get the head off.

FWIW, there is no substitute for pulling a carb and manually cleaning it. I also highly doubt it was a direct result of the Gum-out.

Your dads 14hp horizontal shaft can't replace a vertical shaft engine.

Or did you just say it wrong? LOL.

Good luck!

DeltaCub · #7 06-04-2015, 08:41 AM

In the mid to late 90's Briggs and Stratton had an issue with head gaskets in their single cylinder 14hp overhead valve engines. The problem was that the gasket blew between the cylinder and the overhead valve chamber. When this happened it instantly became an oil fogging machine. No mosquito or lung was safe. The warranty process paid for many repairs and many policy adjustments were allowed when the machine was out of warranty.

I disagree about leak down tests. Kohler and Briggs STRONGLY recommended leak down tests to check the integrity of the valves, cylinder and rings. Many small engines have a variation of an automatic compression release. This is done, for instance, by an Automatic Compression Release or ACR in Kohler "K" series during cranking. Others used a method of bumping the exhaust valve to release some compression. The latter method is not used any more due to enviromental concerns (Tier 1 or Tier2). The intake valve is now bumped during cranking. But that is another discussion. Leak down tests give a good overall picture of the integrity of the engine.

bocephus1991 · #8 06-04-2015, 01:18 PM

Yeah meant vertical, been working a lot to Jon! Think everyone's tired and worn out. Thanks for your input. I read somewhere else that the Briggs ohv engines are bad about blowing head gaskets between push rods and cylinder. Thanks again Jon !

J-Mech · #9 06-04-2015, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeltaCub

I disagree about leak down tests. Kohler and Briggs STRONGLY recommended leak down tests to check the integrity of the valves, cylinder and rings. Many small engines have a variation of an automatic compression release. This is done, for instance, by an Automatic Compression Release or ACR in Kohler "K" series during cranking. Others used a method of bumping the exhaust valve to release some compression. The latter method is not used any more due to enviromental concerns (Tier 1 or Tier2). The intake valve is now bumped during cranking. But that is another discussion. Leak down tests give a good overall picture of the integrity of the engine.

I'm sure Kohler and Briggs do recommend it. So does anyone else who makes engines. Ford, GM, even Jasper Engines want you to do leak down tests. Big hairy deal. I can't hear well enough to hear where the air is escaping, and a leak down test only proves a leak. A compression test will reveal that. I'm not going to debate the issue anymore. They are a waste of time.

The Kohler K series ACR DOES hold or "bump" the exhaust valve open.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bocephus1991

Yeah meant vertical, been working a lot to Jon! Think everyone's tired and worn out. Thanks for your input. I read somewhere else that the Briggs ohv engines are bad about blowing head gaskets between push rods and cylinder. Thanks again Jon !

Your welcome!
I'm beat Bryan. Been doing like 14-18hr days for about 2 weeks.
Briggs isn't the only OHV that does it. The Kohlers do too.

bocephus1991 · #10 06-05-2015, 12:11 AM

I hear ya Jon! Been working two jobs myself since April last year! As for leak down test, kinda obvious it's got a compression leak, so didn't see any real advantage to doing one. Now just have to find time to work on it!